SLA Opposes Elimination of IMLS Funding

White House, Congress urged to reconsider budget proposal that would harm nation’s ‘knowledge and culture infrastructure.’

McLean, Virginia, 20 March 2017—The Special Libraries Association and its member librarians and information professionals urge President Trump and members of Congress to reconsider the proposal to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in the president’s fiscal year 2018 budget.

“The president has rightly emphasized the need to upgrade America’s transportation and utility infrastructure,” said SLA President Dee Magnoni. “But there is another, equally important infrastructure that needs support—our knowledge and culture infrastructure. Cutting funding to our libraries and museums will have a devastating effect on our collective ability to understand our world and each other, at a time when we desperately need to cultivate a greater appreciation of our differences and learn how to leverage them to our collective benefit.

“Our nation’s libraries and museums are more than just centers of learning—they are the glue that binds together the mosaic of our diverse ideas, experiences, and cultures,” Magnoni continued. “Funding cuts to our libraries and museums will ripple throughout our communities and weaken the bonds that tie us together. Now more than ever, we need to strengthen those bonds.”

About SLA
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is a nonprofit international organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners. SLA serves information professionals in dozens of countries and in a range of working environments, including business, academia and government agencies. SLA promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy and networking initiatives. For more information, visit sla.org.

Contact:
Kate O’Donnell
kodonnell@sla.org
+1.703.647.4900