Advocacy

Issue: IMLS Office of Museum Services Funding

Updated February 2025

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Request

We urge Congress to:

  • maintain at least $55.5 million for FY 2025 and FY 2026 funding (level with current FY 2024) for the IMLS Office of Museum Services, and oppose the drastic funding cuts approved by the House Appropriations Committee.
  • prevent the administration from implementing indiscriminate staffing cuts at IMLS. It is essential that IMLS retains the authority to manage its own staffing decisions to continue serving communities effectively.

Introduction

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is the primary federal agency responsible for helping museums connect people to information and ideas. Its Office of Museum Services (OMS) supports all types of museums—including aquariums, arboretums, art museums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, culturally-specific museums, historic sites, history museums, military museums, natural history museums, nature centers, planetariums, railway museums, science and technology centers, zoos, and more—by awarding grants that help them educate students, preserve and digitize collections, and connect with their communities. Despite its small size, the IMLS Office of Museum Services is the largest dedicated source of investment in our nation’s museums. OMS leadership and vital financial support is more important than ever to museums of every type, large and small, urban and rural, across our country. OMS provides museums essential support to navigate change and continue to improve their services to better enable them to champion lifelong learning, strengthen community engagement and advance collections stewardship and access to our nation’s cultural heritage.

Status

The Office of Museum Services within IMLS is funded through the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. It is currently funded at $55.5 million (FY 2024 level). The House Appropriations Committee in mid-July approved a bill that if enacted would slash the Office of Museum Services by $9.3 million by eliminating National Leadership Grants for Museums, leaving an OMS total of $46.1 million—down from an historic high of $55.5 million. National Leadership Grants are vital as they fund cutting edge programs that advance the field at large. The bill also would eliminate funding for overall IMLS Research, Analysis and Data Collection ($5.6 million), ending the agency’s ability to conduct the first ever National Museum Survey, which it has already developed and fielded will provide the first federal snapshot of museums; the similar Public Libraries Survey has provided valuable and actionable data for federal decision-making for more than 35 years. The Senate Appropriations Committee proposed modest reductions to OMS. Beyond the administration’s buyout for federal employees, there is growing concern that adding indiscriminate staff reductions could disproportionately impact agencies like IMLS.

Talking Points

  • This is not the time to cut museum funding. By leveraging significant private, state, and local funds, OMS amplifies a small federal investment for maximum impact in communities nationwide.
  • We oppose House report language encouraging the agency “to consider the full scope of any organization’s work or activities regardless of whether the IMLS grant will directly fund such work or activities.”  Such a review is beyond the scope of the proposed work and the ability of IMLS to conduct, and more is an unwarranted intrusion of federal authority into private organizations’ affairs, which are required already to certify their compliance with federal law.
  • The Institute of Museum and Library Services has strong bipartisan support, and has been lauded for its peer-reviewed, highly competitive grant programs.
  • OMS has set a strong record of congressional support during the appropriations submission process in each of the last several years, with 129 Representatives and 38 Senators signing FY 2025 appropriations letters on its behalf.
  • In FY 2024, Congress provided $295 million to IMLS, of which $55.5 million was directed to the Office of Museum Services. With this funding, OMS provided 293 grants totaling $55 million to museums and related organizations in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
  • By leveraging significant private, state, and local funding, OMS grants amplify a small federal investment for maximum impact in the community.
  • There is high demand for funding from the IMLS Office of Museum Services. In FY 2024 OMS received 1,005 applications requesting more than $203 million, but current funding has allowed the agency to fund less than one-third (29% or 293) of the highly rated grant applications it receives.
  • The Inspire! Grants for Small Museums program, designed to encourage small institutions to apply for IMLS funding, generated 307 applications in FY 2024. IMLS made awards to 78 museums through this program, demonstrating a continuing need for support for the nation’s small museums.
  • In 2014, IMLS launched Museums for All, a national access
    initiative. Today, more than 1,400 participating museums in
    50 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands offer deeply discounted
    admission to visitors who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
    (SNAP) benefits. The program has reached over 11 million visitors.
  • OMS provides critical funding for professional development to improve the recruitment, preparation, and professional development of museum professionals.
  • In 2018, legislation reauthorizing IMLS passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support by unanimous consent in the Senate and by a vote of 331 to 28 in the House, showing Congress’ continued support for the agency’s programs and a renewed commitment to its funding.
  • To learn more about grants awarded to museums in your state or district, visit: Advanced Search | Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Staffing Cuts

  • We share deep concern about the potential indiscriminate staffing cuts at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and other agencies that benefit museums, and urge Congress to prevent the administration from moving forward with this damaging approach.
  • IMLS is a small but vital independent federal agency that plays a crucial role in helping museums better serve their communities. Such an agency cannot withstand broad, indiscriminate staffing cuts without significantly diminishing its capacity to support museums nationwide.
  • Protecting this essential agency is critical to preserving the vital role museums play in education, the economy, and community enrichment across the country.

Additional Information about Museums

  • Museums are economic engines, prior to the pandemic, supporting more than 726,000 jobs and contributing $50 billion to the US economy per year. They attract tourists, promote economic development, and make communities more desirable for employers.
  • Museums’ economic impact generates $12 billion in tax revenue at all levels of government.
  • Museums have strong public support: Museums and Public Opinion, a 2017 national public opinion poll, showed that 96% of voters would approve of lawmakers who acted to support museums and 96% want federal funding for museums to be maintained or increased.
  • Museums are an important part of the nation’s educational system, spending more than $2 billion a year on education and promoting lifelong learning. Museums receive more than 55 million visits each year from student groups.
  • Children who visited a museum during kindergarten had higher achievement scores in reading, mathematics, and science in third grade than children who did not.
  • Museums are essential community infrastructure, attracting over a million volunteer hours every week, prior to the pandemic.
  • Many museums have developed innovative programs to meet the growing needs of their individual communities. For example, some museums have programs designed specifically for children with special needs and their families, some work with medical schools to teach observation and description skills, and some are helping veterans heal from their wounds, both physical and psychological.

IMLS Office of Museum Services Funding History

Appropriation (in millions)

  • FY 25: TBD
  • FY 25: $55.5
  • FY 23: $55.5
  • FY 22: $47.5
  • FY 21: $40.5
  • FY 20: $34.7
  • FY 19: $34.7
  • FY 18: $34.7
  • FY 17: $31.7
  • FY 16: $31.3
  • FY 15: $31.3
  • FY 14: $30.1
  • FY 13 CR*: $30.9
  • FY 12: $30.9

*In FY 2013, across the board sequestration cuts reduced OMS’ effective funding to $29.2 million.

COVID-19 & IMLS Funding

Supporting Letters and Testimony

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