On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Woodrow Wilson Center at the Smithsonian Institution “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” While the full impact of this order is still unfolding, museums that rely on IMLS resources should take immediate steps to safeguard critical information. IMLS websites and databases may be taken down soon, limiting access to funding guidelines, research reports, and professional development materials. If your institution depends on these resources, now is the time to download and archive what you need.
If your museum has an active IMLS grant, there’s reason to believe that existing awards will be honored, but based on past experience with federal grant funding disruptions, delays are highly likely. Be proactive in communicating with your IMLS program officer, tracking your grant-related expenses, and preparing contingency plans for potential funding interruptions.
This Executive Order may also signal broader cuts to federal cultural funding. It wouldn’t be surprising to see similar threats to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Gallery of Art, and even the Smithsonian Institution. If these agencies are reduced or eliminated, the impact on museums, historic sites, and cultural organizations nationwide will be profound.
If your museum is affected by these potential cuts, now is the time to act. Inform your board, staff, members, and community stakeholders about what this means for your institution. Contact your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to protect federal support for museums, libraries, and cultural heritage. Without direct advocacy from the field, lawmakers may assume these cuts will go unnoticed.
For more details, see the full Executive Order here: White House Executive Orders.
Continue to speak up! Museums, historic sites, historical societies, and libraries matter—let’s make sure Congress knows it.
Engaging Places 
We can only pray.
I could write a book about how dependence on Federal and even State govt $ damaged all but the richest 10% of museums.
I also hope they take down NEH and NEA – ironic because I benefited from NEH early in my career. But then it changed and got worse, more admins, more difficulty in accessing support and utterly elitist and oblivious to what the little guys do and offer.
Ugh
Bill Hosley
>
LikeLike
“The richest 10% of museums”? Bill, that’s a gross exaggeration. I just checked the grants that IMLS provided in the last three years in Maryland and it includes museums in the bottom half of the range, including the Baltimore Museum of Industry, Chesapeake Children’s Museum, Banneker Douglas Museum, Sandy Spring Museum, Gaithersburg Community Museum, and Port Discovery Children’s Museum. Yes, some museums in the top of the range received grants (e.g., the Walters Museum), but Congress hasn’t enacted legislation to restrict funding only to certain budget sizes.
But you’re probably more familiar with the museums In New England. IMLS provided grants to many small and medium-sized museums, including the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House, Arlington Historical Society, West End Museum, Forbes House Museum, Fairbanks Museum, Victoria Mansion, Brick Store Museum, L. C. Bates Museum, Newport Historical Society, Tomaquag Museum, Manchester Historic Association, and Sandwich Historical Society.
I don’t believe any of these museums became dependent on federal funds because they received grants from IMLS, NEH, or NEA–unless you have some evidence I’m not aware of.
LikeLike
You have no idea – and they don’t. For example – here in New England – there are more than 1000 museums – most are community-based historical orgs – often run by volunteers. If you think the grantsmaking industrial complex is structured in a way that is accessible to smaller orgs – they’re not. I would be embarrassed to require orgs to submit extensive proposals (and follow up reports) for a measly $5000 grant. Amounts that small ought to be applied for in a process that takes a half hour to learn and apply.
LikeLike
March 31, 2025 update: The Institute of Museum and Library Services has placed its entire staff on administrative leave. The IMLS is a relatively small federal agency, with around 70 employees, that awards grant funding to museums and libraries across the United States. The agency’s staff was notified by email about being placed on paid administrative leave for 90 days, had to turn in government property, and email accounts were disabled. More at https://www.npr.org/2025/03/31/nx-s1-5334415/doge-institute-of-museum-and-library-services
LikeLike