Advocacy Statement in Support of the Institute for Museum and Library Services and its Staff
2025-03-31
The Council for Museum Anthropology (CMA) stands in support of strong and continued funding for IMLS. We are deeply concerned about recent federal actions directing drastic and abrupt cuts to IMLS. These cuts threaten essential grant programs and resources that benefit museums of all sizes across the country. They come only two months after IMLS launched the first-ever National Museum Survey to document the scope and scale of museums’ presence and reach within the United States.
IMLS is the only federal agency providing dedicated support for museums and libraries. It provides critical funding to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement, as well as collections care at US institutions. When museums and libraries flourish, so do our communities.
Using only .0046% of the federal budget, IMLS funds projects through many high-impact programs like Save America’s Treasures; The 21st Century Museum Professional (21MP) program; Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP); Connecting to Collections Care training (C2C Care); Sustainability Tools in Cultural Heritage (STiCH); and the Museums for America program, which supports US museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public. These resources may disappear if IMLS’s non-statutory functions are eliminated.
CMA offers this statement as one of high priority for museum and heritage professionals, scholars, community partners, and local, state, and federal governments. We urge our members and supporters to learn more and take immediate action to share their views and raise awareness.
- IMLS is funded through the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education (Address: H-307 The Capitol, Washington, DC 20515; Chair: Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (AL), Ranking Member: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT)); and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education (Address: S-128 The Capitol, Washington, DC 20510; Chair: Sen. Tammy Baldwin (WI); Ranking Member: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (WV)).
- Contact your members of Congress: Share personal stories of how IMLS funding has supported your work, institution, and local community. Customized messages have a stronger impact. The American Alliance of Museums has templates and more here: https://www.aam-us.org/2025/03/17/urgent-act-now-to-save-imls/ ; https://www.congressweb.com/aam/94/.
- Reach out to state and local officials: Inform them about the potential consequences of IMLS funding cuts on local institutions and their services.
- Reach out to your institutional leadership and board members to make them aware of this threat and ways to share support.
- Additional resources: The American Alliance of Museums and American Libraries Association are leading national efforts on this topic: https://www.aam-us.org/2025/03/17/urgent-act-now-to-save-imls/; https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls; https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/03/20/trump-order-threatens-university-libraries
By advocating together, we can help protect the essential role of IMLS in sustaining museums and their contributions to society.
—CMA Executive Board
This statement represents the view of members of the Council for Museum Anthropology. It should not be construed as representing the American Anthropological Association as a whole. The American Anthropological Association is a voluntary, non-profit, scholarly association. Membership is worldwide. It has diverse sections representing specialized interests within the field.
