David Katz: Only federal agency dedicated to libraries was eliminated

To The Daily Sun,

On March 14, President Donald Trump signed an executive order eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Within the last week, the complete staff was placed on administrative leave, essentially freezing the operations.

IMLS is the only federal agency dedicated to libraries and is a crucial source of funding for museums. IMLS administers federal grants to states and also makes direct individual grants to exemplary library and museum initiatives. Many New Hampshire institutions have been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in IMLS grants that are now in jeopardy. These grants support library programs in demand and preserve essential parts of New Hampshire history.

The dissolution of IMLS undermines institutions that offer intellectual and inspirational resources. Libraries and museums empower us as free people by preserving and sharing human knowledge and expression, acting as defenses against ignorance and repression, and domination by autocrats and enemies of democratic thought and expression.

New Hampshire was the first in the nation to create and support free libraries. Groundbreaking laws in 1849, 1891 and 1895 authorized New Hampshire towns to spend tax dollars to establish public libraries, provided grants of books to any town that did so, and finally required each town to appropriate funds to establish a public library. These laws arose from the conviction that an educated public must have access to ideas and facts in order to govern a nation wisely. Today’s world magnifies that principle to a frightening degree.

This threat to our free access to ideas and expression represents the moment when Americans must see and defeat this deliberate assault upon our ability to live free. Our Congressional delegation is listening. Readers should make their voice heard.

David Katz

New Hampton