Federal funding could be cut off for some rural Oregon library services and a long-running statewide reading competition for elementary, middle and high school students, as President Donald Trump works to eliminate a small federal agency that routed money to states for libraries and museums.
Money is also in jeopardy for a state library division that assists libraries at schools and other locations around the state, said Oregon’s State Librarian Wendy Cornelisen.
Trump issued an executive order in mid-March to effectively eliminate the small federal agency that distributes funding to libraries, called the Institute of Museum and Library Services. But the state library had continued collecting reimbursements for spending under its current federal grant through late March.
Then on Monday, the Trump administration placed everyone at the federal library and museum agency on paid administrative leave. Cornelisen said she does not know if or how Oregon will receive any future reimbursements through its grant that was part of funding approved by Congress. She can’t reach anyone at the federal agency for answers.
“There is so much that goes on behind the scenes to make the local library work,” Cornelisen said in an interview Wednesday. “From some change in the couch cushions of the federal budget, we get money from (the Institute of Museum and Library Services) to make this happen.”
Just as the federal agency is small, Oregon’s annual grant for libraries and related services is relatively little: approximately $2.6 million for the current budget year, Cornelisen said. Yet it pays for seven of the 10 state library employees who help local librarians across the state with developing community programming, children’s services and other work. There is more than $980,000 remaining for the Oregon State Library to collect from the current federal grant, according to Cornelisen.
Oregon’s state library has also awarded some of the federal funding to the state’s Oregon Battle of the Books, a voluntary statewide reading competition for students, and to a courier system that allows 77 libraries spread across 15 central and eastern Oregon counties to share books.
Cornelisen said the federal funding covers approximately 35% of the cost of Oregon Battle of the Books, or about $26,000. The competition’s statewide championship will take place in Salem later this month.
Valley Catholic Elementary students discuss an answer during the final round of the Oregon Battle of the Books state tournament in 2011.LC- The Oregonian
Federal funding covers a larger share of the cost for rural Oregon libraries’ Sage courier system: 50%, or $68,000, Cornelisen said. It transports interlibrary loan materials, including to some tiny libraries that don’t have the space or money for large collections.
“It’s one of those economies of scale that really makes libraries in some ways a little bit magic,” Cornelisen said of the courier system. “You can walk in and request a book that your library does not own and they will find a copy for you.”
Library materials circulating between libraries in central and eastern Oregon counties are pictured. Last year, the courier program transported 91,582 items across 15 rural counties in Oregon, between 77 different libraries at schools, colleges and public libraries . Libraries pay half the cost with local funds and the Oregon State Library uses a federal grant to cover the remainder. The Trump administration has placed that grant in jeopardy, through a move to eliminate the tiny agency that administers the congressionally approved money.Baker County Library District
If the federal Library Services and Technology Act grant is ultimately terminated, Cornelisen said the state library will work with its partners to figure out how to proceed but there is currently no plan in place. “There is no precedent for this happening, as this federal grant has been reliably in place for more than 30 years.”
On Friday, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield joined 19 other states’ attorneys general in suing to stop the Trump administration dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services and two other federal agencies, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which helps resolve labor disputes. The group of attorneys general argue in their lawsuit that the president cannot override existing laws on federal spending, according to Rayfield’s office.
In a statement, Gov. Tina Kotek said that Oregonians who pay federal taxes expect those dollars “to come back into the state to improve their lives.”
“Library Services and Technology Act dollars directly benefit all communities, particularly rural Oregon, with programs that help communities stay connected like the Sage Courier service,” Kotek said. “People that live in rural communities shouldn’t have to live with uncertainty about whether or not the resources their community has today will be gone tomorrow.”
Hillary Borrud is an investigative reporter. Reach her at 503-294-4034 or hborrud@oregonian.com.