Libraries across Santa Clara County are bracing for a multimillion-dollar federal funding cut that could affect vital community programs — all during National Library Week.
The California State Library learned last week President Donald Trump’s administration terminated a $15.7 million federal grant. The state library, which allocates these funds to libraries statewide, anticipated more than $3 million in grant funds remaining it had yet to receive. Now, it won’t get those funds local libraries use for services they can’t afford on their own, ranging from summer reading initiatives to programs fighting hunger. California and the American Library Association are suing the presidential administration over the cut.
Jennifer Weeks, county librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District, said the cuts could affect grant-funded programs, including free children’s lunches during the summer and adult literacy initiatives. The district includes nine libraries and serves about 180 learners in its literacy program. It also dished out 5,242 hot lunches at the Gilroy and Morgan Hill libraries last summer, according to county data.
Weeks said while the library district’s budget is primarily funded by property and special taxes, the cut could hit harder in future fiscal years. She said cuts have already hit the online homework help program.
“We’re empowering people with information and ensuring that they can really lead better lives,” Weeks told San José Spotlight. “It’s such critical work that we want to continue to support, and that support really comes from the state library, and a lot of that through those state grants.”
Z. M., who asked to go by her initials due to privacy concerns, is one resident who benefits from federally funded programs in the Santa Clara City Library system, which is not part of the county district. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 with her family, fleeing war in Somalia. She only spoke Oromo and learned English attending school, but struggled with her writing and reading skills.
Z. M. enrolled in Santa Clara City Library’s adult literacy program after she considered leaving college because of her academic struggles. Now, after a decade, she is the program’s literacy advocate. She said it’d be devastating for the roughly 100 people enrolled in the program if it ended due to funding cuts.
“There’s so many kids who are juggling … stepping in and helping out their parents because they don’t have the literacy skills,” Z. M. told San José Spotlight. “If we can help the parents get some type of skills, then they can help their children and their children won’t have to struggle.”
Other resources at risk in the Santa Clara City Library system include free educational databases and a $75,000 grant for a free child developmental program.
Patty Wong, Santa Clara’s city librarian, said she hasn’t been notified the library won’t receive the grant money, but she’s not holding out hope. She said the library, which received $350,000 in grants from the California State Library over the past two years for critical programs, is scrambling to find other funding sources.
She said the library is an essential community hub.
“The city of Santa Clara really does care very deeply about their libraries not just as a means of education, which is very important, but a means of networking, community, connecting people, making sure that our communities are thriving,” Wong told San José Spotlight.
A spokesperson for the San Jose Public Library, which runs 25 libraries in the city, said they’re communicating with the California State Library to understand if programs will be affected by the cut. A spokesperson for the Sunnyvale Public Library also said they’re monitoring the situation closely because the library has resources reliant on grant funding, including STEM programs.
Los Gatos Library representatives were unavailable for comment.
Weeks said tumultuous times are a good reminder to residents to use library resources.
“When we see that under attack, that for us is opportunity to continue to educate, inform and promote what we’re doing so that people are taking of advantage of (our resources),” she said.
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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