[Answerland] Potential Impacts on Answerland funding

[STARKSMITH Gesse * SLO]

Hi All,

I'm sending this message to the whole Answerland group-please disregard if you are already up-to-date on our funding situation, but I thought it would be better to err on the side of including more people.

The State Library received a 50% partial award letter for the LSTA 2025 grant funds, to be spent starting July 1, 2025. We have also been notified that we should get a full award letter later this month. This still leaves some uncertainty about how much next year will be "business as usual," but it is a more promising outlook for the coming fiscal year than we had when I last wrote to you! You can see updates on our funding situation on the State Library's website<https://www.oregon.gov/library/Pages/Updates.aspx>. The State Librarian has also been (and will continue to) send out updates on the Libs-Or listserv<https://omls.oregon.gov/mailman/listinfo/libs-or>. For volunteers who may not be on that, you are welcome to join if you would like to or just check-in with me if you'd like more updates.

I'm more than happy to meet with anyone who would like to discuss approaches to providing ongoing virtual reference services in our current funding climate. It is likely that we will continue to have some uncertainty in IMLS funding in future years and I'm always open to discussing creative options.

All the best,
Gesse Stark-Smith, MIS (she/her)
Virtual Reference Coordinator
State Library of Oregon
gesse.stark-smith at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:gesse.stark-smith at slo.oregon.gov> | 971-600-4992
www.oregon.gov/library/libraries<https://www.oregon.gov/library/libraries>
Work Schedule: Mon 8-2, Weds & Thurs 8:30-4

[Logo for the Library Support & Development Services division at the State Library of Oregon]<http://www.oregon.gov/library/libraries>

From: STARKSMITH Gesse * SLO
Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2025 3:55 PM
To: answerland at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: Potential Impacts on Answerland funding

Hi All,

I wanted to make sure that you are aware of some recent events that may impact the funding for Answerland, which comes from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA). This funding pays for the software, the 24x7 cooperative support and my salary. (And many other great services and resources provided by the State Library!) You may have heard about this in the news or through your library communities, but I thought I would share it just in case.

Here is what we know right now:

  *   On Friday, March 14th the President issued an Executive Order for "Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/continuing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/>" that includes the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
  *   On Monday, March 31st we learned that all IMLS staff had been placed on administrative leave. (Although, some of them may have been recalled to work later in the week.)
  *   As of today (April 3rd), we have not received a letter terminating our grant from IMLS and we still have access to request funds. However, we do not know who at IMLS may be able to fill our request and if that will happen. (Generally, funds are distributed for roughly 30 days worth of expenses at a time.)
  *   LSTA is a statutorily required program of IMLS, which means that there are legal statutes requiring that this money be distributed to the states.

Please let me know if you have questions. I may not have the answers, but I'm happy to talk through them with you and share anything I do know.

Thank you for your support of Answerland! Your work means a lot! PSU Library recently share how much Answerland has helped their students<https://library.pdx.edu/news/answerland/> and I know many other libraries feel the same way.

All the best,
Gesse Stark-Smith, MIS (she/her)
Virtual Reference Coordinator
State Library of Oregon
gesse.stark-smith at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:gesse.stark-smith at slo.oregon.gov> | 971-600-4992
www.oregon.gov/library/libraries<https://www.oregon.gov/library/libraries>
Work Schedule: Mon 8-2, Weds & Thurs 8:30-4

[Logo for the Library Support & Development Services division at the State Library of Oregon]<http://www.oregon.gov/library/libraries>

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