Trump's Funding Cuts Cause Lay Offs of Librarians for Visually Impaired & Print Disabled

On Wednesday, thirteen employees at the Maine State Library received layoff notices due to the Trump administration's cuts to library funding. The employees, who are members of the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU 1989) will be laid off on April 24 when grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is illegally and arbitrarily halted.

On March 14, Trump issued an executive order demanding the reduction of several agencies, including the IMLS “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” IMLS is the primary federal funding source to museums and all types of libraries in the United States.

“President Trump's actions putting the staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services on administrative leave and freezing IMLS funding to libraries in Maine and throughout the nation are wrong and harmful," MSEA President Mark Brunton in a statement. "Because of Trump's actions, funding for Maine's interlibrary loan service is threatened. Funding for educational resources for approximately 3,000 Maine people with visual impairments also is threatened as well as funding for everything from internet access to audio books to eBooks at Maine’s over 250 local libraries."

The impacted workers provide large print books and talking books to patrons, send free books by mail and assist smaller libraries in making them available to their patrons. Staff who are impacted by the IMLS cuts also work with volunteers to record and edit books by Maine authors, which are sent to the National Library Service for anyone in the country to access. IMLS funding also helps pay for van delivery service for interlibrary loans.

“Libraries are essential to the well-being of our communities, large and small, urban and rural. The layoffs of 13 workers, nearly a third of the workforce at the Maine State Library, are completely unacceptable," Brunton continued. "These workers provide critical services benefiting all of us, including services to Maine people who are elderly or with disabilities. Trump must rescind the administrative leave of the IMLS staff so they can get back to work and he must restore all IMLS funding immediately.”

Patrons who are visually impaired or print disabled often rely on the Maine State Library because the books are too expensive to purchase or they don’t have access to computers or the internet. Many have limited resources or live in an area with no library or one with very limited hours. The cuts to the IMLS, along with other cuts throughout the federal government, from the Social Security Administration to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, come as the Trump administration and their allies in Congress seek to extend enormous tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

Last week, Maine joined 20 other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration to prevent it from dismantling three agencies, including IMLS and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), which helps mediate labor disputes between workers and employers.