On March 24 President Trump signed the Executive Order 14238 that eliminated 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. In the President’s FY2026 budget IMLS is eliminated.
Through IMLS, for FY25 MBLC was allocated $3.6 million to support statewide library services and grants to local libraries. The MBLC currently spends close to $2.2 million of its federal allocation to fund statewide research databases. On average 60% of database usage comes from schools. Last year, there were over 9 million full text downloads from these databases, an increase of 12% in just one year. With no federal funding, the amount that the MBLC can now spend on databases is $500,000.
Therefore, starting July 1, 2025, statewide research database offerings provided to Amesbury residents by MBLC will be significantly reduced, maintaining a handful that are most heavily used. The MBLC prioritized providing databases that support students at every level of learning: elementary, middle, high school, and postsecondary education. See below for the full list of databases cut and those maintained.
Discontinued Databases for FY26:
- Boston Globe Article Archive
- Britannica Moderna
- Gale Legal Forms
- HeritageQuest Online
- 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 Literature Resource Center
- Peterson’s Career Prep
- Peterson’s Test Prep
- Science Database (ProQuest)
- Transparent Language
Continued Databases for FY26:
- Britannica Escolar
- Britannica Library
- Britannica School
- Gale Academic OneFile + OneFile Collections
- Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints
- PebbleGo