President Donald Trump’s executive order slashing several small federal agencies could cripple key Arizona library and museum programs, wiping out Wi-Fi hotspot lending, literacy efforts, foster family services and more.
The March 14 order reduced operations for seven agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It requires that “entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
The IMLS administers grant programs, conducts research and offers resources for improving library and museum services. Since 2020, the Arizona State Library has distributed more than $18 million in IMLS funds.
It’s uncertain what will happen to already awarded grants or how future federal allocations will be affected. According to a written statement by the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, the Arizona State Library was awarded $3.8 million in Library Services and Technology Act funds in fiscal 2024, which ends in September 2025.
On April 4, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined 19 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to stop the dismantling of the IMLS and two other federal agencies. The lawsuit is led by attorneys general from New York and Rhode Island.
Federal grant cuts could hamper or end key Arizona library and museum programs, officials say. Bisbee’s Copper Queen Library, for example, uses a federal grant to help pay for a Wi-Fi hotspot lending program around the Naco community.
“In communities across Arizona, libraries aren’t just a place to borrow books — they’re a lifeline,” Mayes said. “From high-speed internet access to job training and after-school programs, our libraries rely on federal support to serve the Arizonans who depend on and benefit from them. Stripping that support away will widen the divide between the haves and the have-nots — and would especially devastate youth literacy programs that help Arizona’s kids learn to read, grow and succeed.”
If a library were to lose IMLS funding for an after-school program, working parents in the surrounding area may be without options for after-school care, said Jason Macoviak, library manager of the Copper Queen Library in Bisbee. In a town like Bisbee, where the median household income is below $47,000, after-school programs are essential for children who don’t have a parent at home when the school day is over.
Macoviak said the IMLS grants are among the “easiest, most impactful ways” small libraries can pay for bigger projects for the community.
The Copper Queen Library has grant funding to open an annex in the neighborhood farthest from the library. The annex serves a community that borders Naco, Arizona, and Naco, Sonora.
The library started a Wi-Fi hotspot lending program through IMLS funding years ago, Macoviak said. It is one of their most popular programs, supported by the city, and there is usually a list of about 15 to 20 people waiting to use 40 devices, which can be checked out for three weeks at a time.
Tribal communities throughout the state would be affected as well. The Arizona State Library awarded 10 tribal communities nearly $367,000 in IMLS funds through the Native American Library Services program for the current fiscal year.
IMLS funding goes beyond programs that serve community needs; it also supports the development of library and museum educational resources.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum received IMLS funding in 2021 to partner with the Flowing Wells Unified School District to offer “We Bee Scientists” to K-6 students. The three-year partnership allowed the museum to develop a curriculum for kids to learn about their local environment. The curriculum is free for any teacher in southern Arizona to use.
“There’s a wide swath of programs across the country that they (IMLS) fund, particularly for younger generations,” said Catherine Bartlett, associate director of education for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. “There’s a lot of after-school programs, library programs, museum programs. Without that, those kids wouldn’t get the supplementary educational advances that these programs are delivering.”
