The staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services has been placed on administrative leave as the Trump administration continues to work toward the elimination of the IMLS “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” per a March 14 executive order. The agency is responsible for distributing federal funding to libraries.

The staff was placed on leave March 31 for 90 days, during which time employees will not have access to their emails or other job-related tools. According to AFGE Local 30, which represents IMLS employees, the inability of the staff to process applications means that the grant process for this year has ended and that all grants and contracts will likely will be suspended and then canceled. Whether any employees will be allowed to return to work after the 90-day period is unclear. The action does not come as a surprise, as AFGE said in mid-March that it had been notified by DOGE officials that the staff would likely be placed on leave soon.

The looming threat of the elimination of the IMLS had prompted protests from all parts of the library world and led two Democratic and two Republican senators who authored the 2018 Museum and Library Services Act to write a letter to acting IMLS director Keith Sonderling stressing that IMLS funding should be renewed in accordance with statutory requirements.

“We expect that the Administration will implement the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025 in a manner consistent with these allocations enacted in Fiscal Year 2024,” the bipartisan letter read, noting that Congress appropriated $294.8 million for IMLS in the fiscal year 2024.

Prior to the letter from the senators, the National Museum and Library Services Board sent a letter to Sonderling, which characterized “core statutory obligations that are not discretionary” as all programs that have been “authorized by law and funded by Congressional appropriation.” And on April 3, the board sent Sonderling a second letter, noting that its members were “disappointed to learn of this significant operational change not through internal communications but through news reports.”

In that letter, the board pointed to the spread of seemingly conflicting information about the leave—specifically, that it “was implemented suddenly and comprehensively” despite some reports that “suggest that a small number of staff may have been recalled”—in asserting that “the absence of communication from the agency’s leadership to its statutory advisory body has created an information vacuum in which speculation and uncertainty replace transparency and confidence.” It also requested clarity from Sonderling on “what activities and functions, if any, are being undertaken by the Division of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with respect to agency operations,” among other questions.

Reaction from the book world to the actions taken by DOGE has been swift and cutting. EveryLibrary Institute, which advocates on behalf of libraries, issued a statement expressing its “deep appreciation and unwavering support for the Institute of Museum and Library Services staff.” Given the important work IMLS is involved with, the statement continued, ”we cannot allow IMLS to be dismantled by executive action.”

ALA president Cindy Hohl also offered support to IMLS employees in a statement, stressing that any significant reductions to the staff would undermine the agency’s ability to carry out the programs that have already been approved. “We are exploring all possible policy and legal responses to this order,” Hohl said, adding that the ALA will mobilize library supporters nationwide to return IMLS employees to their jobs. “ALA calls on IMLS Acting Director Keith E. Sonderling to continue funding for IMLS grants and return the staff needed to manage those funds to benefit the American people as mandated by Congress.”

Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged sees the gutting of IMLS as part of the broader effort to limit what people can read. "At a time when book bans are on the rise, these cuts threaten to further limit access to information, education, and inclusive stories," Yaged said. "At Macmillan, we remain steadfast in our commitment to fighting book bans and proudly stand with authors, librarians, teachers, booksellers, and fellow readers in defense of the freedom to read."

This story has been updated with further information.