Northfield Library Board Meeting Date: May 14, 2025
To: Library Board Members
From: Natalie Draper, Library Director
Title
Resolution Affirming Support of Minitex Library Services.
Body
Action Requested:
The Library Board passes a resolution affirming their support of Minitex Library Services.
Summary Report:
On April 1st, 2025, library staff received the following statement from SELCO on behalf of AFGE Local 3403 on the status of the Institute of Museum and Library Services:
Earlier today, the Institute of Museum and Library Services notified the entire staff that they are being placed on administrative leave immediately. The notification followed a brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership. Employees were required to turn in all government property prior to exiting the building, and email accounts are being disabled today. Museums and libraries will no longer be able to contact IMLS staff for updates about the funding they rely upon.
In the absence of staff, all work processing 2025 applications has ended. The status of previously awarded grants is unclear. Without staff to administer the programs, it is likely that most grants will be terminated.
We still do not have concrete information on what the loss of federal funding means for services from Minitex and/or State Library Services. We've been told that the funding for federal fiscal year 2024 has been secured which means services should continue through the end of September 2025. At their meeting on March 25, the SELCO/SELS Board passed a resolution in support of Minitex. SELCO shared the resolution (attached) in case Northfield would like to pass a similar resolution.
Given that Northfield is among the heaviest users of MNlink, the statewide inter-library loan (ILL) provided by Minitex and supported in part by federal funding, a statement of support from Northfield would be appreciated. Northfield requests 200-300 items a month via MNLink from outside our regional resource sharing.
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