"Without People There Would Be No Library" (Tera Moon and the IMLS)

It's a complicated time in library land, as an executive order from the current US presidential administration compromises the federal funding provided to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Today, Nicole, Drew, Killian, and Amanda sit down with special guest Tera Moon, director of the Bloomfield Township Public Library, to discuss how this might affect libraries and services at both the local and state level.

Want to join the conversation? Email us at [e-mail]

Many thanks to BCTV for their support in recording, editing, and releasing this podcast; and to the Friends of the Library for sponsoring closed captioning on every episode.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
- (Nicole) Hey there.
Welcome to the "DistractedLibrarians Podcast."
We are your friendly neighborhoodbookworms with a penchant
for all things pop culture.
- (Drew) Picture thisas our digital campfire,
where we dive into our latest obsessions,
analyze our favorite distractions,
and rediscover the joy of reading.
- (Killian) Whether you're amedia enthusiast, a book lover,

(00:21):
or just need a break from the daily grind,
you've come to the right spot.
- (Amanda) So kick back, relax,
and get delightfully distracted with us.
- (Nicole) Hey everybody.
Today on the "DistractedLibrarians Podcast,"
we will be talking about somebig news in the library world.
But first, my name is Nicole.
- (Drew) I'm Drew.

(00:41):
- (Killian) I'm Killian.
- (Amanda) I'm Amanda.
- (Nicole) Today we will betalking about the White House
executive order that wasannounced on March 14th, 2025,
that they will aim to eliminate
the Institute of Museumand Library Services.
This is the only federalagency that's devoted

(01:02):
to America's libraries.
To help us out with thistopic, we have a special guest,
the director of the BloomfieldTownship Public Library,
Tera Moon.
Hi Tera.
- (Tera) Hi everyone.
- (Drew) Hello.
- (Tera) Thanks for having me.
- (Nicole) Can you pleasetell us what your role
is at the library?
- (Tera) Yeah, I am the library director,
for those, not in the library world

(01:23):
I'm like the CEO of the library.
I have full responsibilityfor the library,
and I answer to our sixmember elected library board.
- (Nicole) Nice. And what is your
favorite thing about libraries?
- (Tera) My favorite thingabout libraries is the people.
Most people think library's about books,
but I think they'reabout people, the staff

(01:43):
that we have at the librarythat are really devoted
to providing great service.
And of course there are patrons
that come and use the library.
Without people there would be no library.
- (Drew) Aw.
(group laughing)
- (Drew) So with thatbeing about libraries,
what is the Institute forMuseum and Library Services?

(02:04):
- (Tera) Yeah, well, asNicole said in the intro,
it's the only federal agency devoted
to supporting America's libraries,
and it mostly administers grant funding.
So it has a budget anddistributes grants to states,
and then the states use thatmoney to support the public
and other libraries in their state.

(02:26):
- (Nicole) Yeah, so Ithink a lot of the public,
if they do think about it, they're like,
"How are libraries actually funded?"
And there are a lot of differentways that we are funded,
but this is just one of the ways.
- (Tera) Yes. Yeah.
In fact, this funding inthe state of Michigan,
for the most part,
doesn't directly support public libraries,
but it supports a lot of activities

(02:48):
that public libraries make possible.
- (Nicole) Good to know.
- (Drew) So how does that funding affect,
you know, BTPL specifically?
- (Tera) Yeah, so we area public library that's
mostly supported by tax dollars.
So 97% of our budget comesfrom local property taxes.
So that's our patronsthat use our library.
We get a small amount offunding from the state

(03:10):
and a small amount offunding from penal fines.
A lot of people don't know that
if you get a speeding ticket,that money goes to the state
and then comes to libraries.
So we don't get anyfederal funding directly
at this library, and mostpublic libraries in Michigan
are that way.
- (Nicole) Mm, okay.
- (Drew) Yep. So how does that, you know,
affect all of Michigan?

