Latest news with #Sonderling
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tribal communities risk losing local libraries and the history they hold amid DOGE cuts
Inside a 90-square-mile stretch of rural reservation between the eastern Jemez Mountains and the banks of the Rio Grande River sits the Santa Clara Pueblo Community Library, an anchor for the northern New Mexico tribe it serves. Internet service across the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation is sparse, the tribe's governor, James Naranjo, told NBC News, and resources to expand access to technology and literacy programs for its 1,700 members are already stretched thin. Naranjo said the library relies on federal grant money to build bridges between the tribe and otherwise out-of-reach services — grants that could be on the chopping block thanks to cuts by the Trump administration. The Pueblo's was one of more than a hundred libraries on federally recognized tribal lands across the country that were notified by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — a small federal agency responsible for funding local libraries and museums across the country — that their congressionally appropriated grant had been terminated midcycle, according to an IMLS spokesperson. 'IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program,' one letter, obtained by NBC News from a tribal grant writer who received it, said. 'IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda.' The letter was signed by Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, whom President Donald Trump appointed as acting director of the IMLS in March. Days before Sonderling's appointment, Trump signed an executive order directing the agency, and six others, to be eliminated to the 'maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' Only Congress holds the legal authority to shut down the agency. Trump's March 14 order instructed the IMLS — which guarantees states and sovereign tribes can provide the public with free access to myriad services like early literacy resources, Braille books, internet access and STEM and cultural programs — to cease all operations, slash staff and provide a report to the Office of Management and Budget detailing proof of compliance. Within days, the Department of Government Efficiency descended upon the 75-person IMLS staff. All but a dozen were placed on administrative leave. Then, in early April, Sonderling terminated all IMLS grants except for those missed by human error, an IMLS spokesperson told NBC News. The spokesperson said the grants were terminated for evaluation purposes, and that some of them would be reinstated if they align with the administration's priorities, but declined to provide details on the timeline and criteria. The sweeping grant cancellations were part of a broader effort by Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to drastically reduce the scope of federal spending by freezing funds and ordering mass layoffs across a number of agencies, including the Department of Education, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency. The American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest union representing library employees, sued Sonderling, Trump and DOGE to stop the dismantling of the IMLS last month. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon granted a temporary restraining order last week that bars the Trump administration from making further cuts to IMLS staff and grants. An injunction granted Tuesday in a separate lawsuit brought by 21 state attorneys general against the Trump administration cemented that the IMLS cannot be downsized any further, but as litigation continues ahead of a final ruling, the future of the grants is still up in the air. And in his 2026 budget outline, Trump proposed defunding the IMLS entirely. Tribal leaders worry that it could mean the end of library services their constituents rely on, and the beginning of a very long fight. 'This is something that's personal to me,' said American Library Association President Cindy Hohl, a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of South Dakota, which said it had its Native American Basic Grant canceled. 'As we continue to look at what is happening in the current government, we need to advocate for the needs of our sovereign nations,' Hohl said. 'We need to hold the federal government accountable to upholding their trust responsibility.' 'Tribal libraries and tribal communities have specific needs to preserve their culture, their language, their heritage, and to live as traditional people in our traditional communities,' Hohl added. Among the initial cuts were four grant programs designed specifically to support library and museum services in rural Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. Thousands of miles from New Mexico, the only library within miles of the 68-person Igiugig Village tribe in southwestern Alaska was stripped of the funding it relies on to purchase books and sustain its summer reading program. In Juneau, funding for a project dedicated to digitizing and preserving the history of Native Alaska was slashed. Across Indian Country, the federal dollars that funded tribal librarian and coordinator salaries have run dry, putting the jobs and the programs they run in jeopardy. 'It's unfortunate that these cuts are nationwide, and it's hurting our children,' Naranjo said. 