You may have noticed that the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) is in the news. IMLS dollars are given to the states and Michigan’s allocation for the last full fiscal year was $4.8M. The Library of Michigan then uses those funds, plus additional matching funds provided by the state legislature, to provide services to all Michiganders.
Here is a fact sheet for funded programs (FY 2023).
Here is a link to the Library of Michigan's five year plan.
Do TADL cardholders benefit from IMLS dollars?
Yes. TADL cardholders benefit in a variety of ways:
- The Michigan eLibrary and electronic catalog (MeLCat) - allows TADL cardholders to borrow books from any participating library statewide. TADL cardholders are avid MeLCat users, requesting on average 50-60 books a day through MeLCat! This saves libraries money by allowing the public to borrow a wider variety of books, including multiple copies for book clubs, out-of-print books, and items in academic libraries. Databases and interlibrary loan are funded 75% from IMLS and 25% from the state legislature. This means that if IMLS is dismantled, the Library of Michigan will no longer be able to provide the databases and MeLCat will have to shut down. (Long read: Detroit Bookfest feature on MeLCat and interlibrary loans)
- TADL has received direct grants to create STEM kits for the collection and received a direct grant during the summer of 2021 to create interactive summer projects for young/teen readers.
- Statewide preservation efforts - Just last week TADL (as a network member) celebrated a ribbon-cutting for Michigan’s Digital Preservation Network, a series of servers housing digital copies of Michigan’s cultural resources. This network was funded by a large IMLS grant.
- Training benefits - On the TADL staff side, TADL benefits from IMLS too. The funding makes it possible for staff
members to access on-demand training, webinars, and other classes. The on-demand training helps us train new employees and keep staff current on new topics without incurring cost for travel or planning for staff members to be out of the library for training. IMLS monies pay for professional education stipends that TADL staff has used to attend Michigan and national conferences. IMLS monies pay for our Friends and Trustees to belong to United for Libraries and for the entirety of the state of Michigan public libraries to participate in the Collaborative Summer Library Program (which is where we get our summer reading curriculum).
According to the State Librarian Randy Riley, MeL databases and MeLCat are funded through September 30, 2025. During President Trump's past presidency, he always defunded the IMLS but Congress would put the department back into the national budget. If funds are not restored this would mean that after September 30, 2025 TADL cardholders will only have access to the materials in our six TADL libraries, not participating MeLCat libraries throughout the state.
If you would like to make your position on this issue known here are the links to look up your elected representatives and their contact information:
Infographic Data
How TADL Cardholders use MeLCat
We average 50+ requests per day!
MeLCat Items Requested by TADL Cardholders - Per Year
2020 - 13,816
2021 - 22,711
2022 - 23,707
2023 - 27,277
2024 - 28,035
2025 (Jan & Feb) - 6,983 (on pace for a record year!)
Popular Choices
Book club titles
Out-of-print titles
Academic & research titles
Statewide MeLCat Statistics
Infographic Facts & Figures
Value of $26.96 returned for every $1 spent
1 Million MeLCat items loaned in 2024
10 Million MeLCat items loaned since 2015
9.2 Million Trusted Articles & Journals Accessed
10.7 Million WiFi Connections at the Library
$384,715 granted to libraries directly
101,127 WiFi hotspots borrowed