Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Libraries face federal funding reductions

KENT — The effects of federal cutbacks are beginning to trickle down to the local level. Last week, area librarians were alarmed to learn that programs important to rural populations, such as the interlibrary loan service provided through Connecticut State Library, were abruptly defunded effective April 1.

The Connecticut State Library was notified by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, which oversees grants to states, that its 2024-25 federal grant award was terminated. The grant was scheduled to cover the current federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The entire IMLS staff, a relatively small federal agency with around 70 employees, was placed on administrative leave for up to 90 days after a brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership.

Connecticut was among the first three states to receive notification of termination, and State Attorney General William Tong joined a lawsuit with 20 other states opposing the elimination of IMLS. The State Library is also working with the Governor’s office, the Office of Policy Management and other state agencies regarding this situation.

Kent Library Director Sarah Marshall, who joined six other Northwest Corner librarians in decrying the federal action, said it is not clear what the full impact will mean, but said it does not mean that local libraries will close their doors. “These are not funds we use to stay open,” she said. “They provide services to our patrons.”

The State Library had $2.2 million to underwrite services such as a van to deliver interlibrary loan books for free. “We process about 24 books through interlibrary loan three times each week,” Marshall said. “Without the van, it costs $4 to $6 a book to mail them. That could amount to $1,800 a year and there is no way to replace that on an individual basis.”

Another service affected would be the e-rate program, which provides funds for schools and libraries to improve their broadband access, saving 76 Connecticut libraries $497,221 in fiscal year 2024.

Marshall said the library’s internet service is fiber optic and expensive. The loss of the federal funding could increase annual expenses by $6,000. “A lot of people use our Internet,” she said, and they are not just families who don’t have home access, but also visitors and hikers passing through town who want to check their email.

“Those are the things Kent will feel most, but there are other things as well,” Marshall said, including funding for summer reading and enrichment programs, professional development for librarians, circulation of audio and braille books to more than 5,000 patrons, including 316 veterans, and the statewide eBook platform which provides to a collection of 50,000 books, periodicals and databases.

“Right now, there are more questions than answers,” said Marshall, who noted that some of the programs were authorized through state statutes. “We don’t know if the state will step in to provide funding or not,” she said.

State Attorney General William Tong was quick to join a coalition of 20 other states in challenging the federal action. “We had to sue to stop Trump from defunding our schools and cancer cures, from defunding energy assistance and vaccines, from defunding disaster relief and the police. Now, we have to sue again to stop him from defunding summer reading programs and audiobooks for disabled veterans,” said Tong in a statement.

Beyond the scope of state funding for services, Marshall said there could be impact from tariffs if they are ultimately imposed. On April 2, Trump signed an executive order imposing a minimum 10 percent tariff on all U.S. imports effective April 5. Higher tariffs on imports from 57 countries, ranging from 11 to 50%, were scheduled to take effect on April 9 but were almost immediately suspended for 90 days for all countries except China.

The library is planning a $6.8 million expansion this year and a lot of the equipment needed would come from Asia. “We are estimating it could cost 15 to 20% more,” she said, “and we don’t have 15 to 20% more. That’s another sticky wicket.”

Still, she said there have yet to be any changes to the plans approved last year for the expansion. “It’s business as usual,” she concluded. “We don’t want to react so strongly to something that hasn’t happened yet. We can’t throw away what we have been doing when we don’t know what the outcome will be.”


Kathryn Boughton is the editor of Kent Dispatch.

Latest News

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

BOND RESOLUTION DATED JUNE 15, 2026 OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE WEBUTUCK CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AUTHORIZING NOT TO EXCEED $429,327 AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND/OR INSTALLMENT PURCHASE CONTRACTS TO FINANCE THE ACQUISITION OF A SCHOOL BUSES AND VEHICLES AT AN AGGREGATE ESTIMATED MAXIMUM COST OF$429,327, LEVY OF TAX IN ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS IN PAYMENT THEREOF TAKING INTO ACCOUNT STATE-AID, THE EXPENDITURE OF SUCH SUM FOR SUCH PURPOSE, AND DETERMINING OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THERE-WITH.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

Keep ReadingShow less

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

Keep ReadingShow less
Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

Keep ReadingShow less
An invitation to paint a community mural in Torrington

Community mural design by Macayla Muzzulin will be painted by volunteers on July 11 in Franklin Plaza in Torrington.

Provided

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Five Points Arts in Torrington will host a community mural project celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers of every age and artistic ability are invited to help paint a 20-by-6-foot mural designed by artist Macayla Muzzulin. The mural will be completed in one day, transformed from a numbered outline into a permanent public artwork along the river in downtown Torrington.

“We firmly believe art is for everyone,” said Five Points founder and executive director, Judith McElhone. “It’s so great to be able to do this with such talent, and with Launchpad artists, volunteers and staff there to help.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.