Institute of Museum and Library Services

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Institute of Museum and Library Services

Agency overview
Formed	1996; 28 years ago (1996)
Headquarters	L'Enfant Plaza Washington, D.C.
Employees	70
Annual budget	$313.58 million for 2023
Agency executive	Cyndee Landrum, Acting Director
Website	www.imls.gov

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development.”^[1] In fiscal year 2023, IMLS had a budget of $313.58 million.^[2] As of 2023, IMLS currently has 70 full-time employees, many of whom still work remotely. In 2022, the employees voted to unionize, joining hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have joined the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to “build power and have a voice at work.”^[3]

The agency is a member of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.^[4]

In creating IMLS, Congress observed that the federal library and museum programs are far reaching, spanning cultural, educational, scientific, and information policy matters. Congress declared in the institute’s authorizing legislation, “Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens,” and an important role of the federal government is to promote education and access to information for people of all backgrounds, wherever located.^[5] By supporting museums and libraries throughout the nation, IMLS enables these organizations to carry out their public service role of connecting the whole of society with the cultural, artistic, historical, natural, and scientific understandings that constitute our heritage.

The Agency helps to ensure that all Americans have access to museum, library, and information services, and invests in new and exploratory approaches, as well as proven and tested methods. IMLS reports that it funds work that advances collective knowledge, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement, as well as projects that support broadband access and advancing digital literacy, learning and education, civic engagement, climate change, and services that address historic and growing inequities. The Agency also builds capacity within the museum and library fields to enable better service to communities through workforce development grants and to enhance community decision making by sharing trends and data.^[6]

IMLS supports a vast range of museums, including art, history, natural history, and children’s museums, zoos, science and technology centers, historic houses, nature centers, and botanical gardens. Similarly, IMLS invests in libraries across America, including public, academic, tribal, research, and special libraries, as well as other eligible institutions like archives, nonprofit cultural organizations, and universities.^[7]

IMLS is the largest source of federal funding for libraries in the nation, directing population-based funding to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US territories, and Freely Associated States through its Grants to States program.^[8] In FY2022, IMLS awarded $257.2M to institutions across the country, of which $168.8M was through its Grants to States program.

In addition to its other responsibilities, IMLS annually awards the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, which is the nation’s highest honor for institutions that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. Since 1994, IMLS has presented the award to outstanding libraries and museums of all types and sizes that deeply impact their communities.^[9]

IMLS is located at 955 L'Enfant Plaza North, SW, Suite 4000, Washington, D.C. 20024-2135.