Federal Funding Cuts May Jeopardize A Library Program Serving Blind and Print-disabled Communities

Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, May 12, 2025…

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a federal agency that funds programs in libraries nationwide. In March, President Trump signed an executive order to slash the agency’s funding. And the California State Library‘s Braille and Talking Book Library, which provides services to the blind and print-disabled community, could be hit by the cuts.
• Child care providers across California closed today as part of a nationwide collective action called “Day Without Child Care.”
• Over the weekend, Catholic churchgoers attended the first Sunday mass since the election of the first pope with Creole ancestry.

A Library Program Serving Blind and Print-disabled Communities Faces Potential Funding Cuts

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a federal agency that provides funding to programs in libraries and museums nationwide. And on March 14, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to cut the agency’s funding. California joined a lawsuit in early April with nearly two dozen states claiming that the Trump administration slashed funds illegally. As of last Tuesday, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on the executive order, putting a pause on library funding cuts for now.

With proposed cuts to state and local library programs still looming, services like the California State Library’s Braille and Talking Book Library are at stake.

The BTBL provides library patrons with books in braille and audio books. The program also mails patrons specially-designed USB drives and players. Over the years, the State Library has also produced audio for books that aren’t on tape using a dedicated recording studio, in which volunteers come in to read the books out loud.

Without the BTBL, access to free braille books and audiobooks would be limited and could hurt blind and print-disabled communities. 77-year-old Jan Santos is blind, and she’s been relying on the program since she learned about it as a kid.

“If you need to know about something in order to participate in a class or an activity or a job, the information will be harder to get,” Santos said. “So we won’t be able to equally participate and contribute in society.”

It costs the State Library about $3 million dollars to fund the Braille and Talking Book Library. But with IMLS potentially losing federal dollars, it’s unclear how long it can continue. 

Some Child Care Providers Close For The Day, Joining A Nation-wide Movement

Child care providers across California closed their doors today as part of a collective action called, “Day Without Child Care.” Supporters are calling for affordable and accessible child care for all families as well as better wages for child care providers.

Benu Chabra, who runs a preschool in the East Bay Area, also participated. 

“We are essential yet we are underpaid, undervalued and overworked,” Chabra said. “So this day is a call to action because without child care our economy stops, families struggle, and children lose out.”

This day of action comes as the nation’s free early childhood program, Head Start, is facing layoffs and threats from the Trump administration

Bay Area Catholics Celebrate Pope Leo XIV’s Creole Heritage

While Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, he has roots in New Orleans through Creole and Haitian ancestors. And yesterday, church goers from Saint Columba Catholic Church in Oakland celebrated the new pope’s unique ethnic background with hopes that Leo’s Creole identity can influence his actions in his new role. 

Father Kwame Assenyoh believes Leo can put the Black Catholic Church in America to the forefront. “This is a boost,” Assenyoh  said. “It’s going to lend a boost to the Black Catholic Church and Black Catholic Spirituality.”