Director’s Thoughts – 3/19/25
I try very hard to steer clear of politics on this blog, rather focusing my energy on providing children’s book choices for kids of all ages and reading levels. And today’s post wasn’t going to be political, until President Trump signed more executive orders on Friday night and did so before I wrote this post.
Today’s Director’s Thoughts is going to talk about the State Library, and in particular, I’m going to share all the amazing resources my home state of Pennsylvania has in our State Library. But, before I do, let’s do a quick overview. Friday, March 14th, President Trump signed an Executive Order that deems the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) “unnecessary”. While this doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise, during his first term in office he routinely tried to zero out their budget to no avail, this is a more direct attack on a federal agency that is focused on the arts and culture, literacy, and education.
If you want to learn more about the IMLS, you can check out their website or check out a previous Director’s Thoughts post I did last year. Without getting too in the weeds about the IMLS, the agency provides funding to states to support libraries and museums of all kinds. They also provide grant funding and research about these institutions. Obviously, the elimination of the IMLS could be devastating to local libraries across the United States. And just so you know how much of the federal budget we’re talking about – it’s 0.003%.
State Library Resources
While I could probably rail against how I feel about this most recent news, I’d rather do what I do best on this blog and that’s to provide people with information. I’m going to highlight all the great ways the State Library supports the residents as well as local public libraries. And while this information will vary from state to state. The State Library is available to the public, so it’s great to know about what the offer. So let’s jump in.
The State Library of Pennsylvania is part of the Department of Education are recently underwent massive renovations in the beautiful building it inhabits in the state capital, Harrisburg. While the State Library works closely with libraries and library services around the state offering education opportunities for staff, grants for programs and improvements, and the financial component from IMLS, they also offer a number of specific resources for the public.
LAMP
Let’s start with LAMP – Library of Accessible Materials for Pennsylvanians. LAMP provides accessible reading material and devices for Pennsylvanians with reading disabilities. While there is an application to apply for services, this resources opens the world of books to a wide variety of individuals who maybe wouldn’t have the chance to read otherwise.
POWER Library
The State Library also provides POWER Library – a number of online resources available to anyone in the state with a library card. These vary from education research for teens, to language learning, auto repair, magazine archives, teacher resources and so much more. These are online resources that would be cost prohibitive for many libraries to offer their communities. And if you click on the link for POWER Library and scroll to the bottom of the page you’ll see a statement about how all of these resources are provided in part with funds from IMLS.
Additional Resources
The State Library also has print and digital collections that house state and federal documents, rare collections, and PA newspapers. Some of these can be viewed at home, while others require an in-person visit to the State Library itself. And our State Library has a STEMLab that allows librarians and teachers the chance to try out cool new tech, but they also provide programming to the public and offer field trips too!
The Pennsylvania State Library is a supporting organization of both the public and of libraries of all kinds spread across the state. The federal funding that it receives from IMLS is vital to the work that it does and the resources it can provide. If you feel strongly about your local library, state library, or even school library. Please write to your state representatives about how much the library has done for you and your family. Every little bit helps, thank you.