'You know, it's hurting our unborn. It's hurting our community in general. Yeah, $10,000 might be a small amount to others, but it's a huge amount to us.' The Santa Clara Pueblo received $10,000 last year through the Native American Library Services Basic Grants program, which is designed to provide small, hard-to-reach Native American and Indigenous communities with access to funding that addresses the individual needs of each tribe. In the absence of the grants they were promised, Naranjo and tribal leaders across the country may have to make difficult decisions to keep their local libraries and museums afloat. 'Our library is our vault,' said Santa Clara Pueblo Lt. Gov. Charles Suazo, who previously served as library coordinator, a position made possible by the IMLS grant money and which is now at risk unless the tribe dips into other areas of its budget to sustain the salary. 'It holds our traditional language, some old pictures, some relics from the past. … Without this, all that could be lost.' The Santa Clara Pueblo and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico, share the traditional Tewa language, which is considered endangered by Native language experts. An IMLS-funded project at the P'oe Tsawa Community Library in Ohkay Owingeh teaches Tewa to tribal youth in an effort to preserve it, but it could be on the chopping block if the grant money isn't fully restored. 'These are really critical services,' Ohkay Owingeh Lt. Gov. Matthew Martinez said. 'I mean, our library, physically, is at the center of our tribal community in rural northern New Mexico.' The IMLS, created in 1996 and which Trump himself reauthorized in 2018, last year announced $5.9 million in grants across 173 total grants awarded to Native American and Indigenous tribes, according to a statement from the agency. Congress appropriated $294.8 million to the agency in 2024. Whether the president has the authority to stop the flow of the federal dollars Congress appropriated, and the IMLS already awarded, is at the center of the appeals some tribal leaders and grant managers are making to Sonderling in hopes of a lifeline for their community service projects. The Makah Tribe in Neah Bay, Washington, is home to the Makah Cultural and Research Center, which could be left on the hook for large portions of the $149,779 Native American Library Enhancement Grant it was awarded. The grant funds hadn't been reimbursed in full by the IMLS when the grant was terminated halfway through its life cycle last month, according to Janine Ledford, the executive director of the Makah Cultural and Research Center. 'This project has been empowering individuals on their journey toward wellness in response to an alarming opioid epidemic on the Makah Reservation,' Ledford wrote in an appeal letter sent to Sonderling on May 7 and shared with NBC News. 'The MCRC has been open since 1979 and has never had any federal awards offered, accepted and then revoked.' Tribal leaders said the sprawling violation of contracts between the federal government and sovereign tribal nations opens up centuries-old wounds. 'If you look at history, the federal government, you know, put our parents and grandparents in boarding schools. Language was not taught,' said Martinez, the Ohkay Owingeh lieutenant governor. 'We were punished for speaking [our] language, so we've built momentum to privilege the use of language and incorporate it in everything that we do.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Tribal communities risk losing local libraries and the history they hold amid DOGE cuts
Inside a 90-square-mile stretch of rural reservation between the eastern Jemez Mountains and the banks of the Rio Grande River sits the Santa Clara Pueblo Community Library, an anchor for the northern New Mexico tribe it serves. Internet service across the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation is sparse, the tribe's governor, James Naranjo, told NBC News, and resources to expand access to technology and literacy programs for its 1,700 members are already stretched thin. Naranjo said the library relies on federal grant money to build bridges between the tribe and otherwise out-of-reach services — grants that could be on the chopping block thanks to cuts by the Trump administration. The Pueblo's was one of more than a hundred libraries on federally recognized tribal lands across the country that were notified by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — a small federal agency responsible for funding local libraries and museums across the country — that their congressionally appropriated grant had been terminated midcycle, according to an IMLS spokesperson. 'IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program,' one letter, obtained by NBC News from a tribal grant writer who received it, said. 'IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda.' The letter was signed by Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, whom President Donald Trump appointed as acting director of the IMLS in March. Days before Sonderling's appointment, Trump signed an executive order directing the agency, and six others, to be eliminated to the 'maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' Only Congress holds the legal authority to shut down the agency. Trump's March 14 order instructed the IMLS — which guarantees states and sovereign tribes can provide the public with free access to myriad services like early literacy resources, Braille books, internet access and STEM and cultural programs — to cease all operations, slash staff and provide a report to the Office of Management and Budget detailing proof of compliance. Within days, the Department of Government Efficiency descended upon the 75-person IMLS staff. All but a dozen were placed on administrative leave. Then, in early April, Sonderling terminated all IMLS grants except for those missed by human error, an IMLS spokesperson told NBC News. The spokesperson said the grants were terminated for evaluation purposes, and that some of them would be reinstated if they align with the administration's priorities, but declined to provide details on the timeline and criteria. The sweeping grant cancellations were part of a broader effort by Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to drastically reduce the scope of federal spending by freezing funds and ordering mass layoffs across a number of agencies, including the Department of Education, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency. The American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest union representing library employees, sued Sonderling, Trump and DOGE to stop the dismantling of the IMLS last month. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon granted a temporary restraining order last week that bars the Trump administration from making further cuts to IMLS staff and grants. An injunction granted Tuesday in a separate lawsuit brought by 21 state attorneys general against the Trump administration cemented that the IMLS cannot be downsized any further, but as litigation continues ahead of a final ruling, the future of the grants is still up in the air. And in his 2026 budget outline, Trump proposed defunding the IMLS entirely. Tribal leaders worry that it could mean the end of library services their constituents rely on, and the beginning of a very long fight. 'This is something that's personal to me,' said American Library Association President Cindy Hohl, a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of South Dakota, which said it had its Native American Basic Grant canceled. 'As we continue to look at what is happening in the current government, we need to advocate for the needs of our sovereign nations,' Hohl said. 'We need to hold the federal government accountable to upholding their trust responsibility.' 'Tribal libraries and tribal communities have specific needs to preserve their culture, their language, their heritage, and to live as traditional people in our traditional communities,' Hohl added. Among the initial cuts were four grant programs designed specifically to support library and museum services in rural Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. Thousands of miles from New Mexico, the only library within miles of the 68-person Igiugig Village tribe in southwestern Alaska was stripped of the funding it relies on to purchase books and sustain its summer reading program. In Juneau, funding for a project dedicated to digitizing and preserving the history of Native Alaska was slashed. Across Indian Country, the federal dollars that funded tribal librarian and coordinator salaries have run dry, putting the jobs and the programs they run in jeopardy. 'It's unfortunate that these cuts are nationwide, and it's hurting our children,' Naranjo said. 'You know, it's hurting our unborn. It's hurting our community in general. Yeah, $10,000 might be a small amount to others, but it's a huge amount to us.' The Santa Clara Pueblo received $10,000 last year through the Native American Library Services Basic Grants program, which is designed to provide small, hard-to-reach Native American and Indigenous communities with access to funding that addresses the individual needs of each tribe. In the absence of the grants they were promised, Naranjo and tribal leaders across the country may have to make difficult decisions to keep their local libraries and museums afloat. 'Our library is our vault,' said Santa Clara Pueblo Lt. Gov. Charles Suazo, who previously served as library coordinator, a position made possible by the IMLS grant money and which is now at risk unless the tribe dips into other areas of its budget to sustain the salary. 'It holds our traditional language, some old pictures, some relics from the past. … Without this, all that could be lost.' The Santa Clara Pueblo and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico, share the traditional Tewa language, which is considered endangered by Native language experts. An IMLS-funded project at the P'oe Tsawa Community Library in Ohkay Owingeh teaches Tewa to tribal youth in an effort to preserve it, but it could be on the chopping block if the grant money isn't fully restored. 'These are really critical services,' Ohkay Owingeh Lt. Gov. Matthew Martinez said. 