I’m a school librarian, but I’ve been on the ‘friends of the library’ board of my local public library for about 8 years. Every month we’d meet, the librarians would tell us about the great programs they had planned, and we’d decide how we could best support them.
That is, until last night. For the first time since I joined the board, the librarian talked not about the great upcoming programs, but the programs they’d have to cut. The visiting musicians and authors they could no longer afford. The technology grants they can no longer apply for. The grants they had been awarded, but will no longer receive, putting them on the hook for the cost.
This is all because POTUS defunded the IMLS (The Institute for Museum and Library Services) which funds this sort of grant. My small town is missing out on great activities because a billionaire literally took a chainsaw to the library funding. No matter your political leanings, I can’t see how this ‘makes America great.’
Ironically, this library is a Carnigie library. It was paid for by a billionaire, and decades later, it’s being dismanted by other billionaires.
