Libraries and museums in limbo across Texas
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Museums and libraries across Texas could lose crucial funding under a Trump administration plan to shut down the agency that supports them.
Why it matters: Cultural institutions rely on federal money to meet their mission.
Driving the news: In a March executive order, President Trump named the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as one of seven agencies that should be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."
- On Monday, the agency put its entire staff on administrative leave for 90 days after a meeting with DOGE staff, per NPR.
Follow the money: The agency disbursed $12.5 million in fiscal year 2024 to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, which supports public and school libraries and provides reading services for people with disabilities.
- That makes up a third of the state agency's total budget.
Zoom in: Since 2022, the IMLS has approved almost $3.8 million in grants combined for the University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, the city of Arlington, the Fort Worth Public Library and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
- UNT's most recent grants, issued last year, included research into how libraries can offer more immigrant-inclusive services and efforts to train more health sciences librarians.
The intrigue: The IMLS' Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, which funded projects supporting the library and archival workforce, also appears to be in limbo because of Trump's order.
- The program was established in 2003 in honor of the former first lady and North Texan.
Zoom in: Tara Zimmerman, an assistant professor at TWU, was awarded a three-year grant in 2023 to develop a national curriculum that would teach elementary students critical thinking skills about the information they consume online.
- One lesson centered around the popular "Baby Shark" music video and what students observed while watching it.
- The grant included reimbursements to TWU for Zimmerman's and her research assistant's salaries, along with other research costs.
Threat level: Zimmerman isn't sure how she will be paid for her work. She also hasn't been able to contact the IMLS office.
- "I never imagined I'd see our government act so harmfully toward its own people against their best interest," Zimmerman tells Axios.
The other side: "We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country's core values," Keith Sonderling, the agency's acting director, said in a statement.