Federal funding, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Vermont Historical Society

On Friday, March 14, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” This Executive Order called for an immediate defunding of seven governmental entities, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

Vermont Historical Society currently has two active grants with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). IMLS funds our COVID-19 oral history project, and we are hopeful that the federal government will honor its obligation to reimburse us for the remainder of those expenditures.  

The other IMLS grant is for our new Activating 21st Century Local History Training Program. Through this program, we work closely with local historical societies to assess and improve their collections. IMLS provides funding for a wonderful staff member, who is working to create a program to enhance access to Vermont history and treasures at local historical societies all over Vermont. Due to Friday’s executive order, it appears that funding may stop by the middle of April.  

Without IMLS funding, we will have to lay off that staff member and thereby discontinue the Activating 21st Century Local History Training Program. Defunding IMLS will affect our ability to do our work at the state level and to support active engagement with history at the local level.  

Loss of the IMLS will severely impact the support provided to Vermont’s local libraries through the Vermont Department of Libraries. 

History is housed in libraries. Libraries hold the books that tell our stories, they have rich histories that are intertwined with our towns and villages, and often the local historical society is housed right in the library. Local libraries are community hubs, where children congregate after school and older Vermonters access resources. Many rely heavily upon the programs and grants that IMLS funds. Now and in the coming months, our libraries will need our support. 

We will continue to press on with our work. We will host Vermont History Day and Vermont Eats. We will house Vermont’s treasures, advance scholarship, welcome visitors to the Vermont History Museum and the Leahy Library, and offer resources to Vermont’s educators. And, to the best of our ability, we will continue to support the invaluable work of our local historical societies and museums.  All of this is done with your donations, membership, volunteer hours, and encouragement. We cannot thank you enough for all you do for the Vermont Historical Society.