Former director of Institute of Museum and Library Services says it may not survive Trump's cuts

By Steve Kraske,

Published April 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM CDT

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Giant spines of books appear to be sitting on a lawn. They form the exterior of a building. Leafy trees frame the right side of the frame. — The Central branch of the Kansas City Library features the spines of books on the exterior of the building

President Trump's cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services will impact hundreds of millions of dollars in grant-funded projects around the country. Crosby Kemper, a former director of the Kansas City Public Library who served as IMLS director for four years, worries the agency will be eliminated entirely.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that shrunk many federal agencies — including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, or IMLS.

Then, that agency placed nearly its entire staff on administrative leave, leaving the future of $260 million in grant-funded projects for libraries and museums in limbo.

Crosby Kemper, who was the director of the Kansas City Public Library for 15 years, also served as IMLS director from 2020 to 2024. He told KCUR's Up To Date that the staff at the federal agency had been preparing for significant cuts.

"But, like a lot of the things that are going on with the DOGE process, it's not clear if (the Trump administration wants) the agency to survive at all. And so, it may be that they're going to eliminate it," Kemper said.

Crosby Kemper, former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services