WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led a bicameral group of his colleagues in the New Jersey delegation in writing a letter to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Acting Director Keith Sonderling regarding a notice that the IMLS terminated a grant directed to the New Jersey State Library (NJLS). This grant supported Teaching Information Literacy, a project developing an instructional framework and educational tools that K-12 teachers and librarians use to teach statutorily required information literacy skills.

“The termination of this grant has significant implications: New Jersey K-12 teachers and librarians will no longer have access to specially-designed tools and learning activities to teach New Jersey’s emerging information literacy skill standards.

“This project was funded through IMLS’s discretionary National Leadership Grants for Libraries program. While discretionary, it directly supports IMLS’s statutory mission and complements the agency’s Grants to States program, which enables the NJSL to provide a wide range of essential services to New Jersey’s libraries and residents,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The termination notice cited an Executive Order dated March 14, 2025 stating that the grant is ‘no longer consistent with agency priorities.’ However, the grant is aligned with IMLS’s mission and was authorized and funded by Congress under the Library Services and Technology Act. Termination of the grant violates federal law. 

“The Administration’s Executive Order issued on March 14, 2025, threatens to effectively dismantle the IMLS. The consequences would devastate libraries and museums in New Jersey and nationwide and lead to the potential loss of jobs in these institutions. It would jeopardize essential services that help support education, digital access, and economic opportunity for millions of Americans. We respectfully urge IMLS to immediately rescind the grant termination and reaffirm its unwavering commitment to its statutory mission,” the lawmakers concluded. 

The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) and U.S. Representatives Herb Conaway (D-NJ-03), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01), Nellie Pou (D-NJ-09), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12).  

To read the full text of the letter, click here.