Maine librarians are warning that the Trump administration’s effort to slash the federal agency that provides funds to libraries and museums across the country could cause disruptions in service, especially in rural areas.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order deeming the Institute of Museum and Library Services “unnecessary” and decreeing that it be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

On Monday, Trump placed the agency’s entire staff on leave for at least 90 days — and it’s not clear if they will return.

Maine State Librarian Lori Fisher. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The moves are creating unease among Maine librarians, who warn the cuts will impact everything from internet access to interlibrary loans. Many of the state’s 257 libraries will be forced to scale back services, they say, especially in smaller, more rural communities that lean on the agency’s grant funding more heavily.

“I do not know if our congressionally approved funding will become unavailable due to this latest action,” Maine State Librarian Lori Fisher wrote in an email. “We continue to assess what impacts will occur if that funding cannot be accessed.”

All 2025 grant applications to the institute have effectively been frozen. The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing federal workers, wrote in a statement that “without staff to administer the programs, it is likely that most grants will be terminated.”

These cuts are part of a broader push by Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to purge perceived wasteful spending from federal budgets.

As with other moves, the precise impacts of gutting the Institute of Museum and Library Services remain unclear, leaving libraries and museums across the country in limbo.

“The vibe is just scary,” said Ben Blackmon, the Rockport Public Library’s director. “What’s gonna happen if these nonpartisan cultural institutions are being targeted? It’s going to have a weird cultural impact.”

Most libraries do not receive funds directly from the federal government, relying on local government and private donors to stay afloat. Instead, funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are awarded to the Maine State Library in Augusta, where portions of it are used for statewide library programs or divvied between local libraries. Maine has received about $1.5 million in grant funding in each of the last three years.

The Cultural Building in Augusta — home to the Maine State Library — on March 14. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Institute funds also have been used to connect libraries to the internet, provide books by mail to blind or visually impaired people, expand e-book and audiobook access and much more. The Maine State Library funds 13 of its 44 staff positions with grant funding. They have not been put on administrative leave because they are not federal employees, but their long-term employment status depends on those grants.

Federal funding also supports Maine’s interlibrary loan system, a vital program that allows patrons to borrow books from other libraries across the state at no cost.

Libraries across the state faced disruptions last summer when the loan system was put on hold amid a contract dispute. Alyssa Patterson, director of the Lawrence Public Library in Fairfield, said the pause left staff scrambling and many patrons unhappy. She worries what federal cuts could mean for the system in the future.

“It’s always going to be in the back of your mind that these things can change,” Patterson said. “You don’t really know, and that’s kind of across the board.”

Internet access is particularly important to the Farmington Public Library, where director Jessica Casey says Wi-Fi services, audio and e-book programs and even the checkout system rely on IMLS grants.

Those programs are particularly important to libraries in rural communities that often have smaller collections and more people relying on their services. If federal funding dries up, Casey isn’t sure that her library will be able to bridge the gap.

“A lot of rural libraries benefit from those services,” she said. “If these funds are going to stop, I’m not sure what (the state) will choose to do. If the state won’t continue to receive those funds there may be some picking and choosing on what is provided.”

Casey said patrons of libraries around the state are being encouraged to reach out to their representatives in Congress to ask them to continue financial support libraries and museums.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, signed a bipartisan letter last week to the Trump-appointed Institute of Museum and Library Services director asking for assurances that appropriated federal funding will not be disrupted. Over $6 million in congressional funding was directed to Maine public libraries in 2024, Collins said, and should not be held up amid staffing freezes.

“We expect that the administration will implement the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025 in a manner consistent with these allocations enacted in fiscal year 2024,” the senators wrote. “We also expect that the administration will allow the IMLS to engage with and support both libraries and museums as Congress intended.”

Still, some librarians worry the damage has already been done. Even if funding flows uninterrupted, the administration’s actions have shown a willingness to undercut learning institutions across the country.

“To suddenly have this giant institution that was very, very helpful essentially be gone, it’s scary,” said Blackmon, the Rockport library director. “There’s no substitution for that money.”