When the Dubuque Museum of Art was awarded a $74,979 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) last year, it wasted no time working to put the money toward its intended purpose: hiring and training new staff and facilitating school visits to the museum.
But the museum doesn't actually have the money it was awarded. The funds, which are paid out through reimbursements, remain with the IMLS, and as of March 31, all 70 members of IMLS' staff have been placed on administrative leave.
Last month, President Donald Trump made Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling the new acting director of the IMLS after naming the service — which awards grant funding to museums and libraries across the United States — in an executive order that lists seven federal agencies he wishes to dismantle.
The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403 said in a statement that all work processing 2025 grant applications has ended in the absence of staff.
“The status of previously awarded grants is unclear. Without staff to administer the programs, it is likely that most grants will be terminated,” the union wrote.
DuMA Executive Director Gary Stoppelman knows that the museum may never see the funds it was awarded.
"We've made the hire. We were about to begin the training, but we will not be able to submit those invoices because there's no one to process them," he said.
The IMLS awarded $266 million in grants and research funding to cultural institutions last year. Since 2020, it's allotted over $10 million to the State Library of Iowa, which in turn provides support and resources to all 543 public libraries across the state through various programs.
The Science Center of Iowa, which was awarded $196,046 last year, may not be able to move forward with an internship program it had hoped to implement if the IMLS disappears, but President and CEO Curt Simmons also sees the longer-term impacts.
"Organizations like IMLS have really been the foundation of investments in career development for museum and library professionals and new product development for museums and libraries, underwriting substantial amounts for updating our exhibits," he said. "I'm very concerned about the longer-term impacts, over the next three to five years and longer, that we will see traveling exhibits diminished quite a bit and not nearly as available."
Stoppelman echoed his concerns.
"What's important to us is that our community can see how federal support empowers local impact," he said. "National issues can feel so distant, but what IMLS provides to the Dubuque Museum of Art, and to our community, is literally jobs and educational experiences."