(03:31):
Is it the same for all libraries or?
- (Tera) Yeah, I can't speakto every single library.
- (Drew) Of course.- (Tera) But I think, again,
most public librariesin Michigan are funded
by local tax dollars.
So this federal fundingdoesn't impact them directly.
Smaller libraries, it might be different.
And like I said, there'sa lot of shared resources,

(03:51):
which I know we're gonnatalk about in a little bit,
that this federal funding does support,
and because it supportsthese shared resources,
it allows a lot of smaller libraries
without bigger budgets todo more for their patrons
than what they would beable to do otherwise.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
- (Drew) And what are someof the other federal agencies

(04:11):
that are dedicated to library funding?
I know I never knew about the penal thing
until you said it two minutes ago.
- Oh, yeah. And that's state.
- Yeah.- So yeah, that's state.
You know, I don't think thatthere really are any other
federal agencies dedicatedto library funding.
I think that the IMLS is it,
and then again, it's allvery, very localized.
- (Nicole) Okay.- (Killian) Okay. Yeah.

(04:32):
So I know there's been a lot of talk
as we're recording this.
It's been about a monthsince this executive order
was announced,
and there's been a lot oftalk about reactions to that
and thoughts about that.
What was your initial reaction
to hearing about this executive order?
- (Tera) I was disappointed,and I'll say a little bit

(04:53):
scared and nervous, not quitebeing sure how this would
play out, but mostly disappointed just
because this kind of sends amessage that public libraries
and libraries in generalaren't very supported.
- (Killian) So how specificallywould the loss of these IMLS
funds and the closure of IMLSaffect Michigan libraries?

(05:15):
- (Tera) Yeah, so the Libraryof Michigan is the org.
that administers these federalgrants that come from IMLS.
And the Library of Michigan spends
that money in a couple of different ways.
The Library of Michigan paysfor databases that are shared
with all of the libraries in Michigan,
ebook collection, test prep.

(05:37):
There's a lot of professional development
that the Library of Michigansupports for librarians,
but probably the biggest one,
and the thing that mostpeople are gonna know about
is MeLCat.
- (Drew) Love a good MeLCat.
- (Tera) Love a good MeLCat.
- (Nicole) Yeah. MeLCat's the best.
- (Amanda) I'm a huge fan of MeLCat,
but for this purpose,
I'm gonna pretend thatI don't know what it is.

(05:58):
So, Tera, what is MeLCat?
- (Tera) I'm so glad you asked, Amanda.
(group laughing)
MeLCat is a way
that you can order a bookfrom almost any library
in the state of Michigan,
and it will arrive at yourlibrary within a few days.
It's sort of like theclosest thing we can get
to Amazon in the public library world.

(06:19):
- (Nicole) Yeah.
- (Amanda) So can Iget a book from U of M?
- (Tera) You sure can.
- (Amanda) What about somewhere in the UP
that maybe specializes in, I don't know,
Michigan waterfalls?
- (Tera) Absolutely.- (Amanda) Okay.
- (Tera) Yeah, there's a widenetwork of public libraries,
university libraries,

(06:40):
and some other speciallibraries in MeLCat.
- (Nicole) I have personally found
that there is almost everything on MeLCat.
So this is a situationwhere if a patron comes up
to us at the desk and says,
"I am really lookingfor this obscure thing,"
chances are we might be able
to get it from another library
because of this awesome service.

(07:02):
- (Drew) It's also sucha good search engine
for us in the first place of figuring out
what sort of things exist.
I tend to not like to gostraight to like a Google search,
because that'll pullin all kinds of media,
all kinds of everything,
and that's not really conduciveto what our patrons can get.
So I like to start from a place of,

(07:23):
this is still somethingthat we can get our patron.
- (Nicole) Mm-hm.
- (Amanda) So if I want toget something that's really
more of like a textbook,
would MeLCat be able to do that?
- (Tera) Yeah, as long asthere's a library out there that
owns it and is willing toloan it, you can MeLCat it.

