Representatives Dina Titus and Suzanne Bonamici are circulating a letter for other members of the House of Representatives to sign, asking the Trump administration to reconsider the executive order that guts the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Please call your members of the House of Representatives to ask them to sign the letter. The deadline for members of Congress to sign the letter is end of day Friday, March 28 so calling will be the best option given the short turnaround time.

Our partners at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), have created a draft script you may use. Type in your address to display your House member’s phone number.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Museum Associations Send Letter to Acting IMLS Director
AASLH, along with AAM, Association of Art Museum Directors, American Public Gardens Association, Association of Children’s Museums, Association of Science and Technology Centers, Association of African American Museums, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the Association of Science Museum Directors have sent a letter to Acting Director of IMLS Keith Sonderling.

The letter highlights the importance of museums to our economy, educational infrastructure, and communities as well as the critical support IMLS provides for the field. The letter also asks Sonderling to meet with the leaders of these nine associations and alliances.

READ THE LETTER

U.S. Senators Send Letter
Today, a bipartisan group of senators—Jack Reed, Kirsten Gillibrand, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski—sent a letter to Sonderling. These senators are the co-authors of the last act that reauthorized IMLS. The letter urges Sonderling to continue IMLS’s mission to engage with and support libraries and museums, as Congress intended when it created the agency. Read the letter.

Additional Advocacy Actions You Can Take

Fill out our survey to let us know how your organization has been impacted by federal and state actions. All responses will be kept strictly confidential.

Write and call your members of Congress about what could be lost if IMLS is gutted.

Write and call your state-level elected officials and ask them to advocate for IMLS with your members of Congress.

Encourage your museum’s Board, supporters, and members to write and call their members of Congress.

Invite Congress to your organization. Members of Congress will be in their home districts for two weeks on April 13 – 27 and periodically home for extended weekends. Take the opportunity to invite your members of Congress to your organization, schedule a meeting with them in their district offices, or attend public forums that your members of Congress might be hosting.

Share your story with local media. Here are some examples of media stories and essays that have already been published: