The advisory board of the Soldotna Public Library on Monday heard an update on the impacts of the federal government’s dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which could cause the reduction or elimination of some statewide library services as soon as July 1.
The institute is a small federal agency that administers funding to libraries and museums nationwide. A March 14 order by U.S. President Donald Trump called for the agency to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” On March 31, all staff were put on administrative leave.
The loss of the institute, Soldotna librarian Rachel Nash told the board, “is going to drastically affect some libraries in Alaska and will affect us as well.”
Alaska, in the current fiscal year, received $1.27 million in federal grants from the institute, directed both to the statewide library network and to individual libraries, Nash told the board. Without those funds, some programs will be eliminated and others will grow more expensive for Alaska libraries — an increased burden on larger, tax-funded libraries like Soldotna and possibly untenable for smaller libraries.
Programs in Alaska that will be reduced or discontinued, per a memo by Nash, are Books by Mail for people without libraries in their communities, Alaska Reads, Battle of the Books, the statewide summer reading program, the “Talking Books” program for people who can’t read standard print, the Alaska Digital Library better known as Libby, the Alaskan Library Catalog, the statewide library electronic doorway and the state library early literacy coordinator.
In Soldotna, specifically, grants from the agency have been used for programs to support summer reading, digital literacy, teen coding and continuing education.
The funding for those programs, as of Monday, was expected to dry up by July 1.
Jane Fuerstenau, of the Soldotna Library Friends, said she was concerned about the cuts in part because of the uncertain effect to Soldotna and especially other smaller libraries. She noted the ongoing uncertainty faced by Alaska libraries following tumult last summer when state funds that libraries rely on was dramatically reduced before later being reinstated.
It’s “offensive,” Soldotna City Council liaison to the board Dave Carey said, that “the concept of ‘draining the swamp’ would have the effect of withdrawing money for libraries.”
Bill Howell, vice chair of the board, said the library needs to be careful with its remaining funding and seek new pathways to “tap the generosity of our community.”
“I don’t see some of this stuff coming back anytime soon,” he said. “Which is a damn shame.”
A full recording of the meeting can be found at “City of Soldotna” on YouTube, and the memo by Nash can be found at soldotna.org.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
