I have a contact with the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) and I have been in conversation with them about the latest headlines regarding the slashing of funding at the (Federal) Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and its implication for Texas Public Libraries.
I'm keeping my source anonymous but this is what I have learned so far:
"We will be scheduling an Office Hour session for early next week as we catch up on things here and monitor IMLS news. I did notify Library Directors yesterday that the agency received notice from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that IMLS staff are no longer available to respond to questions about the availability of federal funds used to support TSLAC programs for libraries, including the annual Interlibrary Loan Lending Reimbursement Program. Without information on the status of these funds, we have notified libraries that we do not anticipate awarding ILL lending reimbursement grants for SFY 25.
The
current contract for statewide SHAREit access is paid through December
2025. We will certainly keep libraries apprised of any other updates
related to
federal funding."
I was curious about TSLAC's previous contractual arrangement with OCLC for access to Navigator Resource Engine (NRE) and OCLC Worldshare for Texas Public Libraries which they subsidized. I wanted to know if these came from allocations from the Texas Legislature or from IMLS? This was the answer I got:
"Yes, TSLAC’s previous contracts with OCLC for NRE and WorldShare ILL subscriptions were paid for fully with IMLS funds. Federal funds support all of TSLAC’s library assistance programs in Texas to some extent, including interlibrary loan, training for small community library managers, statewide summer reading programs, competitive grants, databases, and technology assistance to libraries.
Let me know if I can provide additional information."
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