(07:44):
- (Amanda) That's pretty cool.- (Tera) It is pretty cool.
It really allows librariesto expand their collections
and you know, every libraryhas a finite budget.
- (group) Mm-hm.
- (Tera) And we can onlybuy so much, and space.
- (Drew) Mm-hm.- (Amanda) Yeah.
- (Tera) And so MeLCat makesit so that the whole state
of Michigan is your library.
- (Amanda) Pretty cool.

(08:04):
- (Drew) And from a spaceperspective, it also allows us
to get more things because wecan count on more materials
being out of the library at a given time.
- (Amanda) Mm-hm.
- (Tera) Good point.
- (Amanda) So how does this work?
Like how does it work if say
someone is interested ina book they can't get?
Can you walk us through the process?

(08:24):
Or maybe one of our librarianswants to walk us through.
- (Tera) Yeah, I was gonna say.
I think one of you guys should
'cause you do it more than I do, probably.
- (Drew) We sure do.- (Amanda) Yeah.
- (Drew) We sure do.
Yeah.
So the Mel site has justa quick search database.
- (Amanda) And can youtell me what that is?
- (Drew) It is elibrary.mel.org.
- (Amanda) Okay, cool.

(08:44):
- (Drew) And you do thatquick search on there.
It does it by keyword or title, author.
Really anything you wantto use as a search term.
It's decently refined andit will pull up everything
that it can find in any connected catalog.
- (Nicole) Mm-hm.
- (Drew) With options forus to order it from any

(09:06):
who listed as available.
Every individual librarygets to choose what is listed
as requestable or not.
I know some librariesthat choose, you know,
not to request theirlocal history collection,
not to allow their new titles for request.
And that's decisions thatindividual libraries make.
But in general, if it'saccessible at a library,

(09:28):
it's accessible at any library.
- (Amanda) Can I get a DVD?- (Drew) Yes.
- (Amanda) What about VHS?- (Drew) Weirdly, yes.
- (Amanda) Okay. Pretty cool.(group laughing)
- (Tera) Probably somevinyl out there too.
- (Amanda) Maybe some vinyl.- (Nicole) Oh yeah.
- (Tera) And isn't there alink right from our library
Catalog? If you look up a book or a record
and it doesn't come up,there's a link right there

(09:48):
to take you to MeLCat.
- (Drew) Mm-hm.- (Amanda) Yep, exactly.
- (Nicole) Yep.
- (Drew) It'll do that fromthe individual item record.
It'll also do that from yourjust basic catalog search.
So if you type something into the catalog,
it's not pulling up anything on our end,
you just click on the MeL button
and it will put that exactsame search into MeL.
- (Killian) It's really agreat resource for a lot

(10:10):
of out of print things.
We get a lot of people cominginto the youth room wanting
a picture book, a moreobscure picture book
from their childhoodor something like that,
that we don't have,
in spite of having a lot of picture books.
And it's lets us findlibraries that have it
because it's not somethingthat we can purchase anymore.

(10:30):
- (Amanda) So in addition togoing straight to the website
or going to btpl.org andsearching in our catalog
and then having it redirect to MeL,
if you don't find what you're looking for,
you can also call thelibrary, talk to a librarian.
And a lot of times if we don'thave what you're looking for,

(10:55):
we'll say,
"Well, I can get this foryou from another library."
What we're using is MeLCat to do so.
- (Nicole) Mm-hm.
- (Amanda) So if you're everthinking like, oh, maybe,
you know, all thelibraries in Oakland County
have a shared database, actually no.
Is what we do is we useMeLCat as that shared database
to see where these books areand where we can get them from.

(11:18):
- (Nicole) Okay.
- (Drew) It's also somethingthat we use for purchasing.
You know, every month thecirculation staff member
who does MeLCat for us willsend out a list of everything
that's been requested overthe course of the last month.
And we use that constantly
to look into new thingsto buy for the library.

