Public libraries on the line

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Marketplace

News, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Along with some other federal agencies, the Trump administration has attempted to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It’s a small agency, but public libraries across the country rely on its funding. The loss of federal grants isn’t the only thing these community hubs are up against. On the show today, Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, explains how public library funding works, the challenges presented by the shift to digital media, and what the culture wars look like on the ground at public libraries.

Later, listeners share their thoughts on the new No Tax on Tips and Overtime laws. Plus, a librarian answers the Make Me Smart question.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

"The Trump Administration Is Threatening Libraries, Museums, and Other Nonprofits That Support the Arts, Humanities, and Learning" from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
"Libraries are cutting back on staff and services after Trump's order to dismantle small agency" from AP News
"1 big thing: Libraries' e-book battle" from Axios
“No Tax on Tips” Is an Industry Plant" from The New Yorker

We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email [email protected].

Transcript

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1:06.3	Hey, everyone. I'm Rima G-Rais. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us.
1:12.9	And I'm Kimberly Adams, still in Aspen, hanging out at a conference. It's Tuesday, July the 29th.
1:19.0	And we want to talk today about libraries. So for the past few years, public libraries have been the target of conservative groups and now the second Trump administration
1:28.6	from book bans to new funding threats, and they've had to grapple with changing technologies
1:34.1	and the rising of AI at the same time. Yes, so today we are talking with Sam Helmick, president
1:42.0	of the American Library Association. Sam is here to make us
1:45.2	smart about the challenges libraries have been facing and the role they play in our communities. Sam,
1:50.4	welcome to the show. Oh, Rima, Kimberly, it's so great to be with you today. Earlier this year,
1:56.5	the Trump administration moved to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which led to
2:02.7	staffing cuts, grant cancellations, ongoing legal battles. And so just to start, can you explain to us
2:10.4	what this funding supports? That's a great question. And I might even jump back to the first
2:16.5	administration under Trump that
	...

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