Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) has been supporting libraries, archives, and community organizations in our city and around the state for more than 50 years. Our membership reflects the depth and richness of New York City; from small community archives to our city’s museums and research institutions, our members are dedicated to documenting the history and culture of our city.
We strongly oppose President Trump’s budget proposal, which seeks to completely eliminate cultural agencies and social services that directly support our communities. We strongly oppose the defunding of these organizations and the defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
The work IMLS does benefits all Americans. Through research, policy development, and grant making, IMLS supports a full range of library and museum services that promote learning, innovation, and civic engagement. It supports educational programs that have fostered new generations of public servants, and strengthens efforts to preserve and make available art, science, and history collections that are essential to American cultural heritage. Defunding IMLS will have a crippling effect on the nearly 158,000 libraries and museums that currently serve the American public.
We stand in support of the IMLS, and we stand in support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and other organizations this budget proposes to eliminate.
We were grateful and inspired last week to read statements from library leaders to raise our voices against emerging budgets and policies that threaten our public service organizations, our values and our communities. METRO will continue to work with a variety of individuals, groups, and allied organizations to ensure that our voices are heard on this issue.
Please join us in contacting our representatives in Congress. Local action is the most powerful tool we have in making our voices heard.