Member-only story
The Gloom Sets In (the Dismantling of the NEH)
If Watergate Happened Today, It Would Have Been Covered by an Executive Order
Not many people know about their state Centers for the Book. Every state and six territories have a Center for the Book, an affiliate to the Library of Congress’ National Center for the Book. The Library of Congress Center for the Book and its 56 affiliates promote reading, libraries, and literacy across the country. I am Utah’s Director for the Center for the Book, and let me honest, it is the coolest job in the world for book lovers. Or it was.
Every month, all 56 affiliates along with the LOC meet on Zoom to share and celebrate the work we do in our home states, but in the last two months our meetings have taken on the gloom of funerals and goodbyes because of DOGE’s dissecting and fund cutting of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and, now, the National Endowment for the Arts.
Most of the centers are housed by Humanities Councils and State Libraries, both of which have been shredded by DOGE’s massive, aggressive, and illegal cuts. Jobs are lost. There are tears. There are goodbyes. And there is a roll call of what date we have been given to be our last. It is somber. It is depressing, and…
