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State librarians warn of IMLS importance; division reallocates $574,000 from personnel to preserve public library assistance grants
Summary
The Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums told the Senate Finance Subcommittee it will reallocate about $574,000 from personal services to grants to ensure Public Library Assistance grants are paid in full in FY2026 and warned that the loss of federal IMLS grants would have a substantial, long-term effect on Alaska libraries and museums.
Amy Phillips Chan, director of the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums, told the subcommittee the division will prioritize Public Library Assistance (PLA) grants in FY2026 by moving roughly $574,000 from personal services to grants. Chan listed four positions the division plans to hold vacant to free those funds: an administrative assistant in library operations (which oversees the Talking Book Center and building management), a museum protection and visitor services assistant, an archivist focused on electronic records processing and digital preservation, and a records analyst who oversees government records centers in Juneau and Anchorage.
Chan also described the role of Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grants to Alaska. She said IMLS has awarded more than $60 million to Alaska museums, cultural centers and libraries since 1996 and that the State Library Administrative Agency (Alaska State Library) manages roughly $1.2 million per year through the Library Services and Technology Act grants to the state. "If the state does not receive the IMLS grants to states award, it would be a significant impact to libraries and museums across Alaska," Chan told the subcommittee.
Earlier in the discussion, department staff described the ALT program that connects Alaskans to high-speed internet and video conferencing and noted the OWL program supports statewide Zoom subscriptions and WhoFi (a wireless session-counting subscription). Staff said WhoFi is anticipated to experience a significant cost increase in FY26 and that the division is researching alternative statistics software. Committee members asked whether WhoFi provides public services or simply statistics; staff and a library director explained WhoFi provides session counts that libraries use to meet grant reporting requirements.
Senators asked for a concise community-level table of departmental leases by square footage and cost; division staff agreed to provide the requested information in a more accessible format.
