To the editor:

Amid all the changes big and small coming from our federal government during this administration, loss of library funding may seem a low priority when compared with cutbacks to the Department of Education or foreign aid, yet for many, the effects of library cutbacks will have a profound effect.

If you pass through the doors of Bristol’s Rogers Free Library as I do frequently, you’ll notice a prominent poster asking the public for its support in urging Congress to protect library funding. On March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order intended to dismantle the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as six other agencies. On May 1 the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a temporary restraining order to block the dismantling of the IMLS, but library funding is still at risk. 

Libraries are fantastic repositories of books, and they are also so much more. They are the life blood of a community, providing services such as tech help, children’s reading hours, used book sales, and meeting rooms. They provide internet access and resources for job seekers, students, and seniors. As a writer I turn to the library almost daily. I rely on Rogers Free Library for research on my current work in progress, for inter-library loans, and as a place to discover great writers whose work I study and emulate. As a reader, libraries sustain me. Growing up, my family was able to purchase very few books. It was only through the local library that I was exposed to a regular supply that enriched my life and that led me to aspire to become a writer.

Funding for public libraries is 0.01 percent of the federal budget; clearly cutbacks make no fiscal sense. These Trump administration cutbacks threaten many vital services: summer reading programs for children and teens, “talking books” for the blind and print-disabled, salaries for library staff, and inter-library loan programs. I sincerely doubt that those who voted for this president expected him to issue an executive order to take away these services.

We should also remember that libraries are places of employment for skilled and caring library workers who now face loss of jobs. Please take a moment of your time to write to Representative Gabe Amo and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed. Urge them to protect federal funding for libraries by opposing any effort to defund the IMLS.

Céline Keating
Bristol