NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On March 14th, President Trump signed an executive order that would eliminate the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The IMLS funds the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL), as well as an inter-library loan service called the MeL Catalog (MeLCat), that allows for libraries to send materials to each other.
Negaunee Public Library Director Jessica Holman says that if this funding is cut, libraries could potentially lose easy access to the millions of items currently available.
“It’s still rather overwhelming to think that our amazing inter-library loan system and state way databases could be lost,” said Holman.
The defunding of MeL is a major concern for public library services because of it’s accessibility. The program offers all Michigan residents free access to online articles, full-text books, or digital images at any time. In 2024 alone, over 19 million online resources were used by students through MeL.
“MeL is celebrating 20 years, so it’s really ironic that we could be losing it with the loss of federal funding,” said Holman. “I think a lot of people use it and don’t realize what it is.”
In Michigan, these programs are provided with a hard return of $27 per tax dollar. This makes it much easier for libraries to afford their resources.
“Just today I was talking to one of my vendors on the phone and said ‘I can’t commit to buying the books that you’re offering at a good discount right now, because I don’t know what funding I’m going to need to reallocate for MeLCat, if we lose the federal funding,'” said Holman.
Efforts are being made in libraries across the country to advocate for the institute and the services its provided for years.
More information can be found at Michigan.gov.