'I mean, our library, physically, is at the center of our tribal community in rural northern New Mexico.' The IMLS, created in 1996 and which Trump himself reauthorized in 201 8, last year announced $5.9 million in grants across 173 total grants awarded to Native American and Indigenous tribes, according to a statement from the agency. Congress appropriated $294.8 million to the agency in 2024. Whether the president has the authority to stop the flow of the federal dollars Congress appropriated, and the IMLS already awarded, is at the center of the appeals some tribal leaders and grant managers are making to Sonderling in hopes of a lifeline for their community service projects. The Makah Tribe in Neah Bay, Washington, is home to the Makah Cultural and Research Center, which could be left on the hook for large portions of the $149,779 Native American Library Enhancement Grant it was awarded. The grant funds hadn't been reimbursed in full by the IMLS when the grant was terminated halfway through its life cycle last month, according to Janine Ledford, the executive director of the Makah Cultural and Research Center. 'This project has been empowering individuals on their journey toward wellness in response to an alarming opioid epidemic on the Makah Reservation,' Ledford wrote in an appeal letter sent to Sonderling on May 7 and shared with NBC News. 'The MCRC has been open since 1979 and has never had any federal awards offered, accepted and then revoked.' Tribal leaders said the sprawling violation of contracts between the federal government and sovereign tribal nations opens up centuries-old wounds. 'If you look at history, the federal government, you know, put our parents and grandparents in boarding schools. Language was not taught,' said Martinez, the Ohkay Owingeh lieutenant governor. 'We were punished for speaking [our] language, so we've built momentum to privilege the use of language and incorporate it in everything that we do.'
New York Times
31-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Administration Moves to Shutter Library Agency
The Trump administration on Monday placed the staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services on administrative leave, setting the stage for potentially ending the main source of federal support for the country's museums and libraries. The move came two weeks after President Trump issued an executive order naming the independent agency as one of seven that should be 'eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' On March 20, Keith E. Sonderling, the deputy secretary of labor, was sworn in as acting director, replacing Cyndee Landrum, a career library professional. Shortly after being appointed, Mr. Sonderling visited the agency with a team that included at least one staff member of the Department of Government Efficiency, who set up offices and obtained access to the agency's computer systems. On Monday afternoon, after the team made several additional visits, the agency's roughly 70 employees were informed by supervisors that they were being put on administrative leave for 90 days, and were not permitted to access the agency's premises or systems. 'This action is not punitive but rather is taken to facilitate the work and operations of the agency,' Antoine L. Dotson, the agency's director of human resources, said in a letter obtained by The New York Times. The future of grant programs was not immediately clear. But the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing staff members, said in a statement that in the absence of staff all work processing applications for 2025 grants 'has ended.' 'Without staff to administer the programs, it is likely that most grants will be terminated,' it said. The agency, created in 1996 and reauthorized most recently in 2018 in legislation signed by Mr. Trump, has an annual budget of nearly $290 million, larger than either the National Endowment for the Arts or the National Endowment for the Humanities. It provides funding to libraries and museums in every state and territory, with the bulk going to support essential but unglamorous functions like database systems and collections management. Its largest program, known as Grants to States, delivers roughly $160 million annually to state library agencies, which covers one-third to one-half of their budgets, according the Chief Officers of State Library Associations, an independent group representing library officials. Mr. Trump's executive order prompted widespread mobilization by library and museum advocates, who issued multiple statements defending the agency and questioning the legality of moves against it. A bipartisan group of senators, including the Democrats Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, sent a letter calling on Mr. Sonderling to continue the agency's mission. In a statement on Monday, Cindy Hohl, the president of the American Library Association, criticized the staff cuts. 'Congress created I.M.L.S. by law, with bipartisan support, and Republican and Democratic Presidents signed those laws, including President Trump in 2018,' she said. 'Any significant reductions the I.M.L.S.' small and talented work force would undermine the agency's ability to carry out that law, which provides crucial supports to help libraries across America serve their communities.' In his executive order, Mr. Trump directed the agency to release a plan for reducing its activities within a week. But so far, no plan has been announced. After visiting the agency earlier this month, Mr. Sonderling issued a statement promising to move the agency 'in lock step with this administration to enhance and foster innovation.' 'We will revitalize I.M.L.S. and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country's core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations,' Mr. Sonderling said.
