‘It’s being killed’: Federal grant termination hits SnoCo libraries

EVERETT — Snohomish County libraries could see a reduction in programs after a federal agency terminated a $3.9 million grant to Washington state on Wednesday.

Each year, the Washington State Library receives funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Grants to States program, funding appropriated by Congress.

On Wednesday, Keith Sonderling, acting director of Institute of Museum and Library Services, sent a letter to the Washington Secretary of State’s office saying that grant had been terminated. The grant was “unfortunately inconsistent with IMLS’ priorities,” Sonderling wrote.

“We wish you well,” he added at the end of the letter.

On Friday, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown joined 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to “stop the targeted destruction” of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, according to a press release.

The grant funding pays for 32 staff members who work out of the state library’s office, Washington State Librarian Sara Jones said. It helps support local museums, pays for training programs for librarians, and funds libraries in correctional facilities and hospitals. It also pays for state programs that assist an even greater number of local libraries.

“We’re in completely uncharted territory here,” Jones said in an interview Friday. “We get the grant and aid award, which the federal government says to the state government, ‘You are going to get $3.9 million this year, you are to spend it and then ask us to pay you back.’ For all of this time, that’s how it’s happened … That’s like a check. You can count on it. It’s coming. Well, we can’t count on it now.”

Jones received the grant termination notice the same day she submitted a request for a $1 million reimbursement, according to the lawsuit.

“The cancellation of the grant may cause the library to fail to meet its financial obligations,” the lawsuit read.

Thirty percent of the grant goes toward the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, Deputy Secretary of State Randy Bolerjack said in an interview Thursday. While the library is located in Seattle, it provides services statewide to anyone unable to read standard print materials. The cut could also threaten professional training and consulting services the state provides to libraries facing budget and censorship challenges, Bolerjack said.

The Everett Public Library system does not currently receive any direct grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, but it has in the past, director Abigail Cooley said Thursday. Grants previously funded internet hotspots, Chromebooks and citizen science kits provided to community members who could perform weather measurements.

Currently, the library receives assistance through state programs that are funded via Institute of Museum and Library Services grants. Federal grant funding supports access to two online databases — LinkedIn Learning and Gale Resources — offered by the Everett Public Library. It also pays for employee training for library staff and research utilized by libraries across the state.

The Everett library was also in the process of upgrading its internet service — set to be installed in just a few weeks — when the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced grant funding would be terminated. The library had already put $7,000 toward the project while grant dollars were set to cover the remaining $30,000. The new internet system would reduce costs for the library and provide better service.

“If we don’t receive the funding for that, we’d have to revert to the more expensive product,” Cooley said. “Which means we’re going to have to absorb that cost somewhere else.”

And absorbing those costs could prove challenging. Everett’s libraries already took a hit in December after the city cut the department’s budget by 12% — forcing it to reduce its open hours to save costs.

Those cuts came as part of an effort from the city to prevent a $12.6 million deficit after a property tax levy lid lift failed in August 2024.

“On a local level, we’re experiencing budget reductions, and we know the state doesn’t have the capacity either. The state is in a challenging and difficult budget cycle as well,” Cooley said. “We don’t have that funding locally to be able to supplement those funds.”

Over the past five years, Cooley estimated the Everett library received about $100,000 in federal grant funding, or about 0.00000001% of the $6.75 trillion annual federal budget.

“Libraries are extremely frugal and thrifty. We do a lot with a little,” Cooley said. “To take away the little that we do have has detrimental impacts on everybody, right? And those who most need it are the ones that are impacted.”

The Monroe Correctional Complex library will see a reduction in personnel from two staff members to one and will not have funding for new materials, said Washington State Department of Corrections spokesperson Jim Kopriva. In 2022, the state put money toward its library system to support a second librarian in correctional facilities throughout the state, Jones said. Federal grants pay for the other employee.

“We do not have enough to fully support everyone working in the facilities right now,” Jones said.

Sno-Isle Libraries — a regional library system that includes 23 libraries in Snohomish and Island counties — does not receive direct funding from the federal grant, said Sno-Isle Libraries spokesperson Susan Hempstead. But it relies on places that do for programs and partnerships.

“We’re all a network of libraries, and we want to be better, and so if someone gets a grant to work on innovative programming or new skills for our library staff, it’s all shared,” Hempstead said.

Federal funds have supported state and local library systems since the 1960s, Jones said. The Institute of Museum and Library Services became an independent agency in 1996. In total, about 70 people work for the agency. They have all been placed on administrative leave, Jones said, and could all be terminated by May.

“I’m really kind of in a grieving process,” she said. “… It feels like it’s being killed. Maybe it’s been killed already.”

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.