Since President Trump retook office on January 20, libraries and librarianship have been assaulted via executive orders and other actions.

While the legality of many of these actions is still being decided by the courts, librarians, archivists, and other information professionals have been working through the confusion to preserve access to information. Below are several examples of the challenges libraries have faced over the past two months and the ways in which librarians and advocates have responded—and continue to respond.

Institute of Museum and Library Services threatened

On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to eliminate “non-statutory components and functions.” While it is unclear which of IMLS’s functions will be determined statutory or nonstatutory, IMLS staff jobs and funding for library programsacross the country are at risk. An American Library Association (ALA) statement and call to action released on March 15 opposes the order, highlights many ways that “libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits.”
White House, Mar. 14; ALA, Mar. 18; AL: The Scoop, Mar. 16

Previously available public data deleted

Starting in late January 2025, thousands of federal web pages have been altered or removed, preventing public access to information on a range of topics related to science, health, equity, and foreign assistance programs, among others. In response, information professionals are banding together to preserve the affected information and provide alternative access. The Data Rescue Project, maintained by a consortium of three data organizations, is the clearinghouse for these efforts, tracking who is rescuing which data and where it can be found now. The project’s website also highlights libraries across the country providing patrons with information on how to access federal data and help preserve it.
The New York Times, Feb. 2; Wired, Feb. 1; The New Yorker, Mar. 14; The Data Rescue Project

Employees fired from federal libraries and the National Archives

There is no official tally yet of federal library workers who have lost jobs from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, but probationary federal employees—those who have been at their jobs less than two years—have been fired  at multiple federally operated presidential libraries. At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, firings forced the library to close for a day. Firings have also hit the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library Museum and Boyhood Home in Independence, Missouri, and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas.

At the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Colleen Shogan, former archivist of the United States—a position that oversees government records—was fired on February 7 by President Trump. US Deputy Archivist William “Jay” Bosanko subsequently chose to retire. ALA signed a joint letter to the White House on February 11 outlining the threats these staffing changes pose to the collective memory of the country and Americans’ ability to access their history. The Society of American Archivists also issued a statementcondemning the firing at NARA and employees at other cultural institutions.
WBUR (Boston), Feb. 19; KSHB-TV (Kansas City, Mo.), Feb. 18; CBS News, Feb. 7; CBS News, Feb. 15;Freedom of the Press Foundation, Feb. 12; Society of American Archivists, Feb. 25

Books removed from school libraries on military bases

As a result of executive orders aimed at removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) materials from federal spaces, school libraries on military bases have been told to remove for review books the Department of Defense describes as “potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics.” Books flagged for review include No Truth Without Ruth, a biographical picture book about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, written by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Nancy Zhang; Freckleface Strawberry, a picture book by actor Julianne Moore, and Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by Vice President J. D. Vance. On February 2, ALA and the American Association of School Librarians released a statement calling the order calling the order “censorship of legitimate views and opinions that violates the First Amendment rights of those who serve our nation and their families.” On March 6, hundreds of students on Defense Department campuses in Europe and Asia staged a coordinated protest of the removal of library books and other materials.
The Guardian, Feb. 13; PEN America, Feb. 19; ALA, Feb. 2; Stars and Stripes, Mar. 6

The fates of federal grants remain unclear

The Trump administration’s January call for a pause to all federal grants through the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) has led to conflicting guidance from OBM on which programs will be defunded—although there has been a marked focus on ending DEI-related programs. Two separate injunctions have been levied against the funding pauses in federal courts in Rhode Island and in Washington, D.C. With federal funding in limbo, organizations have come out in support of further funding for cultural institutions—including the Authors Guild, EveryLibrary, and the American Alliance of Museums. ALA’s Show Up for Our Librariesinitiative calls on supporters to share stories of how libraries have benefited their communities and provides other tools to illustrate to government officials the importance of library funding.
NPR, Jan. 29; NPR, Jan. 31; NPR, Jan. 28; The Authors Guild, Mar. 5; EveryLibrary, Jan. 28; American Alliance of Museums, Jan. 28; ALA, Jan. 22