Federal funding cuts could be felt at Kentucky libraries; Spectrum News 1, June 19, 2025

KHYATI PATEL , Spectrum News 1; Federal funding cuts could be felt at Kentucky libraries

"Of Kentucky’s 120 counties, almost 80 counties only have one library.

“So what that means for our population is that no matter where you live in our county, the library that you have access to, it’s all in one location,” said Ashley Wagers, library director for the Jackson County Public Library.

She said the library’s bookmobile travels throughout the county with resources for people in some of the most rural areas of the state.

“It takes us as long as 30 to 45 minutes to get out to where they live. And when you’re faced with economic challenges, you know, you might not have a vehicle that’s even reliable to get to the library, to get to those resources,” Wagers said...

In May, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency which supports libraries, found out the law guiding its funding will expire this fall. Some funding from IMLS goes to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

A state spokesperson said the federal budget cut equates to a loss of about $3 million for libraries across the Commonwealth.

They shared a statement which said, “As of May 4, 2025, staff at IMLS has been reduced to 12 from 77. Congress appropriates funding for IMLS and the legislation under the Museum and Library Services Act that dictates how the agency distributes funding expires on September 30, 2025. The first budget proposal for the upcoming federal fiscal year has removed all funding for IMLS grants, reducing the amount to $6 million to close out the agency. It would mean a loss of over $2.7 million for KDLA. To date, KDLA has not received an official award notification for the next fiscal year, which will run through September 30, 2026.”...

The state said the federal funds make up about 24% of KDLA’s operational budget."

Kamala Harris’s last mile; The Ink, October 15, 2024

ANAND GIRIDHARADAS, The Ink; Kamala Harris’s last mile

"For all of the vice president’s success thus far, it is important to name the greatest risk to her candidacy, in the hope of avoiding it: In the homestretch, Democrats cannot let themselves be defined as the Whole Foods party — a party that speaks convincingly to upscale and educated and socially conscious and politically engaged and often-voting Americans, but doesn’t similarly rouse working-class voters of various stripes and more disaffected, jaded, demoralized voters.

In the last mile of this election, so many of the remaining pool of undecided voters — or, more importantly, people undecided about voting — have simply lost faith that anyone will change anything for the better in their lifetime.

It is beyond ironic, beyond ridiculous even, that some people who feel this way, millions of them, are attracted to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, two pillars of the establishment who are running for president on a platform that would only make the richest and most powerful Americans more rich and more powerful.

But it is happening, and it must be stopped...

This outreach must be backed by policy. At her best, Harris has embraced big ideas that would change the landscape of the country, from housing construction to the care economy. Go further. Be sweeping. Propose the kind of simple-to-understand, sweeping, universal policies that make people thirst for the future.

And, finally, be everywhere, all at once. It has been a relief to see Harris saturate the airwaves in recent days, after an earlier reticence.

There is so much reason not to believe in America in 2024. If you want people to believe again, especially the people who are right now still on the fence, you need to tell them a story that not only persuades them but all but rewires their brain. You need to help them make new meaning of what they have seen and heard and felt.

This will require being everywhere all at once, in their heads and hearts, morning, noon, and night. It doesn’t matter if every interview isn’t perfect. Show them your power, your life force, the life force that proposes to smash obstacles and change their lives. Do whatever media most helps you reach them. It doesn’t need to be the old guard. But people are looking for whether you are unafraid, because if you are, it might give you what it takes to help them."