The federal government has terminated a $15.7 million grant to the California State Library for the 2024-25 fiscal year, cutting off a funding source that helped pay for reading programs, free summer meals for kids and internet access at branches across the state.
The grant was cut midway through the 2024-25 fiscal year, meaning more than 21% of the money had yet to be sent to California for services that were relying on that funding.
Known as Grants to States, it is the largest source of federal funding support for library services nationwide, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It’s awarded under the Library Services and Technology Act and administered by the IMLS.
But that money will no longer be coming.
On April 1, the IMLS informed the State Library — which works with more than 1,000 libraries across California to provide literacy and summer programs and other services, including internet access, homework help and career resources — that the grant was being terminated, effective immediately.
In a letter, the agency cited “alignment with the agency’s updated priorities and the President’s Executive Order 14238, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, issued on March 14, 2025.” The executive order calls for the IMLS, along with six other agencies, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
“This grant is unfortunately inconsistent with IMLS’ priorities. Independently and secondly, the president’s March 14, 2025 executive order mandates that the IMLS eliminate all non-statutorily required activities and functions,” wrote acting director Keith Sonderling.
Sonderling and the IMLS did not return multiple requests for comment.
The termination of the library grant prompted California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with attorneys general in 19 other states, to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, April 4. Bonta alleged that the administration is unlawfully trying to dismantle the IMLS.
“The Trump administration is once again violating the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law by attempting to unilaterally shut down agencies the president doesn’t like, including agencies that give the public access to facts, knowledge and cultural heritage for free or at low cost,” Bonta said in a statement.
In Orange County, officials are still figuring out exactly how the cuts will affect services, but they said several programs are on the line. While local libraries are primarily funded by cities or the county, state and federal grants help pay for various programs.
Dan Serranilla, a spokesperson for Orange County Public Libraries, said the grant funded a range of services, including free tutoring and learning support for adults, public internet access, access to The New York Times and summer reading and meal programs for children and teens 18 and under.
Serranilla said OCPL had received $355,254 from the grant for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
“The full impact of the loss of state funding on OC Public Libraries this fiscal year, and moving forward, is unclear, and the situation is still evolving,” Serranilla said.
One program OCPL offers is Lunch at the Library, which pairs free meals with learning activities during summer months. It was created by the California Library Association and the California Summer Meal Coalition to help prevent summer learning loss, especially in lower-income communities.
Serranilla said the program began locally in 2016 at the Garden Grove Chapman Library. Last year, OCPL partnered with local school districts to offer free meals to children and teens at six libraries: Costa Mesa Donald Dungan, Tustin, Garden Grove Chapman, Garden Grove Main, El Toro and San Juan Capistrano.
Through Lunch at the Library, close to 18,000 hot meals were served last year, and around 200 activities drew more than 17,000 people, Serranilla said.
The future of that program is uncertain.
“We are actively monitoring developments from the California State Library and the California Library Association to stay informed and adapt to these changes,” Serranilla said.
In Anaheim, which operates its own library system outside of the county-run network, the impact is expected to be small. Still, officials say whether some services, including Lunch at the Library, will be able to continue is uncertain, though broad impacts are likely to be limited.
Lyster said Lunch at the Library is funded at $100,000 for this fiscal year.
Most of Anaheim’s library budget — roughly $20 million annually — comes from the city’s general fund, said spokesperson Mike Lyster. The city also receives support through fundraising from groups, including the Anaheim Public Library Foundation and the local Rotary Club.
“So it’s not that there won’t be any impact, it will not be a major impact,” Lyster said.
“We will reevaluate in the new fiscal year, which will start in July. We have the ability to draw on other funding to potentially keep it going. But it is too early to tell at this point,” he said of whether Lunch at the Library will be able to continue.
In addition to Lunch at the Library, Lyster said access to The New York Times could go away. While Anaheim libraries offer access to the newspaper through a digital subscription, Lyster said that even if it’s discontinued, residents will still be able to access news online through other sources.
“We do have access to other papers and we have a service … that offers access to many newspapers across the country,” he said.
Statewide, several programs are on the chopping block, said Alex Vassar, a spokesperson for the California State Library. That includes eBooks for All California, which provides more than 300,000 e-books to readers across the state, and California Libraries Learn, which offers free professional development for library staff.
Vassar said around $6 million of the $15.7 million total is allocated to the State Library. The largest programs funded include the Braille and Talking Book Library, which provides braille and audiobook titles, as well as magazines, movies and newspapers to Californians who cannot read standard print.
Another major program is the Library Development Services Bureau, which manages state and local grant programs.
“We expect to see immediate impacts at the State Library and later impacts at the local libraries,” Vassar said.
A program called California Revealed, which helps libraries and local organizations digitize and preserve historical documents, is also at risk, Vassar said.
“I am probably not supposed to have a favorite, but for me, a personal favorite is California Revealed. It’s a long-running program that helps local organizations digitize and share items from their collection,” he said.
More than 2,300 items from Orange County have been digitized through the program, including a video of the 1996 Olympic torch relay in Huntington Beach and a family home video of John Wayne riding the log ride at Knott’s Berry Farm.
“What I like most about these things is that they’re like seeing your parents’ yearbook. It lets the younger generation see places and things that they know well, but from an earlier time before them,” said Vassar. “For the older generation, they get to look back at something like a Volkswagen Beetle driving down an OC highway in the 1970s and remember what their own lives were like when they were becoming who they are.”
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Vassar said.
Vassar said it’s still up in the air how, or if, future digitized archives will be preserved without the grant money. He said the State Library is working on a detailed breakdown of the affected programs, which he expects to be available very soon.