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Acting IMLS director outlines 'road to 2026,' launches national information‑literacy portal
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Summary
Acting IMLS Director Cindy Landrum told Grants to States attendees that IMLS is centering the agency’s work on the 2026 semi‑quincentennial and announced informationliteracy.gov plus pilot funding and cross‑agency collaborations to boost digital, health and financial literacies.
Acting Institute of Museum and Library Services Director Cindy Landrum told state library leaders at the Grants to States conference in Milwaukee that the agency is preparing for the nation’s 2026 semi‑quincentennial and is investing in initiatives to lift local storytelling and information literacy.
Landrum described the IMLS 250 effort — framed internally as IMLS2 50 and summarized as “All People, All Stories, All Places” — as a multi‑year program to surface untold local histories and to support community engagement. “Grants to states is universally beloved across the aisles of Congress, in the White House, and in the field,” Landrum said, adding that the agency has used discretionary notices to seed pilot projects and a PBS Books web series that highlights local sites and narratives.
Why it matters: 2026 is both the nation’s semi‑quincentennial and the 30th anniversary of IMLS. Landrum said work toward the milestone is already influencing grant priorities and visibility for libraries and museums, even though Congress has not yet provided dedicated funding for a broad celebration. “We’ve elevated the semi‑quincentennial in our discretionary funding,” she said, but added that sustaining the work depends on continued appropriations.
Landrum also announced a new cross‑agency information‑literacy effort and a public portal. Responding to a congressional charge to address information literacy, IMLS convened roughly 15 federal partners and last week launched informationliteracy.gov, a site the agency described as a central repository of federal and community resources for digital, health and financial literacies. Landrum said the portal includes webinars and curated materials and that IMLS has funded pilots in the museum and library field to develop toolkits and resources for local implementation.
Several state representatives described local activity tied to the semi‑quincentennial and information literacy. A Vermont participant reported a statewide commission and a refreshed reading list; Hawaii noted new state funding for basic digital‑literacy classes that reach kupuna (elders). Landrum invited states to share examples and collaborate on toolkits.
Landrum also discussed agency governance and near‑term business: she said the Biden administration has not yet announced a permanent IMLS director and reiterated the statutory rotation that alternates appointments between library and museum leadership. On the fiscal front, she warned that an election year could mean continuing resolutions and uneven funding, and said IMLS intends to begin reauthorization work in 2025 to define the agency’s parameters going forward.
Looking ahead: Landrum said IMLS plans convenings, pilot projects, and public products (including toolkits) tied to PCAH (the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities) priorities such as AI in arts and humanities, disaster response, repatriation and creative placemaking. “We’re going to have convenings, pilot projects, other activities and some products…toolkits,” she said. The agency will seek field input as it develops reauthorization priorities and program plans.
