On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14238 eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” IMLS is the single largest source of critical federal funding for libraries. The IMLS has been completely defunded in Fiscal Year 2026 (starting July 1st). Because of these budget cuts, Massachusetts library organizations providing various resources to public libraries have had to decrease their budgets for FY 2026.
Beginning on July 1, 2025, statewide research database offerings will be significantly reduced, but the Massachusetts MBLC and Massachusetts Library System (MLS), which jointly fund databases, will maintain several of the most heavily used.
Discontinued Databases as of July 1st, 2025:
Boston Globe Article Archive
Britannica Moderna
Gale Academic OneFile Select
Gale General OneFile
Gale Health and Wellness
Gale in Context: Biography
Gale in Context: Elementary
Gale in Context: Environmental Studies
Gale in Context: Global Issues
Gale in Context: Middle School
Gale in Context: Science
Gale in Context: US History
Gale in Context: World History
Gale Interactive Science
Gale LegalForms
Gale Literature Resource Center
HeritageQuest Online
Peterson’s Career Prep
Peterson’s Test Prep
Science Database (ProQuest)
Transparent Language Online
These are the only HPL databases affected by the IMLS budget cuts at present. The Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) of which HPL is a member is currently looking into possible solutions for some of these database gaps. For more information, you can visit MBLC’s Federal Funding website and MBLC’s Federal Funding at Risk website.
Questions? Please feel free to call us at (978) 373-1586 x608.