"Why don't you just apply for a grant?"
IMLS Museums for America. $5K-$250K. I've cataloged 4,000+ filmstrips and digitized 1,300+, freely available on Internet Archive. But you have to BE a museum: public hours, exhibits, the works. Preservation work without a building doesn't qualify. #preservation #IMLS #grants #archives #museums #digipres
"The Institute of #Museum and #Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 #grant cycle. But this time, it has unusually specific criteria."
"In cover letters accompanying the applications, the institute said it “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump’s vision for America."
Another blow to #American #democracy! The historically troubling descriptor "glorious leader" is implied.
Former Institute of Museum and Library Services leaders from both political parties expressed concern that the new funding guidelines could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history.
Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant Guidelines Take Political Turn Under Trump – ProPublica
Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump
Former Institute of Museum and Library Services leaders from both political parties expressed concern that the new funding guidelines could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history.
by Jaimie Seaton for ProPublica
February 6, 2026, 10:30 am
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
A library in rural Alaska needed help providing free Wi-Fi and getting kids to read. A children’s museum in Washington wanted to expand its Little Science Lab. And a World War I museum in Missouri had a raft of historic documents it needed to digitize. They received funding from a little-known federal agency before the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to dismantle it last year.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle. But this time, it has unusually specific criteria.
In cover letters accompanying the applications, the institute said it “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump’s vision for America.
These would include those that foster an appreciation for the country “through uplifting and positive narratives,” the agency writes, citing an executive order that attacks the Smithsonian Institution for its “divisive, race-centered ideology.” (Trump has said the museum focused too much on “how bad slavery was.”) The agency also points to an executive order calling for the end of “the anti-Christian weaponization of government” and one titled Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again.
The solicitation marks a stark departure for the agency, whose guidelines were previously apolitical and focused on merit.
Former agency leaders from both political parties, as well as those of library, historical and museum associations, expressed concern that funded projects could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history. Some also feared that by accepting grants, institutions would open themselves up to scrutiny and control, like the administration’s wide-ranging audit of Smithsonian exhibits “to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
The new guidelines are “chilling,” said Giovanna Urist, who served as a senior program officer at the agency from 2021 to 2023. “I think that we just need to look at what’s happening with the Smithsonian to know that the administration has a very specific goal in mind when it comes to controlling the voice of organizations and museums across the country.”
An agency spokesperson told ProPublica it is not unusual for the institute to publish directors’ letters with grant applications, and that this one informs readers “about this Administration’s thematic emphases in the semi-quincentennial year.” He did not comment on criticisms that those letters insert political themes into a historically nonpartisan program.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, IMLS is working to revitalize our cultural institutions, urging less traditional applicants to consider working with us, and to promote civic pride and a deep sense of belonging among all Americans,” he said, adding that any institution that “meets programmatic requirements and goals” outlined in the funding opportunity “will receive all due consideration and undergo peer review.”
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant Guidelines Take Political Turn Under Trump — ProPublica
#AmericanHistory #ControlFunding #FundingGuidelines #IMLS #InstituteOfMuseumAndLibraryServicesIMLS #JaimieSeaton #PoliticalTurn #Politics #ProPublica #SmithsonianInstitution #Trump #TrumpAdministration #Voices
Hello Fedi! We are the still-in-progress Twin Cities Radical Community Archive. This project aims to collect, preserve, and increase access to left-wing, working-class activism in the Twin Cities metro, both historically and currently.
#GLAM #IMLS #Galleries #Libraries #Archives #Museums #Minnesota #MSP #Minneapolis #StPaul #TwinCities #Antifa #Labor #Activism #History #Introduction
Yeah, this husk of the IMLS that remains can get lost with this re-alignment with bigotry.
It'll be years if not a full decade of recovery. So many people have been screwed this past year, and now we should take this "opportunity" to do further harm?
Nah. How's about no.
#IMLS #RealEvalTalk #museums #libraries #glam #funding #uspol
Former Institute of Museum and Library Services leaders from both political parties expressed concern that the new funding guidelines could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history.
SEND AN EMAIL: Stop Trump's Executive Order Attacking Federal Funding for Libraries | EveryLibrary Action
Congress must pass the last parts of the federal budget that include the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) by January 30th.
"220,000 Fewer Workers: How Trump’s Cuts Affected Every Federal Agency."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/09/upshot/trump-workforce-cuts-table.html
Eye-opening, stomach-turning table of the staff cuts to 500+ federal agencies, Nov 2024 - Nov 2025. Plus a search engine to find the cuts for a given agency. Some examples:
#NASA, down 6%
#NIH, down 18%
#HHS, down 18%
#NOAA, down 20%
#CDC, down 22%
#OSTP, down 26%
#NSF, down 29%
#NEA, down 34%
#IMLS, down 59%
#NEH, down 73%
#DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
#AAS247
Are you mentoring students on their 1st research project?
Help them start strong on literature search w/ a Library Carpentry lesson on the next-generation interface to ADS
SciX: Open Science Discovery Engine
iPoster 407.02 terminal 27
Thu Jan 8, 2026, 9 AM MST
Screenshot of lesson summary
#library #NASAscience #openscience #FAIR #IMLS #ORCiD #ExploreAstronomy #astronomy #heliophysics #planetaryscience #ADSabs #SciX @SciXCommunity #digitallibrary #LibraryCarpentry
Uncommon Ephemera
Global Museum
Just Jim
DrWeb
TC Radical Community Archive
Jeremy
Karen E. Lund 💙💛
petersuber
Jennifer Lynn Bartlett
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmit