Libraries do more than just lend books. They offer community events, classes, access to computers — and they help preserve cultural knowledge. But, public funding is being slashed, delayed or taken back as the Trump Administration works to cut government programs. After recent federal cuts, one listener wants to know what’s going to happen to rural museums and libraries across the state.
Austin Amestoy: Welcome to the Big Why, a series from Montana Public Radio where we find out what we can discover together. I’m your host, Austin Amestoy. This is a show about listener-powered reporting. We’ll answer your questions — large or small — about anything under the Big Sky. By Montanans for Montana, this is The Big Why.
Austin Amestoy: Today, statehouse reporter Shaylee Ragar is here.
Shaylee Ragar: Hi, Austin!
Austin Amestoy: I understand you’ve been digging into a question about funding for public libraries?
Shaylee Ragar: Yes. You know, those buildings with the books. These public institutions don’t just lend out books. They offer community events, classes, access to computers and internet, subscriptions to all kinds of things, and more.
These public institutions don’t just lend books. They offer community events, classes, internet access, subscriptions to all kinds of things, and more.
Austin Amestoy: A real one stop shop!
Shaylee Ragar: And for free! Well, actually, pre-paid in taxes. Libraries are publicly funded. And public funding is under a lot of scrutiny these days. That brings us to our listener question.
Dylan Yonce: I’m Dylan Yonce, I’m 24 and I’m from Missoula, Montana.
Shaylee Ragar: Yonce is a recent University of Montana graduate with a master’s degree in history. She researches the relationship between the dispossession of Native American lands and higher education in the American West.
Dylan Yonce: All of the research that I do is supported by archives and libraries and libraries’ staff, and all of the people at the forefront and background that make that experience possible.
Shaylee Ragar: With recent cuts in federal funding, Yonce wants to know what’s going to happen to rural museums and libraries across the state.
Austin Amestoy: Those cuts have been hard to keep track of, Shaylee. What kind of cuts specifically are we talking about here?
Shaylee Ragar: In an executive order, the Trump Administration earmarked the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services for some major funding cuts, laid off nearly all its employees and suspended millions of dollars that go out to local libraries all over the country.
That said, the order has been blocked by lawsuits and that leaves things at the agency, like so many others, kind of in limbo right now.
President Trump has been ordering cuts to a whole host of government programs since January. He says he’s delivering on his promise to cut federal spending across the board. What do these cuts mean for Montana libraries specifically?
Austin Amestoy: Yeah, this is definitely a familiar story. President Trump has been ordering cuts to a whole host of government programs since January. But he says he’s delivering on his promise to cut federal spending across the board. So, what do these cuts mean for Montana libraries specifically?
Shaylee Ragar: It’s still up in the air, and library funding is complicated. I want to start by zooming in to one example and then we’ll take a look at the bigger picture.
I visited Stone Child College on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation recently where I met Librarian Joy Birdwell, an alumna of the college and Chippewa Cree tribal member.
The library is in the main hall of the small college. The space feels cozy and I notice an area rug in the children’s corner depicts animals labeled with their Cree names. Another room is filled with arts and crafts supplies.
Joy Birdwell: And it’s like a makers’ space for the community as well as the college to come in and make cultural items, or they can just come in and be innovative and create whatever they want that’s in the space. It’s completely free and open to anyone who wants to come in.
Austin Amestoy: What does this library use additional state aid and federal grant dollars for?
Shaylee Ragar: Materials, staff, programming, professional accreditation, you name it. Libraries do a lot. And in rural areas, there are minimal resources. Birdwell’s book collection is stacked on rolling book shelves that collapse together to fit in a compact space. Only a couple of aisles are accessible at a time.
Austin Amestoy: How essential are these funds to the library’s operations?
Shaylee Ragar: Birdwell applies for two Institute of Museum and Library Services grants every year. One is for $150,000, the other $10,000 – both specific to tribal libraries. The Stone Child College library consistently received both grants for years, but they lost out on the larger sum the year before Trump took office. Birdwell had to lay off her only full-time assistant. Now, she’s the only employee, with some help from work study students.
