With just a few changes in decor — a blue checkered tablecloth, bowls of peppers and plastic gloves — the program room at the Los Alamitos-Rossmoor Library transforms from a book club to a hot sauce kitchen. Roll out a multicolored carpet and add a pile of kids’ toys, and the space is ready for Kindergarten Readiness Storytime.
“[Libraries] are one of the last public spaces that remain accessible to all, especially without the expectation of purchasing an item or having to justify why you’re there,” said Ramara Rubin, a Library Assistant for Children’s Services at Inglewood Public Library.
While public libraries continue serving their communities, federal funding is in danger, following an executive order President Donald Trump issued on March 14 to continue reducing “unnecessary” parts of the federal bureaucracy.
Subsequently, library services were interrupted in multiple states.
In keeping with Trump’s executive order, the technical supplement to the 2026 federal budget proposes cutting the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ budget from $313 million to $6 million, marking a 98% decrease.
IMLS, which funnels money to state libraries, notified the California State Library in April that a federal grant was terminated, pulling more than $3 million of already-awarded funds for federal fiscal year 2024-25.
Typically, state libraries disperse these funds to consortiums, which oversee groups of libraries.
In Orange County, public library funding comes from the city, county, state and federal levels. They also receive individual donations and money raised by Friends of the Library used bookstores.
“The full impact of the loss of state funding on [Orange County Public Libraries] this fiscal year, and moving forward, is unclear, and the situation is still evolving,” public information officer Danilo Serranilla wrote in an email statement.
Los Alamitos-Rossmoor librarian Jessica Luna read “Calm Your Roar Like a Dinosaur” and “How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Be Kind?” during the July 2 story hour. (Photo by Bella Kim)
At Los Alamitos-Rossmoor and other OCPL branches, programs like storytime make the libraries a vibrant part of patrons’ lives.
Thy Ngo attends storytime with her three-year-old daughter weekly and said it’s very educational.
“Today, they read about how to calm down and take breaths. I think it helps prepare them for preschool,” Ngo said on the first Wednesday of July.
With IMLS at risk of defunding come Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2024-25, public libraries stand to lose federal money that pays for resources like database subscriptions.
No matter the future of IMLS funding, the agency will become inactive if Congress doesn’t renew the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018 by Sept. 30.
“The dismantling of IMLS means a loss of support for grant-based work that helps us do more for our communities,” Serranilla said.
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, 95% of local library funding comes from local governments. Only 5% is from state and federal governments.
In the case of OCPL, they received $355,254 in state grant funding during fiscal year 2024-25, public information officer Danilo Serranilla said in an email. These funds made up 0.38% of their $92,483,785 annual budget.
In July 2024, OCPL announced that it received a $75,000 Sustainable California Libraries grant from CSL. The State Library administers this grant, among others, with part of its annual funding from IMLS.
With the sustainability grant, OCPL introduced a “Library of Things” at each of its branches. The Library of Things houses garden tools, kitchenware, crafts, games, instruments, technology and more — all are available for patrons to check out, promoting resource sharing across Orange County.
Normajean Janssen enjoys OCPL groups like mystery book club and movie club because she explores titles she may not have by herself. “It broadens your sense of belonging,” she said. (Photo by Bella Kim)
Based on data from CSL, during fiscal year 2024-25, public libraries in Orange County (including OCPL and city library systems) received a total of approximately $6,739,941 in grant money. This excludes statewide grants and grants awarded to multiple counties.
About 97.5% of the money came from state-funded projects, and 2.45% came from federally funded projects.
Federal funds made up just .068% of OCPL’s government funding for fiscal year 2024-25.
Cities with larger tax pools and more extensive urban library systems may not be hit as hard, but rural libraries could feel the effects of budget cuts more, former librarian Kelly Jensen said.
“A small library in rural California may not be able to cover the cost of whatever program IMLS was helping to fund,” Jensen said.
Additionally, tribal and prison libraries rely more on money from IMLS.
“Those that are going to bear the brunt of the loss of IMLS — if IMLS is, in fact, gone in the next budget — are going to be the people who most need these library services,” Jensen said.
As for Orange County libraries, what happens when local government funding starts disappearing, too?
Facing a budget deficit, the city of Orange — which has city libraries separate from the OCPL system — made cuts to the Orange Public Library in January.
Charlene Cheng, public information officer for Orange, said in an email statement that hours were reduced at the three OPL branches to reflect their busiest hours, and several staff positions were frozen or remain vacant. The savings? $900,000.
Brady Fendt is the secretary for the Friends of the Orange Public Library, an organization that donates 100% of their profits to new books, events and other library services.
With outside donations and their main source of revenue, book sales, FOPL funnels an average of $50,000-$70,000 per year into the library system, Fendt said.
In the city’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget, adopted June 24, Orange decreased library spending by approximately 29.6%.
“We had to close the library one day to save staff, and it’s limited the amount of new books that are coming in,” Fendt said. “The board is now working on what we do best: selling the books we receive as donations.”
Rubin sits on the California Library Association’s Board of Directors and said library workers in other parts of the state lost their positions due to reduced funding.
“Most libraries are trying to find ways to acquire funds in other ways, whether that be fundraising or other private sources of funding,” Rubin said.
Because OCPL receives a large percentage of its government funding from the county, federal cuts are unlikely to heavily impact its daily operations. Richard Hurt, chair of OCPL’s advisory board, said he doesn’t have “any worries.”
“I don’t see our staff backing down from any of the needs in the community,” Hurt said. “Even if they had cuts, they’re still in our neighborhoods, making sure everybody has the resources they need.”
Read more library news
Looking for more information on IMLS cuts and the impact on libraries? Library defenders say libraries are a gap in news coverage.
“There are great library-focused outlets, but those meet library industry folks. That leaves behind the average person,” Jensen said.
Below are sources keeping up with library news, so you can too. Click here to view in PDF.
Kelly Jensen
Jensen, an editor at Book Riot, covers library advocacy.
- “We Can Still Save the Institute for Museum and Library Services”
- “A Timeline of IMLS Cuts, Lawsuits, Impact to Libraries, and More”
Library/book outlets
- Book Riot
- American Library Association
- EveryLibrary > Save IMLS
- Library Journal
- Lit Hub
- Publishers Weekly
- Penguin Random House
Local news
Check local news for updates that may not reach larger outlets.
- “Seed libraries sprout across OC” – Voice of OC
- “State Library secures full federal funding, will resume interlibrary loan deliveries” – South Dakota Searchlight
