A budgetary item in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget may spell the end for public libraries in the country. Here in Rhode Island, they are fighting back.

The budget proposes to discontinue funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

According to a press release from Senator Jack Reed’s office, in Rhode Island these cuts would eliminate about 45% from the budget of Rhode Island’s state library agency, the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS). That’s about $1.4 million in grants offered by IMLS to OLIS, which provides support and services to the libraries.

A rally held at the central location of the Cranston Public Library last Thursday highlighted the importance of public libraries with Rhode Island’s congressional delegation and local officials advocating against the proposed cuts.

Reed and fellow Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, and Representatives Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, D-RI, joined Rhode Island Chief of Library Services Karen Mellor and Director of Cranston Public Library Ed Garcia to speak about the issues facing these community resources.

Reed said libraries are among the nation’s best institutions, where everyone is welcome to connect to an entire world of information.

Amo recalled when he would use the Pawtucket Public Library as a young student. He said the library helped change his life.

From using the library’s internet when he had none at home to asking the research librarian for help to look up facts about history and government, Amo said those experiences are part of the magic that happens at libraries.

“That magic just doesn’t happen accidentally,” Amo said. “It’s invested in, it’s prioritized.”

If IMLS is cut, many of the services libraries provide would be affected. One of them is interlibrary loans.

Interlibrary loans are a service that allows a library’s patrons to access materials beyond their local library’s collection by borrowing them from other libraries. Last year, the Cranston Public Library requested 150 books from outside of Rhode Island, Garcia said.

According to the Cranston Public Library 2024 Impact Report, the library provided more than 63,000 interlibrary loans to other libraries, and it received more than 94,000 interlibrary loans from other libraries.

According to an executive summary published by the state’s Office of Library & Information Services, last year the Cranston Public Library and the Warwick Public Library had the second- and third-highest volume of incoming interlibrary loans in the state, respectively. The Warwick Public Library received more than 63,000 interlibrary loans in 2024 and provided more than 35,000 to other libraries in the state.

The Marian J. Mohr Library, which serves Johnston, received over 10,000 interlibrary loans in 2024 and also provided over 10,000 loans to other libraries. Director Jon Anderson estimates that roughly 20,000 visitors came to the Mohr library last year, and that the library had over 5,000 library card holders and roughly 50,000 physical materials in circulation.

Other resources, such as the summer reading program, e-book and audiobook lending, statewide delivery and the Talking Books Library program, which helps lend special reading materials to the blind or physically handicapped who are unable to read standard print materials, would also be affected by these cuts.

Warwick Public Library Director Aaron J. Coutu-Jones says that the most important thing the government can do is to provide services for everybody and taking that type of option away is ineffective.

According to Mellor, more than 400,000 Rhode Islanders have library card, but many more without cards use the libraries as community resources.

“It’s these agencies that create an educated public; they make us human,” Mellor said.

In 2024, Cranston Public Library branches had over 235,000 library visits. With about 34,000 library card holders, the system saw a total physical circulation of more than 433,000.

The Warwick Public Library recorded 216,661 visitors across its four branches in its 2023-24 annual report. Among its 25,112 library card holders, the total physical circulation in the system came to more than 367,000 materials.

“When we rally for libraries, we rally for the heart of our communities – our libraries, our museums, our educators and our future,” said Garcia in the press release.

With one fight delayed for now, Mellor says the challenge is now the budgetary elimination of IMLS. In March, Trump signed an executive order that demanded the closing of IMLS, along with several other government agencies.

Rhode Island fought the executive order, with Attorney General Peter Neronha filing a lawsuit in Providence to join 20 other state attorneys general, according to Garcia. A federal court in Providence granted a preliminary injunction on the executive order, essentially leaving it stalled.

“President Trump’s plan to cut funding for Rhode Island libraries and museums to pay for tax breaks for billionaires is cruel and shortsighted, and we are determined to fight back,” Magaziner said.