Editor’s note: This version of the story corrects information on the executive order.
MCCC students may lose access to their current databases and library resources due to an executive order signed earlier this year.
On March 14, Executive Order 14238 was signed. The executive order declared the Institute of Museum and Library Services and six other governmental entities “unnecessary.” IMLS funds Michigan library programs, such as MeL and MeLCAT. MeL resources provide Michigan residents and students, including MCCC students, with access to databases. MeLCAT helps Michigan libraries exchange books. By determining IMLS and the services it provides to be unnecessary, President Donald Trump is working to defund these entities.
Liz Hartig, MCCC librarian, recently brought concern about this executive order to faculty.
Library services are necessary, Hartig said. They help provide people with access to all types of information, inform people of resources and teach them how to research.
MCCC students are lucky to have access to such extensive databases, said Lori Jo Couch, professor of English. They give students access to vetted information and are an essential part of teaching research properly.
Couch additionally said MCCC’s database gives students easy access to information, thus making them an even greater resource as “usage of AI and plagiarism are high concerns to faculty.”
The Michigan Department of Education made a statement in response to the executive order on March 20 stating, eliminating IMLS would decrease access to information and resources provided by libraries. IMLS is the largest source of federal funding for libraries, with Michigan libraries receiving nearly $4.8 million dollars of IMLS funding each year.
Reduced access to library resources would not only affect students in English and humanities courses, said Hartig. Access to library resources is needed for students on every part of MCCC’s campus.
“I offer information literacy instruction for all subject areas,” Hartig said. “Information literacy is the set of skills needed to find, evaluate, and use information. I teach these skills based on standards for the subject and the needs of the course.”
There are databases in MCCC’s MeL system specific to different fields, like the Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection, Hartig continued. MeL e-resources are vital to a student’s learning. They are integrated into library e-resources and Brightspace classes.
As the MCCC Writing Center director, Couch encourages writing across all curriculums. Because of this, she said losing access to MeL e-resourses would greatly affect all students as faculty should be directing students to databases as a primary resource.
If MeL were to be defunded, MCCC would find a solution to provide students with the access to information needed for their studies, Hartig said. However, the hope is that it will not come to that.
In early May, the ALA was granted a temporary restraining order, preventing IMLS staff from being terminated en masse. This case, American Library Association v. Sonderling, is just one case working to prevent the elimination of IMLS.
Hartig mentioned an additional case, Rhode Island et al. v. Trump et al., which is working to prevent IMLS’s elimination. The case is a continuing effort by several states, including Michigan.
“Earlier this month a court case brought by 21 states won a preliminary injunction against the dismantling of the IMLS,” Hartig said. “While the court cases are promising, I am concerned about how libraries across the country will be able to deal with uncertainty.”
