The American Library Association (ALA) is back in court fighting for libraries.
Yesterday, ALA and a coalition of 13 partner organizations filed an amicus brief in Rhode Island v. Trump, a lawsuit brought by 21 state Attorneys General urging the First Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold an injunction against the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful attempt to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through an Executive Order.
IMLS is the federal agency that provides essential coordination, research, and funding for the nation’s libraries, museums, public gardens, aquariums, zoos, and other cultural institutions.
The brief details how the Executive Order has already curtailed critical grantmaking, halted data collection, and left libraries and museums without the technical expertise needed to serve the public. It highlights that IMLS grants and expertise enable libraries and museums to modernize, expand access, and preserve critical collections; and that cuts to IMLS staff and programs will have an out-sized impact on rural, low-income, and Tribal communities that rely on federal support. Dismantling IMLS would severely diminish access to information, education, and cultural resources. The brief urges the court to affirm the district court’s preliminary injunction, which keeps the agency operational while litigation continues.
Rhode Island v. Trump is parallel to ALA’s own challenge to the dismantling of IMLS, filed in April. Groups signing the amicus brief emphasized that the administration’s refusal to spend congressionally appropriated funds undermines vital public services and threatens communities nationwide.
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“IMLS is indispensable for libraries, museums, and cultural workers, as well as the millions of people we serve every day,” said ALA President Sam Helmick said in a statement. “We hope the court will strike down the attempt to dismantle IMLS, which the law directs to provide crucial funding, research and resources that advance our shared missions: stewarding our history, strengthening access to lifelong learning, seeding opportunity and sparking innovation for all Americans.”
The organizations joining ALA in the brief include the Association of Research Libraries, the Association for Rural and Small Libraries, the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums, the Urban Libraries Council, the American Association for State and Local History, American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the American Public Gardens Association, the Association of Children’s Museums, the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Association of Science Museum Directors, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Read the brief here.
Parallel to its efforts to preserve IMLS through litigation, ALA is leading an advocacy campaign to secure congressional funding for the agency in fiscal year 2026. For more information about the “Show Up For Our Libraries” campaign, visit ala.org./showup.
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