New York Times
24-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Advocates Rally After Trump Targets Federal Support for Libraries
Library supporters are rallying to the defense of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, warning that the Trump administration's efforts to pare back or even eliminate the agency will damage institutions across the country and potentially violate the law. The independent agency, created in 1996, is the federal government's main source of support for the nation's libraries, museums and archives, with a budget of roughly $290 million. Its largest program, totaling roughly $160 million, goes directly to state library agencies. The agency was one of seven named in a March 14 executive order titled 'Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,' which ordered that they be 'eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' Last week, Keith E. Sonderling, the recently confirmed deputy secretary of labor, was sworn in as acting director, replacing Cyndee Landrum, a career library professional. Mr. Sonderling visited the agency's office on Thursday with a small team, including at least one staff member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, who was given an office and access to the agency's computer systems, according to an employee who was present. After leaving, Mr. Sonderling issued a statement promising to move the agency 'in lock step with this administration to enhance and foster innovation.' 'We will revitalize I.M.L.S. and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country's core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations,' Mr. Sonderling said. Even before the visit, more than dozen library, museum and scholarly groups had issued statements expressing alarm at the March 14 order, which the American Library Association called 'shortsighted' and an 'assault.' 'By eliminating the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Trump administration's executive order is cutting off at the knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions and the staff and services they offer,' it said. And on Monday, the agency's 19-member advisory board sent a letter to Mr. Sonderling, stating that a number of its programs, including its grants to state library agencies and its support for Native American library services, had been established by statute so cannot be ended without the approval of Congress. 'We remain fully committed to fulfilling our statutory role as an advisor to you as acting director and to supporting the lawful and effective operation of the Institute,' the board said. The I.M.L.S., while little known to the public, has a larger budget than both the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. It was created in 1996, and has been reauthorized several times, most recently in 2018, in bipartisan legislation signed by Mr. Trump. The agency, which has roughly 70 employees, provides funding to libraries and museums in every state and territory, often to support essential but unglamorous back-office activities like cataloging and database management, which often struggle to attract private philanthropic support. Its largest program, known as Grants to States, delivers roughly $160 million annually to state library agencies, which then distribute it for various statewide or individual projects. The agency also provides competitive grants directly to institutions of all sizes and types. Recent grants have included $250,000 to the Seattle Public Library to support teen mental health; $150,000 to the University of South Florida to develop library resources for autistic patrons; and $246,000 to the New York Public Library to develop curriculum materials based on the collections at its Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The agency also supports small, lesser-known institutions, like the Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire, which recently received a three-year, $213,000 grant to inventory the more than 40,000 items in its collection, including a cache of early-19th-century letters recently discovered hidden under an attic roof. 'We have I.M.L.S. to thank for giving us the means to hire curators and the dedicated time to discover, through inventory, new aspects of Shaker life that we can share with the public,' Shirley Wajda, the curator of collections, said in an email. Among the institute's prominent supporters over the years is a former first lady, Laura Bush, herself a former school librarian. A grant program named for her, the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarians Program, supports the recruitment and training of librarians, including those from 'diverse and underrepresented' communities. (A spokesman for Mrs. Bush declined to comment.) The extent of any cuts at the agency, and potential legal challenges to them, remain unclear. But Paula Krebs, the president of the National Humanities Alliance, an umbrella group of more than 250 universities and cultural organizations, said the move was part of the administration's 'larger attack on education,' including an executive order aimed at shuttering the Department of Education. Museums and libraries, Ms. Krebs said, are the main places where members of the public engage in lifelong learning, outside of any formal school. 'I worry this is an attack on the idea that you should have an educated electorate,' she said. 'It's just terrifying.'
