A sweeping cut in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget could put the future of libraries — and major research funding for the iSchool at Syracuse University — at risk.

The proposal calls for the complete defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency that is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s museums and libraries. IMLS is also a major provider of funding for research and projects focused on improving the services these institutions provide, including at SU’s School of Information Studies. For professors in the school, the cut would not only be harmful to them, but a loss for the nation, they said.

“The total budget of IMLS is $230 million, which is an insignificant fraction of the total federal budget, so cutting it will make almost no difference to the deficit,” said Kevin Crowston, the associate dean for research in the iSchool, in an email. “But losing that support will be a huge loss for the museums and libraries it supports and the communities they serve.”

The IMLS primarily provides funding to programming at libraries and museums that fall outside of regular day-to-day operations. Another portion goes to supporting innovative research focused on improving these places, a key research area in the iSchool, which offers a master’s degree in library and information science.

Crowston said the school and its research faculty are currently receiving a total of $2.4 million from IMLS, which accounts for 20 percent of the iSchool’s sponsored funding. The supported projects include development of a website that would promote creative thinking and a method for libraries to connect local experts with residents.

While losing the IMLS would hurt researchers, Crowston said it would also hurt the communities that benefit from libraries and museums, which the research is meant to improve. Crowston, who called the cut “short-sighted,” said the benefits of the educational and professional services provided by community institutions outweigh the burden of the program.

“Really, the cutting is symbolic: making points with the right wing rather than a serious policy position,” Crowston said. “And even more, cutting services that serve the general public to be able to cut taxes for the wealthy.”

Bei Yu, an associate professor in the iSchool, said in an email that IMLS has been key for her in her early career, just as libraries are important parts of children’s lives. She received a $386,025 grant from IMLS for the development of a plug-in that would help researchers sort through citations in databases more efficiently. Her paper on the project won an award at iConference in China earlier in March.

Libraries are also key to the early careers of students, Yu said. She pointed to the Fayetteville Free Library, which has opened a “Fab Lab” that encourages kids and adults to use 3-D printers and other machines for hands-on learning in the sciences.

“We need more workers with STEM skills in the future workforce,” Yu said. “The museums and libraries have been soil for young STEM minds to sprout and grow before they choose STEM major.”

Professors in the iSchool who have received funding from IMLS said the cuts would ultimately hurt those who need and use libraries, like kids in Fayetteville. Marilyn Arnone, an associate professor of practice, said her projects have received about $2 million from IMLS and those funds have helped others.

She, along with other iSchool professors, helped develop S.O.S. for Information Literacy, a database of lesson plans for librarians to help kids learn how to use, find and evaluate information, using IMLS funding. Currently, IMLS is supporting a project Arnone is working on called the Young Innovators Project, which is connecting youth with mentors in their community to promote innovation and critical thinking.

Both of these programs benefit children, and consequently the future, Arnone said.

She said research shows that young people who have access to books ultimately do better in school, which is one of the reason libraries, she said, are so important. Defunding library programing, Arnone said, could also widen the digital divide between the rich and poor because a lot of extra programming is about computer education. She said she doesn’t think the administration has thought about this, though.

“They’re looking at the short-term benefits without thinking of the long-term outcomes,” Arnone said.

Ruth Small, the director of the Center for Digital Literacy at the iSchool, said this is not the first time a president has threatened to cut funding for IMLS, but it is the first time it has been slated for complete elimination. Small said she understands that the president may want to scale back federal spending, but she doesn’t think he and his advisers understand the major impact small agencies like IMLS have on the country.

That pushed Small to send an email to Trump a few weeks ago. She said she urged the president to think about the widespread impact of libraries and IMLS, with which she has worked on over a dozen projects over the past 15 years. One of her most recent projects was one that trained librarians on how to work with people with disabilities.

“Libraries are the cornerstones of our culture, so anything that would take away support from those institutions, which do so much good for so many people, and are free. … It’s just unconscionable to me,” Small said.

Published on March 28, 2017 at 11:06 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu