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Even George W. Bush Liked Libraries: Why Trump’s War on the IMLS Is an Attack on America’s Soul [1]
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Date: 2025-05-11
Remember when Republicans at least pretended to care about public institutions?
Even George W. Bush—hardly a progressive hero—recognized the value of libraries. His wife Laura made library advocacy a core First Lady initiative, and his administration supported the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a tiny federal agency that distributes grants to over 120,000 public libraries and 35,000 museums nationwide. In fact, the IMLS was reauthorized in 2018 with unanimous Senate support—and was signed into law by Donald Trump himself.
But that was then. Today, Trump 2.0 has aligned himself with Project 2025’s scorched-earth plan to eviscerate the federal government. On March 14, he signed an executive order gutting the IMLS. Within days, 80% of its staff were placed on leave, its advisory board was dismantled, and grant funds—already appropriated by Congress—were canceled.
The justification? So-called “efficiency.” The real reason? Cultural warfare.
Elon Musk’s grotesquely named Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) publicly bragged about canceling $25 million in “wasteful DEI grants,” one of which provided Braille books to blind patrons in California. Another grant DOGE targeted? A Laura Bush-era initiative supporting minority librarians and research into youth literacy trends. This is not reform. It’s petty, ideologically driven sabotage.
The human cost is staggering. State libraries in South Dakota are closing. Rural bookmobiles in Arkansas are gone. Holocaust museum digitization in St. Louis is stalled. Tribal libraries in New Mexico have slashed programming. And in places like Ohio, Alaska, and Mississippi, access to e-books, job training, and after-school services has vanished overnight.
Luckily, the courts are pushing back—for now. In two separate lawsuits, a Bush-appointed judge and a Rhode Island federal court have issued injunctions blocking further layoffs and grant terminations. But Trump’s latest budget proposal zeroes out all funding for the IMLS, the NEA, the NEH, and PBS.
Let’s not be naïve. These programs don’t cost much—IMLS’s annual budget is under $300 million—but they offer massive return on investment, up to $26 for every dollar spent. This isn’t about saving money. It’s about dismantling public services, silencing educators, and undermining the communities that rely on them.
Libraries are democratic infrastructure. They’re hubs of knowledge, equity, and opportunity. They serve everyone—especially those most often left behind. For Republicans to gut them under the guise of “efficiency” is both dishonest and dangerous.
If we let this happen, we’re not just losing books—we’re losing one of the last spaces in America that doesn’t require a purchase to walk through the door.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/11/2321749/-Even-George-W-Bush-Liked-Libraries-Why-Trump-s-War-on-the-IMLS-Is-an-Attack-on-America-s-Soul?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
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