{"id":1425,"date":"2017-03-18T12:26:11","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T19:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/galencharlton.com\/blog\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2017-03-18T12:26:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T19:26:11","slug":"imls-support-for-free-and-open-source-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/galencharlton.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/imls-support-for-free-and-open-source-software\/","title":{"rendered":"IMLS support for free and open source software"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Institute of Museum and Library Services<\/a> is the U.S. government’s primary vehicle for direct federal support of libraries, museums, and archives across the entire country. It should come as no surprise<\/a> that the Trump administration’s “budget blueprint<\/a>” proposes to wipe it out, along with the NEA, NEH, Meals on Wheels, and dozens of other programs.<\/p>\n

While there is reason for hope that Congress will ignore at least some of the cuts that Trump proposes, the IMLS in particular has been in the sights of House Speaker Paul Ryan before<\/a>. We cannot afford to be complacent.<\/p>\n

Loss of the IMLS and the funding it delivers would be a disaster for many reasons, but I’ll focus on just one: the IMLS has paid a significant role in funding in the creation and use of free and open source software for libraries, museums, and archives. Besides the direct benefit to the institutions who were awarded grants to build or use F\/LOSS, such grants are a smart investment on the part of an IMLS: a dollar spent on producing software that anybody can freely use can rebound to the benefit of many more libraries.<\/p>\n

For example, here is a list of some of the software projects whose creation or enhancement was funded by an IMLS grant:<\/p>\n