Fired, Defunded, Deleted: How the Trump Administration Is Systematically Gutting America's Libraries
Librarian of Congress fired, E-Rate defunded, and IMLS gutted
On May 8, 2025, the Trump administration abruptly fired Dr. Carla Hayden from her position as Librarian of Congress, nearly a year before her 10-year term was set to expire. Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and African American to hold the position. Her tenure was marked by modernization initiatives, including expanding digital access and fostering inclusion of underrepresented communities in the library's collections.
The White House offered no advance notice, formal cause, or hearings. It sent just a two-sentence email: “Your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”
The administration later justified the termination. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the decision was based on concerns that Hayden was not adequately serving the interests of the American public. She cited her promotion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the inclusion of what the administration deemed inappropriate books for children in the Library of Congress.
Critics, especially from the Democratic Party, have condemned the action. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decried the move as politically motivated and an affront to democratic institutions, calling for future appointments of the Librarian of Congress to fall under congressional oversight.
To understand why this action is not just outrageous, but deeply dangerous, we must first ask a question that’s rarely asked outside of Washington: What is the Library of Congress, and why does it matter so much?
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The Library of Congress: A National Archive, Not a Political Tool
Founded in 1800 by act of Congress, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. It was established specifically to support the legislative branch, ensuring that lawmakers had access to the best information available as they wrote the laws of the land.
By 1870, Congress expanded its scope dramatically. That year, a new copyright law mandated that the Library receive and preserve every work registered for copyright in the United States—books, music, films, software, digital media—all of it. It was not because it was ideologically acceptable or reflected a single version of America, but because it existed and was, therefore, part of the American record.
That’s not just a bureaucratic task; it’s a democratic principle. The Library’s mandate is to preserve the nation’s full intellectual and cultural output, not curate it to fit the politics of the moment. It is a repository of our collective memory, not a propaganda arm of any administration.
No Librarian of Congress has ever been terminated. Until 2015, the role was a lifetime appointment. In its history, there is one known case of restricting items. During World War II, certain items related to LGBT+, gender identity, and other topics were highly limited and segregated from the general collection. It was called the Delta Collection and wasn’t integrated back into the library until 1964, not due to backlash or public pressure, but due to evolving industry ethics, professionalism, and concerns about preservation.
1870s America Could Handle This. 2025 Can’t?
Here’s the irony: the Congress that passed this law in 1870 lived under some of the strictest moral and cultural standards in American history. It was post-Civil War, Victorian, racially repressive, and socially conservative. And yet, that America had the vision to say: “Preserve everything.”
Even during the Cold War and McCarthy era, when fear, censorship, and surveillance peaked, the Library’s only known act of internal restriction, the Delta Collection, was quietly reversed in 1964 as the country began reckoning with the excesses of that period.
Now, in 2025, after decades of internet access, cable TV, streaming violence, and reality politics, the White House is punishing the Library of Congress for doing the job it was created to do. Books about race, gender, identity, and diversity aren’t new. What’s new is the political obsession with controlling who gets to access them.
And it doesn’t stop at the Librarian of Congress.
Quietly Erased: The Elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services
While the nation was distracted by budget theater in the Senate, the Trump administration executed a far quieter but no less devastating maneuver: the near-total dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). As we’ve previously detailed, the midnight executive order that eliminated IMLS was not just a budgetary move but a direct attack on public access to education, culture, and digital literacy.
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The IMLS may not be widely known outside library circles, but it is the only federal agency solely dedicated to supporting America’s 117,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. It funds everything from early childhood literacy programs to rural broadband access, local history preservation, and small-scale digital infrastructure in communities that would otherwise be forgotten.
Its annual budget is around $265 million, a microscopic sliver of federal spending yet with a multiplier effect that touches tens of millions of lives.
By eliminating IMLS, the administration sent a clear message: resources that benefit the public, especially the poor, the rural, the nonwhite, and the curious, are expendable.
Even more chilling, this is not merely a fiscal decision; it’s ideological. IMLS supports programs emphasizing equity, diversity, and community resilience—the values this administration has repeatedly targeted as part of its broader campaign against “wokeness.”
A federal judge has since issued a temporary restraining order halting the shutdown, thanks to a legal challenge by the American Library Association and AFSCME. But the message was clear, and the damage has begun—staff on administrative leave, grants frozen, partnerships suspended. And as The Great Connectivity Heist makes clear, when institutions are stripped of funding, private corporations don’t step in to help; they step in to profit.
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This is how you dismantle public knowledge—not in flames, but in memos. Not with book bans, but with budget cuts. Not with violence, but with erasure. And it doesn’t stop with libraries. It also includes broadband access.
