How federal cuts could affect your local Maryland library

By Sheilah Kast,

Melissa Gerr

Published August 13, 2025 at 10:05 AM EDT

Located at the historic Main Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, the State Library Resource Center (SLRC) serves as the physical library presence for the Maryland State Library Agency (MSLA). Photo: MSLA — Located at the historic Main Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, the State Library Resource Center (SLRC) serves as the physical library presence for the Maryland State Library Agency (MSLA). Maryland libraries get millions of federal dollars for some of their most creative projects, and they’re fighting to hang onto it. Photo: MSLA

Among the seismic budget cuts propelled by President Trump, you may have missed his executive order March 14 essentially dismantling a small agency you hadn’t heard of, “The Institute of Museum of Library Services.” Why are librarians in Maryland upset, and what does any of it mean for you?

It turns out that the IMLS has been sending Maryland libraries about $3 million a year, which they use for digital access, lifelong learning, staff training, youth services and other projects.
Maryland’s State Librarian, Morgan Lehr Miller, explains what’s at stake and what’s being done to save the funding

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Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.

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Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

See stories by Melissa Gerr