By Sarah Cromwell
May 20, 2025
The answer is yes. Libraries allow people of all ages to gather and exercise their imaginations while improving their reading skills and finding community. They’re public places that don’t require any purchases from the people in them, and no time limit is set for someone’s visit aside from opening and closing times. Libraries provide crucial spaces for community members but have been experiencing various troubles lately.
Recently, federal loans and grants that go to libraries have been suddenly cut off. Most of this funding had gone to support new librarian training or to various community needs that libraries can address. Initiatives like literacy and language classes, voter registration aid and citizenship courses could be harmed due to less funding. These cuts could have devastating effects on communities across the country, leading to the shutdown of local programs that people rely on.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has also experienced hardships due to recent cuts from the Trump administration. This institute, which serves 35,000 museums and 123,000 libraries, was forced to put its employees on indefinite leave as it was cut down to only the bare bones of operation. Loss of this organization will make it much harder for public libraries to support their communities, as the Institute of Museum and Library Services support basic resources such as internet access, books for the visually impaired and programs for people entering the workforce.
Local and state governments are also overlooking libraries, not just the federal government. The Lansing school district revealed plans for new elementary schools last year, which did not include space for libraries. Instead, students would be relying solely on in-classroom collections. Libraries can also offer a quiet and safe environment for students who need to wind down from the chaos of classes. In-classroom libraries don’t offer the same kind of privacy, so eliminating designated library spaces also eliminates these safe havens.
Not including libraries in schools greatly limits the reading materials for students, and it also gets rid of the librarians, who can recommend books and teach essential media literacy skills. A study conducted by the School Library Journal found a significant correlation between schools with fewer librarians and lower standardized test scores. Relying on in-classroom libraries won’t be a sustainable solution, especially in elementary schools. These students often finish their books fairly quickly, and smaller libraries may mean students won’t have enough material to last them the entire school year.
Not only would relying on in-class libraries negatively impact the students, it would impact the teachers as well. Teachers already spend money out of their own pockets to supply their classrooms with organization tools and supplies. A survey conducted by the New York Times reported that for 94% of teachers, spending money that was not reimbursed, and on average $500 was spent for the whole year. Although seemingly not much when spread over the whole school year, $500 per year makes a big difference throughout a whole career. This money is usually spent all at once at the beginning of the school year, which can leave teachers short on the money they need to live.
Teacher’s salaries are often low already, especially in Michigan, and they are still being asked to buy things necessary for their classrooms with their own money. Katie Youmans, a Secondary English Education major at MSU, has already started collecting books for her future classroom. She recognized that it would be tough to supply a full classroom library on short notice and that teachers often don’t get financial help in this regard. Youmans has kept young adult books that she read for her college classes to later put in her classroom. With those books, she feels that she is making a good head start on a classroom library, but this shouldn’t have to be the norm for new teachers. If schools start relying on in-classroom libraries, teachers may need to spend even more money to supply their students with enough books so they have an adequate selection.
Luckily, due to the fierce backlash from parents and the community, the Lansing school district did not go through with the library-less school plans. The Michigan Senate has also introduced three separate bills that would protect school libraries and librarians.
Public libraries and museums are still threatened by the rollback of funding from the national government. Libraries now need support from their communities more than ever. Get books from your local library instead of buying them from large companies like Amazon or Target. Donate books that you no longer want. There are a lot of options around Lansing! Volunteer your time to help community programs keep running. Contact local and state governments and express support for your local library. There are many ways to help, so pick one and get to it!
Sarah Cromwell is a second-year student majoring in English, with minors in writing and German. She has a soft spot for libraries and can be found most days listening to music or with her nose in a book.