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Title: US libraries cut ebook and audiobook lending programs following Trump
executive order

Date: Tue, 20 May 2025 20:51:14 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/mobile/us-libraries-...

In the latest episode of How to Dismantle Public Services in 12 Easy Steps, a
Trump executive order targeting libraries has real-world consequences. The AP
reported over the weekend that libraries across the country are cutting
programs that offer ebooks, audiobooks and other loan programs. These
initiatives exploded in popularity following the pandemic, with over 660
million people globally borrowing them in 2023 ΓÇö a 19 percent annual
increase.

The cuts and slashing of grants followed a Trump executive order issued on
March 14 targeting the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). His
appointee to helm the agency, Keith E. Sonderling, quickly signaled that he
was there to do the president's bidding. He placed the IMLS's entire staff on
administrative leave, sent termination notices to most of them, canceled
grants and contracts and fired everyone on the National Museum and Library
Services Board.

Federal judges have temporarily blocked the administration from further
gutting the IMLS. But while lawsuits from 21 states and the American Library
Association make their way through the courts, the agency's federal funding
remains frozen. And libraries are scrambling to adjust.

If you've ever used your library to borrow an ebook or audiobook through an
app like Libby or Hoopla, there's a good chance federal funding made that
possible. Libraries purchase digital leases for ebooks and audiobooks from
publishers, enabling them to lend titles to patrons. The leases typically
cost much more than physical copies and must be renewed after a set period or
number of checkouts.

With library digital borrowing surging, those federal funds went a long way
toward keeping the programs afloat. Mississippi has indefinitely suspended
its Hoopla-based lending program.

The IMLS was created in 1996 by a Republican-controlled US Congress. The
agency has an annual budget of under $300 million, with nearly half of that
amount allocated to state libraries, which, in turn, help fund local
libraries' digital lending programs. "The small library systems are not able
to pay for the ebooks themselves," Rebecca Wendt, California's state library
director, told the AP.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/mobile/us-libraries-...
programs-following-trump-executive-order-205113868.html?src=rss

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