Joy Birdwell: And I’m doing the work of like three people. I'm scared that – I hope the library wouldn’t have to close down because of that, that the tribe and college would find funding to help. But if their grants, too, are being cut, will there be any funding for the library?
Shaylee Ragar: Trump’s executive order cut the library’s $10,000 grant that was awarded last fall. Birdwell has appealed that decision, having already spent roughly half of it. Grant recipients are reimbursed after the fact. She has yet to hear back on that appeal.
Austin Amestoy: Why does the Institute of Museum and Library Services offer grants specific to tribal libraries?
The federal government enforced strict assimilation policies on Native Americans in the 1800s. They controlled trade, removed tribes from their land and forced Native children to attend boarding schools with the goal of repressing Indigenous culture, history and language. Tribal libraries are trying to recover what was lost.
Shaylee Ragar: The federal government enforced strict assimilation policies on Native Americans in the 1800s. They controlled trade, removed tribes from their land and forced Native children to attend boarding schools with the goal of repressing Indigenous culture, history and language. Tribal libraries are trying to recover what was lost.
Birdwell showed me the archive room of her library, which remains locked. Shelves and filing cabinets line the walls, books and three-ring binders are stacked every surface. A two-monitor desktop sits in the middle of the room, where Birdwell has spent countless hours digitizing and translating materials. She pulled a weathered book wrapped in plastic out of a locked cabinet.
Joy Birdwell: This is my baby. I want to get this done before I retire. So, hopefully that won’t happen for a while. But yeah, it’s the Old Testament written in Cree syllabics.
Shaylee Ragar: Birdwell is still looking for someone qualified to translate that text. Tackling these tasks gets harder as resources dwindle. So for her, it’s not just staff and resources – these federal dollars go toward reviving cultural knowledge.
Austin Amestoy: Shaylee, I want to step out of this particular library for a second. Tell us about the scope of these federal grant cuts for Montana more broadly. How many libraries and museums will be impacted?
The federal government contributed about $1.4 million to Montana state libraries this year.
Shaylee Ragar: We don’t know for sure yet. What we do know is that the federal government contributed about $1.4 million to Montana state libraries this year. State librarians were concerned that that statutory funding was caught up in Trump’s executive order dismantling the Institute of Museums and Library Services. But again, that order is blocked in court and the money was already appropriated.
Jennie Stapp is Montana’s state librarian.
Jennie Stapp: At this point in time, we believe that that grant funding is secure. We have the funding in hand to continue our operations through at least the next six months.
Shaylee Ragar: And there are other factors at play. Twenty-one states sued over the executive order, but Montana was not one of them. Birdwell says colleagues in those states that sued have had their grants restored, but hers has not been. If there are changes to the state library’s budget, that would have a trickle-down effect to other services and local communities.
Austin Amestoy: How so?
Shaylee Ragar: The state library uses federal dollars to pay for database subscriptions, digital catalogs and purchasing books for the 82 local community libraries across Montana. If that money is cut:
The state library uses federal dollars to pay for database subscriptions, digital catalogs and purchasing books for the 82 local community libraries across Montana.
Jennie Stapp: A library would have to either decide to bear that cost themselves and find ways to reduce spending in other portions of their budget, or they may simply have to go without that service.
Shaylee Ragar: It’s also important to note that although Stapp is confident Montana will receive its full grant that was already awarded for this year, that money isn’t cash in hand. So as I mentioned earlier, there’s lots of uncertainty remaining.
Austin Amestoy: So what happens now, Shaylee?
Shaylee Ragar: It’s a game of wait and see for both large and small grants. Birdwell hopes to hear on her appeal for that smaller grant soon, because the deadline to spend that money is July 1.
Austin Amestoy: We appreciate your reporting for this episode, Shaylee. Thanks for being on.
Shaylee Ragar: No problem, thank you Austin.
Austin Amestoy: Now we want to know what makes you curious about Montana. Submit your questions below, or leave a message at 406-640-8933. Let's see what we can discover together! Find us wherever you listen to podcasts and help others find the show by sharing it and leaving a review.
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