(11:38):
One of the hardestthings to make a decision
for in purchasing is,
will this be used by the patrons?
So being able to point to that
and say, yes, there wasinterest is a big deal for us.
- (Amanda) Yeah. To justifybuying more books in that
Subject area. For sure.
So can someone break downsome of the logistics?

(12:01):
- (Tera) I can.- (Amanda) Okay, cool, Tera.
- (Tera) I worked in circulation
before I came to this library
at the Southfield Public Library.
And so I saw all the work
that goes into running MeLCat.
The thing that's so great about MeLCat
is what's so great aboutlibraries in general,
because it's a shared resource.
So it's a decentralized,
for the most part, a decentralized service

(12:24):
where it really relies on the labor
in each individual library to make it run.
So there are some peopleat the Library of Michigan
that oversee it and keep it together
and help route problems,
but mostly it's local circulation staff.
So that staff you werementioning, they might run lists.
And then our online database is connected

(12:47):
to all the otherdatabases in the libraries
that participate in MeLCat.
So a staff member atthe Peter White Library
and the UP might get a ping
that Killian just requested a book.
And so somebody goesand hunts down that book
and brings it to the circulation area.
It gets packaged up and put into a bin,
it goes to a sorting facility,
it gets sorted into other bins,

(13:09):
and then it gets delivered to the library.
And then a staff person has to unpack it.
It's so many individual items
because it's a one-to-one ratio.
It's like each patronrequesting that book.
So it's an incredible amount of labor
that goes into it on the locallevel to make MeLCat work

(13:32):
and to make sure the patronsare getting the items
that they want, and thenfollowing up on problems
and hunting down thingsthat haven't been returned,
making sure they all get backto where they need to go.
- (Amanda) So if I were torequest a book through MeLCat,
how long does it take to come in
to Bloomfield Township Public Library?

(13:55):
- (Tera) I think-
- (Drew) The official answer we give
to patrons is seven to 10 days.
You know, realistically, it'sgonna be a little bit more
dependent on whatlibrary it's coming from,
how much of Michigan ithas to cover to get to us.
- (Nicole) Mm-hm.
- (Drew) But we typically say seven to 10.
- (Amanda) I think that's reallyhonestly, sort of magical.
- (Tera) Yes. It really is.(group laughing)

(14:16):
- (Killian) It's also reallyexciting when things show up.
Sometimes it's a little bit quicker,
and I will always planfor that week to 10 days,
and then something shows up quicker.
I'm like, "Oh my gosh, it's here."
- (Tera) Yeah.
- (Killian) So that's always fun.
- (Tera) It is.
- (Amanda) I've definitely ordered a book
through different online bookstores
and had it take longer than a week.
And this is completely free,so that's pretty amazing.

(14:40):
- (Tera) Sometimes Iforget what I've ordered
and I'll get a notice, I'll be like
"What is it?"
Nice, fun surprise.
- (Nicole) Yeah, I mean,so this is a service
that we are all very fortunate to have,
and I know for some libraries
that really rely on MeLCat a lot
to supplement theircollection for their patrons,
it is something that they probably value

(15:01):
even more than what we do.
- (Tera) Yeah.- (Amanda) Yeah.
- (Amanda) So I know that you talked about
a lot of people process these MeLCat
requests at the local library level.
Who runs it though?
Who runs the databasewe've been talking about,
the website we've been talking about?

(15:22):
- (Tera) Yeah, it's staffat the Library of Michigan
that have that oversight of the website
and the database.
Like I said, it relies on connecting
all of our local databases to each other.
But there is just, Ihonestly don't know how many,
but one or two staff people at
Library of Michigan that oversee it.

(15:45):
- (Amanda) Wow. That's apretty powerful system.
Yeah.- (Tera) Yeah.
That just, again, it's very decentralized.
It really relies on a hugeeffort of a lot of people.
- (Amanda) Do you know whatthe yearly budget is of MeL?
- (Tera) I don't, off the top of my head.

