<
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/tribal-communities-risk-losing-local-libraries-history-hold-doge-cuts-rcna203508>
"Inside a 90-square-mile stretch of rural reservation between the eastern Jemez
Mountains and the banks of the Rio Grande River sits the Santa Clara Pueblo
Community Library, an anchor for the northern New Mexico tribe it serves.
Internet service across the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation is sparse, the
tribe’s governor, James Naranjo, told
NBC News, and resources to expand
access to technology and literacy programs for its 1,700 members are already
stretched thin.
Naranjo said the library relies on federal grant money to build bridges between
the tribe and otherwise out-of-reach services — grants that could be on the
chopping block thanks to cuts by the Trump administration.
The Pueblo’s was one of more than a hundred libraries on federally recognized
tribal lands across the country that were notified by the Institute of Museum
and Library Services (IMLS) — a small federal agency responsible for funding
local libraries and museums across the country — that their congressionally
appropriated grant had been terminated midcycle, according to an IMLS
spokesperson.
“IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with
the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States
and the IMLS Program,” one letter, obtained by
NBC News from a tribal grant
writer who received it, said. “IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a
new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda.”
The letter was signed by Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, whom
President Donald Trump appointed as acting director of the IMLS in March. Days
before Sonderling’s appointment, Trump signed an executive order directing the
agency, and six others, to be eliminated to the “maximum extent consistent with
applicable law.” Only Congress holds the legal authority to shut down the
agency.
Trump’s March 14 order instructed the IMLS — which guarantees states and
sovereign tribes can provide the public with free access to myriad services
like early literacy resources, Braille books, internet access and STEM and
cultural programs — to cease all operations, slash staff and provide a report
to the Office of Management and Budget detailing proof of compliance."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
