APPLETON (NBC 26) — Federal funding for local libraries and museums is only guaranteed through this month following an executive order signed earlier this year by the Trump administration.
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The Institute of Museum and Library Services, or IMLS, is a federal agency that provides grants and funding to libraries and museums across the country. The agency faces elimination as part of broader federal budget cuts.
In Wisconsin, IMLS pays for a shared database that gives anyone in the state with a library card access to thousands of educational resources. The funding also covers technology upgrades in libraries, including new computers.
Ashley Thiem-Menning, Kaukauna Public Library director, said the potential cuts would hurt communities that rely on library resources.
"Libraries are a great equalizer," Hiem-Menning said. "If you do not have a computer at home you can come to the library. And all of a sudden if our computers break down and we can't afford to replace them, we're not great equalizers anymore."
Small libraries and communities without reliable at-home internet will be affected the hardest if funding disappears.
For museums, IMLS often provides seed money for new exhibits. The agency provided $250,000 for the Appleton History Museum's "You Are Here" exhibit.
Dustin Mack, executive director of the Appleton History Museum at the Castle, said losing federal support would impact more than just finances.
"If federal funding goes away, it makes these large undertakings more difficult," Mack said.
Mack explained that federal funding creates momentum for local fundraising efforts.
"What that funding does is creates a sense of urgency in the local community," Mack said. "It sends a message that 'this is a valued project' and it gets other people excited about it and to invest in it as well."
Without IMLS funding, the museum would struggle or not be able to afford large new exhibits like "You Are Here" at all.
NBC 26 visited both the Kaukauna Library and Appleton History Museum to learn how these potential cuts could affect our neighborhoods. Resources that people rely on, like public computers, could disappear if federal funding is eliminated.
