In its efforts to reduce the federal government, the Trump administration put public libraries on the chopping block by cutting the department that provides nearly $295 million in grants to libraries and museums across the country.
San Luis Obispo County libraries don’t face the threat of closing, as they’re primarily operated through county, city, or donated funds. But the cut federal dollars may result in a loss of programs that many families rely on.
In a March 14 executive order, the White House announced that it was “continuing the reduction of the federal bureaucracy,” ordering the elimination to the “maximum extent” of a slew of federal programs, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an independent federal agency that supports libraries, archives, and museums in all 50 states and U.S. territories.
The executive order said that the eliminated agencies were those “that the president has determined are unnecessary.”
Letters of opposition flooded in after the order, including one from U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) who urged the U.S. deputy secretary of labor to reverse the terminations and continue IMLS funding. The letter said that the agency provided $294.8 million in funding to 140,000 libraries and museums throughout the country in 2024. Those who also signed included U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) and Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara).
While many libraries rely on federal funding to keep their doors open, Padilla’s office told New Times that the Central Coast is fairly shielded from library closures. However, it could still lose programs like summer reading and free lunches.
“From summer reading programs for our kids to workforce training supporting small businesses, San Luis Obispo County has 14 public libraries and numerous museums that play a critical role in enriching our local communities,” Padilla told New Times via email.
Paso Robles City Library Librarian Melissa Bailey told New Times that its general operations, like purchasing new books and hiring staff, are all funded through city dollars, not federal.
“The benefit to us locally is that they’re not cutting essential services. So we’re very hopeful and confident that we can continue with our general services, staying open, putting new books on the shelves—all of that is 100 percent covered by the city, and so we’re really, really fortunate there,” Bailey said. “I know that there are a lot of libraries that are really reliant on a lot of federal funding just to keep the doors open.”
But Bailey said the Paso Library has received IMLS funds for various programs and projects, thanks to the efforts of the Paso Library Foundation, a nonprofit group that helps support the library through grant applications.
“The federal cuts are impacting the Library Foundation more than they’re impacting us directly,” Bailey said. “Our summer reading program is heavily funded by the foundation, and some of our other big projects are funded through grants that the foundation applies for us on our behalf.”
These projects included purchasing mobile shelving, sending staff to train on new ways to engage families in early developmental years, and running a summer reading program.
“We do apply, again through the foundation, for funding for things like Lunch at the Library, where we are able to provide summer meals for kids and help combat that food insecurity that we see so often,” Bailey said. “I think locally it’s really going to be impacting the foundation and the opportunity for them to apply for grants on our behalf to get us those extra services and materials that we can use for our community.”
While the library’s funds are secure for this summer, Bailey said she doesn’t know what will happen to them in 2026.
New Times contacted the Paso Robles Library Foundation for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Other libraries funded by SLO County face similar issues, and they also face a different threat: countywide budget cuts to address a $38 million deficit in 2025-26.
With nearly every area of the county feeling the impact, SLO County library budgets are set to be cut by about $2 million, according to the SLO County Board of Supervisors annual budget review on June 5.
What was nearly a $16 million budget in 2024-25 is poised to be $13.8 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
Engagement and Marketing Coordinator of SLO County Public Libraries Erica Thatcher said that despite county and federal budget cuts, the county’s main priority is still maintaining those programs that residents count on.
“Families are our bread and butter, and we want to make sure that we are giving as much support as we can,” Thatcher said. “So, yeah, just really making sure that we’re focusing on learning, early learning, opportunities, books, reading, and families.”
Thatcher said that SLO County libraries have received funding from IMLS through the California State Library in the past to launch pilot programs, like a Tool Library at the Shandon Public Library.
“Usually they’re there for us to pilot programs based on data and needs in communities,” she said. “So if we notice there’s something that’s missing or we know it’s a good opportunity to reach folks, we can use these types of grants to create services and programs.”
According to a letter from the California State Library in response to the IMLS reduction, it had received nearly $16 million in grants from IMLS in 2024-25 to award to California public libraries and has yet to receive the remaining 21 percent of that promised amount.
The letter said the state awarded the funds to provide early learning and literacy programs, like story times and play spaces for low-income families; summer reading initiatives that engage more than a million children and teens; and programs that help at-risk youth develop workforce-readiness skills.
Thatcher told New Times that the budget deficits will allow the county to refocus its priorities on books and reading, although she didn’t specify how it would maintain its programs that best support families.
“There’s a lot going on right now because there’s still a bunch of budget hearings happening at the county level,” she said, “and so, yeah, we’re all kind of waiting.” Δ
Reach Staff Writer Libbey Hanson at lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jun 12-22, 2025.
It is unsurprising but still deeply frustrating that we claim we can’t afford to maintain these federal grants to public libraries (or any number of social programs) but that we can spin up the war machine for a $45,000,000 tank parade or $134,000,000 to send more marines and national guardsmen to LA than there were protestors at the initial events which triggered their deployment. We are lucky that our libraries aren’t anticipating major impacts, but smaller, poorer, and more rural areas across the country are being told that there is no money for their libraries, but that there is enough money to give the DOD a $150B budget increase.