(16:06):
I know that the IMLS grantsthat go to the state of Michigan
to the Library of Michigan,total about $4.8 million
and about 75% of that pays for MeLCat.
So I don't know, do the math.
(group laughing)
- (Drew) And that wouldbe to cover the hosting of

(16:28):
the website, the administrative people,
the coordination efforts between them.
- (Tera) Every library paysin a little bit for rides,
which is the deliveryservice that is contracted
with the Library of Michigan.
So we all pitch in a little bit for that.
It's a pretty small amount,a couple thousand dollars.

(16:50):
- (Nicole) Cool.
- (Amanda) So if IMLS is no longer funded,
and MeLCat is primarilyfunded through IMLS,
what does that mean?

(17:11):
Is that...
- (Tera) I don't knowat this moment in time.
- (Amanda) Okay.
- (Tera) That's one of the things
that's frustrating aboutthis is that there's a lot
of uncertainty on what will happen.
I know that a lot of peoplein the library leadership
at the state and locallevels are talking about ways

(17:32):
that MeLCat could be fundedif the IMLS funding goes away
and some other things.
So people are talking aboutthis and have their eye on it
and are trying to figure out
how we can keep MeLCat goingif we lose this IMLS funding.
- (Drew) I believe currentlyit's paid out through the end
of the year regardless?

(17:53):
- (Tera) Yeah, that's what I'veread, is that it's through,
I think September is when,
I think that's when thefederal budget ends.
And then a new one starts in October.
But yeah, it's paid for right now.
So we continue to MeLCat.
(group laughing)
- (Nicole) Are there any other groups
that are challenging the executive order?
- (Tera) The American Library Association,

(18:14):
also, a group of attorneysgeneral from 21 states
have sued the Trumpadministration over this.
And I think a union of municipal workers,
AFSCME is also joining that lawsuit.
- (Nicole) Wow.
- (Tera) So people aretrying to fight this.

(18:40):
The agency was createdby an act of Congress.
So it takes an act ofCongress to close it.
And I just wanna read this quote from one
of the lawsuit for the attorneys general.
"The sudden halting of the agency's work
after decades of closecooperation will immediately
put at risk hundreds of millions
of dollars in grant fundingon which the states depend

(19:02):
and will undermine libraryprograms, economic opportunity
and the free flow of commercethroughout the country."
So it just reallydegrades what libraries do
and do so well, which is sharing resources
and supporting our communitiesin all kinds of ways.
- (Nicole) Yeah.
So this is all information
regarding Michigan Libraries specifically

(19:24):
because that's where we're based.
But the American Library Association
is a really great resourcefor more information.
You can find them at ala.org.
And also, you could also check out
your state library associations to see
how it affects yourcommunity specifically.
- (Killian) Yep.

(19:45):
Different states use thisfunding for different things.
So it's important to know what's going on
with your local libraries,
because that may be differentfrom what we're talking about,
depending on where you're listening from.
- (Drew) Yeah.
Some libraries could use itmore for specific services,
for downloadable materials,for just different databases.
You know, it's a very state

(20:05):
and occasionally local specific thing.
- (Nicole) Mm-hm.
Okay. Well, thank you,Tera, for joining us today.
We really appreciate it.
- (Tera) Yeah, thank youfor having me. This was fun.
- (Nicole) Yeah. And wewill see you next time.
Thank you.
- (Nicole) Thank you forjoining us for this episode
of "Distracted Librarians."
- (Drew) Many thanks to BCTVfor their support in recording,

(20:27):
editing, and releasing this podcast.
And to the friends of the library
for sponsoring closedcaptioning on every episode.
- (Killian) If you have anyquestions or suggestions,
feel free to reach out tous at [e-mail].
- (Amanda) Until then,keep those pages turning
and those screens lighting up.
We'll catch you in the next episode.

(20:48):
- (Emily) The views andopinions expressed in the
"Distracted Librarians Podcast"
do not necessarily reflectthose of Bloomfield Township,
Bloomfield Township Public Library,
Bloomfield Community Television,
the Birmingham Area CableBoard, or its producers
or production staff.