By HILLEL ITALIE
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has named a new acting director for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, one of seven independent government agencies cited in a recent executive order calling for their dismantling “to the maximum extent of the law.”
Trump said that the order “continues the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary.”
Since taking office, Trump has shuttered or drastically curtailed agencies, including the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Institute of Museum and Library of Services, or IMLS, is a key source of funding for museums, libraries and educational institutions.
What is the Institute of Museum and Library Services?
IMLS was established in 1996 by a Republican-led Congress and has a mission to “advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development.” The institute combined the services of previous government agencies, including the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the Institute of Museum Services.
It distributes thousands of grants nationwide, totaling in recent years to more than $200 million annually. Awards in 2024 ranged from $240,000 for the Chicago History Museum to more than $1 million for several state library training programs named for former Republican first lady Laura Bush to nearly $25,000 for the Lorain Historical Society, which is based in the Ohio hometown of Nobel laureate Toni Morrison.
A spokesperson for Bush declined comment.
Who is the new director?
The new acting director, Keith Sonderling, had recently been confirmed as deputy secretary of the Department of Labor and was from 2020-2024 a commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He replaces Cyndee Landrum, who had been named acting director in March 2024.
“I am committed to…
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