Broadband Access Under Attack: The Death of the Library Hotspot Program
When the Trump administration moved to dismantle the E-Rate expansion that allowed libraries and schools to loan Wi-Fi hotspots, it wasn’t just a budget cut but the intentional destruction of a digital lifeline for millions. As The Great Connectivity Heist outlined, the E-Rate program has long been a pillar of the Universal Service Fund (USF), helping schools and libraries level the playing field in a deeply unequal nation.
This latest move by Congress—scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2025—ends that lifeline. If the House passes the bill, public libraries will no longer be able to provide off-site hotspot access, cutting off internet access to low-income families, rural students, job-seekers, and elders who rely on digital health care and social services.
The administration claims fiscal responsibility. But as we’ve reported, telecom companies continue to profit from E-Rate contracts while lobbying to destroy the very funding structure behind them. It’s not about saving money; it’s about shifting public infrastructure into private hands and taking the public offline in the process.
Adding insult to injury, the Supreme Court is now poised to hear a case that could eliminate the entire USF system, jeopardizing not just E-Rate but also Lifeline, rural broadband, and digital health care subsidies. The lawsuit, backed by dark money groups and telecom interests, relies on a deeply flawed constitutional argument: that the FCC’s funding authority violates the nondelegation doctrine.
If the Court agrees, the result would be catastrophic. Up to $13 billion annually in connectivity programs could vanish, with the most marginalized communities paying the price.
Taken together with Dr. Carla Hayden's firing and the attempted dismantling of the IMLS, this attack on digital access is part of a broader ideological project: to break the infrastructure that connects and informs the public and weaken the institutions that serve those most in need.
The Anti-Intellectual Blueprint: A Pattern, Not a Mistake
The revocation of Biden’s Executive Order 14084, which promoted the arts, humanities, and library services, exemplifies the administration's broader efforts to dismantle educational and cultural institutions. Already facing decades of underfunding, public libraries now confront additional challenges as federal support diminishes. These actions reflect a concerted effort to erode intellectual freedom and equitable access to information.
Libraries serve as vital community hubs, offering educational support, bridging the digital divide, and providing safe spaces for marginalized groups. These institutions' systematic defunding and politicization threaten the foundational principles of democracy and social equity.
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The Authoritarian Playbook: This Is How You Erase a Free Society
Project 2025, a comprehensive policy blueprint developed by conservative think tanks, outlines a vision for restructuring federal agencies and programs. The plan includes proposals to dismantle the IMLS and impose greater political control over educational content, effectively institutionalizing censorship and undermining the independence of cultural institutions.
By targeting libraries and other public institutions, the administration seeks to reshape the public sphere, restrict access to diverse perspectives, and consolidate power. This authoritarian approach poses a significant threat to democratic norms and the free exchange of ideas.
The Choice We Face
Dr. Carla Hayden's dismissal, the IMLS defunding, and the assault on connectivity programs represent a coordinated effort to undermine public institutions that serve as pillars of democracy. Libraries are more than repositories of books; they are sanctuaries of knowledge, inclusivity, and civic engagement.
As highlighted in our previous article, "The Library Is Still Open: A Love Letter to America’s 2nd Responders," libraries have consistently stepped up to support communities in times of crisis. Their role as "second responders" underscores their importance in fostering resilience and social cohesion.
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In an era of increasing polarization and authoritarianism, defending libraries is tantamount to protecting the very fabric of our democratic society. We must recognize the value of these institutions and advocate for their preservation and support.
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Bibliography:
American Library Association. "ALA Praises Service of Dr. Carla Hayden, Decries Dismissal." ALA.org, May 8, 2025.
"Trump Administration Abruptly Fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden." APNews.com, May 8, 2025.
“Report: Project 2025 and the Future of Library Funding.” EveryLibraryInstitute.org, April 2025.
Library of Congress. "About the Library." Loc.gov. Accessed May 2025.
Borsuk, Meghan. "The Delta Collection: Obscenity and the Library of Congress." UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Research 4, no. 1 (2011).
“Trump Fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.” NPR.org, May 9, 2025.
“Trump Fires First Woman to Run the Library of Congress.” TheDailyBeast.com, May 8, 2025.
“Supreme Court to Decide Fate of $8 Billion Broadband Fund.” TheVerge.com, November 22, 2024.
“Trump Administration Fires Librarian of Congress in Two-Sentence Email.” WashingtonPost.com, May 8, 2025.
This must not be overlooked.
This seems to be part of an effort to bring the public to heel.