By AMBER PATINOLibraries across Florida are beginning to see the results of the defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS), which lost federal funding after an Executive Order in March 2025.
Washington County Public Library Director Renae Rountree recently cautioned county residents about the impact the budget cuts would have on rural library systems, citing numerous services previously supported by IMLS.
“IMLS gives out money to states through their Grant to States program,” said Rountree. “Florida’s share was over 9.5 million dollars. A large chunk of that is kept by the State of Florida to subsidize programs and services for all the libraries in the state. Washington County participates in many of those programs and services.”
Programs affected include summer reading programs for kids, the Florida Electronic Library, composed of 48 research databases, and the multi-type library cooperative that provides continuing education for librarians.
Most recently, the interlibrary loan service that allowed library patrons to borrow books from other libraries in the state was halted, with the program ending for Washington County Public Library on September 30. Residents’ last day to request a book through this program is August 15.
“Part of that 9.5 million that the state receives pays for this at the state level for anyone who wants to participate,” Roundtree explained. “They pay for the computer platform that links us all together and subsidize the cost to route books through Fedex.”
“This will probably cause a trickle down effect,” she added. “You won’t notice your services stopping immediately; they will just be phased out. You always hate to discontinue a service that the public uses, but we are very blessed to have the support of the County Commission. It’s not like that for every library.”
Although the library will no longer be able to borrow books from other libraries around the state, books can still be transferred between Washington County branches.
Staff Report 
WMBB