E-books are on the line as Congress considers future of library funding

Show Caption

CROFTON, MD ‒ Claire Holahan, 34, takes her toddler to the library once or twice a week for story time so she can play with other children and the library's toys.

It's not until after bedtime that she has time to click open her own e-book, downloaded from the library.

"I don't want to have a collection (of paper books). It seems kind of wasteful. … I'd rather just take it out from the library and then somebody else borrows it and gets to enjoy it," she said.

Holahan is among millions of Americans who could lose e-book access from their local library under the budget bill the House is now considering. At President Donald Trump's request, it eliminates federal funding for libraries and museums, which is often used to fund e-books, among other services.

Without e-books through the local library, "I would have a hard time reading as many books as I do," Holahan said.

States' libraries to lose as much as half their funding

The Institute for Museum and Library Services, a tiny, little-known federal agency, provides grants to states that account for 30% to 50% of state library budgets, according to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

For decades it has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved funds through grants to state libraries in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and to library, museum and archives programs. It serves 35,000 museums and 123,000 libraries across the country, according to its website.

The impact of losing the money will be different in each state because each spends its portion of the funding differently.

Some will have to fire staff and end tutoring and summer reading programs. Others will cut access to electronic databases, end intra-library loans or reduce access to books for the deaf and blind. Many will have to stop providing internet service for rural libraries or e-book access statewide.

With the expectation that Congress won't buck Trump and fund the museum and library services institute, the future of these backbone "compassionate" library services is now under discussion across the nation, said John Chrastka, founder of EveryLibrary, a nonprofit that organizes grassroot campaigns for library funding and blocking book bans.

It isn't clear whether states will be able to fill the gap left if federal funding ends, especially with other responsibilities the Trump administration is passing off to the states, such as requiring them to pick up a larger share of Medicaid costs and a percentage of food assistance benefits for the first time, along with changing education and disaster funding.

“We cannot possibly at the State Library save our way out of an $8 million hole,” said California State Librarian Greg Lucas. “The state’s budget isn’t in real great shape on its own, and so the badness is compounded by these actions by the federal government. It’s kind of, 'OK, where are we going to go?' There aren’t any easy answers to this.” 

The institute 'shall be eliminated'

On March 14 Trump issued an executive order eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

The order states that the institute must be reduced to its "statutory functions.” It also requires that “non-statutory components and functions … shall be eliminated.”

The proposed budget would cut federal funding for libraries and museums from nearly $300 million to $5.5 million. The agency's budget justification says the remaining money is for "sunsetting" or ending the agency.

Requests for comment about the cuts sent to an institute spokesperson and to the Labor Department, where acting institute director Keith Sonderling is deputy secretary of labor, were not answered.

After the majority of the institute's staff were laid off in late March, state libraries in California, Connecticut and Washington were abruptly told their state grants had been canceled and received almost no other information.

Panicked, Mississippi temporarily halted ebook lending so it wouldn't be accountable for the cost while the future of funding was in doubt.

The state grants for California, Connecticut and Washington were restored May 5.

Then came another letter from the museum and library services institute telling states that they were getting only 50% of their allocated funding. To get the rest, states needed to fill out a questionnaire about how the libraries were complying with Trump's executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion, plus how they were supporting American's education needs and America's 250th anniversary.

On April 4, 21 states sued in federal court, saying Trump couldn't end the agency without permission from Congress. The judge ordered the institute to reinstate grants and staff until the case is heard. 

Congress, which must approve the agency's shutdown, had been scheduled to discuss its funding in late July but pushed it off until after its summer recess ends in September.

Struggling to afford e-books, despite 'huge appetite from the public'

Losing the money for e-books would be particularly hard for states, Hoboken (New Jersey) Public Library Director Jennie Pu told Paste BN.

Interest in e-books spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, but digital copies of books cost far more than paper, and licensing agreements come with strings.

Libraries pay three to five times as much for an e-book than what they cost in a private sale. Anecdotally, Pu said, some cost $70 a title.

Some major publishers lease e-books to libraries for two years, with the limit that only one patron can check out each digital copy at a time. Other licensing agreements expire after a set number of checkouts or are a mix of the two methods. 

“We're spending more and more money in our budgets toward e-books. There is a huge appetite from the public,” said Pu, adding that her library saw a 20% increase in e-book use this year. “We are so committed to meeting that need from the public, and our challenge is we don't have an unlimited source of funds."

In May, the Connecticut Legislature passed a law aimed at reducing the cost of e-books to libraries. New Jersey and other states have introduced similar legislation.

California hopes to spend as much of its remaining federal funding as possible putting more e-books into its 300,000-item statewide catalog, said Lucas, the state librarian.

The goal is to make sure the 8,700 people in Modoc County, one of the least populous places in the state, have access to the same e-books and audiobooks available to the 9.6 million people in Los Angeles County ‒ home to the second-largest library system in the country, Lucas said.

Part of what the State Library still needs to do is figure out how to pay the yearly $146,000 in platform fees to keep providing access to the e-books and audiobooks it has. And it hopes to save some of the other services usually funded by the federal grant, like the California Revealed program, which digitizes audio, video, photos and newspapers to preserve state history, Lucas said.

Because federal money is distributed based on population, his state has the most to lose ‒ roughly $15 million, according to Lucas.

“We’re operating under the assumption there’ll be no federal money to support us," he said.

'Always on his Kindle'

At the Crofton Community Library in Maryland, patrons are greeted by boxes of free fresh vegetables. Dozens of house plants decorate the shelves and window sills, absorbing the light from windows that run from the tops of bookshelves to the ceiling.

A buzz fills the room from kids working on an art activity for the summer reading program, which Maryland's State Library helps fund with its federal grant. Adult patrons talk with the librarians or with one another at broad wooden tables.

Amanda Kelly, 30, of Crofton told Paste BN that every time her family moves to a new Air Force station, she immediately finds the local library to begin building their new community. Her children played in a garden outside as they waited for a summer reading event to start.

Her husband is "always on his Kindle" reading library e-books, she said, while she prefers paper copies.

"I don't agree with cutting funding for libraries at all, never," she said. "That stinks."

Other patrons said they check out audiobooks for friends, use the library for its social aspects or attend classes there, ranging from chair yoga to how to avoid online scams. Only one of the dozen people who spoke to Paste BN knew that the federal library funding might be cut.

Marquita Graham, 42, of Upper Marlboro told Paste BN she often brings a group of children, including several with special needs, to the Crofton library for story time, as well as to use the computers and read-along audiobooks.

"I'm shocked," she said. Ending library services "would be sad."

We want to hear from people affected by or who have knowledge of the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the government, including actions by DOGE.

Know something others should? Reach out at swire@usatoday.com or Signal at sarahdwire.71