Federal Funding

The regular FY 2021 budget bill, passed on December 21, 2020 alongside the $900 billion Emergency Covid Relief spending package, includes an additional $5 million for IMLS, including $2 million for the Library Services and Technology Act.

The Library Services and Technology Act received $197.5 million of the overall $257 million IMLS budget, with an increase of $2 million directed to the Grants to States program. The FY 2021 appropriations bill includes increases for other line items important to libraries (see summary chart Federal Funding for Library Programs 2017-2021):

• $28 million for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program, an increase of $1 million, with at least half of this funding dedicated to school libraries
• $167.5 million in funding for each of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, marking a $5.25 million increase over last year for both agencies
• $462.8 million for the National Library of Medicine, an increase of $5.9 million
• $757.3 million for Library of Congress, an increase of $32 million
• $117.0 million for Government Publishing Office, level funding over last year
• $377.0 million for the National Archives and Records Administration, an $18 million increase