The Oak Park Public Library expects to begin feeling the burden of federal library and museum funding cuts.
Several states, including Illinois, received notification that federal grants supporting library initiatives would be terminated after President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars to libraries across the country annually. Two statewide programs supported by federal grants that benefit the Oak Park library system are under threat, according to library spokesperson Jodi Kolo.
“This unprecedented, unlawful slashing of federal funding to libraries is happening right now — with federal grants being cancelled state by state, and with no word on how many more will be targeted,” she said in a prepared statement. “At this time, a specific financial effect on Oak Park is still to be determined.”
Oak Park’s public library system is a member of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System program, which manages the interlibrary delivery programs in northern Illinois, and relies on SWAN Catalog services. Both organizations are threatened by the cuts, according to Kolo.
“Losing IMLS funding will significantly impact Illinois libraries, having serious consequences for the communities and people who rely on them,” she said in a statement. “We cannot be the library we are now without continued collaboration and critical support. Because essential Oak Park library services — such as the library’s catalog, resource sharing, and delivery — are managed by partner organizations that depend on federal and state funding. While Oak Park library’s operating budget is 96% funded by local property taxes, these state and federally funded organizations are crucial for meeting the library needs of the Oak Park community.”
Illinois received $5.7 million in IMLS funding in 2024, the 6th most of any state in the country. A large portion of those funds were used to support RAILS and the Illinois Heartland Library System, which facilitates similar interlibrary delivery work in other parts of the state.
The loan programs create efficiencies that save the state millions per year, RAILS Director Monica Harris told the Chicago Sun-Times this week.
“These are huge cost-savings through efficiencies that are built into the state,” she told the newspaper. “We’re not talking about money that’s just going into a hole.”
There are multiple lawsuits challenging the executive order, which removed the IMLS’ director and put the agency’s entire staff on administrative leave. One suit is led by the Chicago-based American Library Association and another is led by attorney generals from 21 states, including Illinois, as both actions argue that the Trump administration doesn’t have the legal right to dissolve the institution, which was founded by Congress nearly 30 years ago.
“Libraries play an important role in our democracy, from preserving history to providing access to government information, advancing literacy and civic engagement, and offering access to a variety of perspectives,” Cindy Hohl, American Library Association president, said in a statement. “These values are worth defending. We will not allow extremists to threaten our democracy by eliminating programs at IMLS and harming the children and communities who rely on libraries and the services and opportunities they provide.”
Oak Park library leaders are calling on Oak Parkers to call U.S. Representatives and ask them to protect the IMLS.
“We’re asking our community to stand up for libraries everywhere because the federal government is moving to cut off its modest but effective support for libraries, from withdrawal of funding for broadband to the elimination of the only source of federal funding for our nation’s 125,000 libraries, the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” Kolo said. “Why stand up? Because libraries are uniquely the connective tissues in our local communities.”