SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – After a round of federal funding cuts, South Dakota libraries anticipate a change in how services will be provided, especially to rural areas.
The South Dakota State Library won’t renew the state’s courier system past April 30, because of a loss of federal funds from the interlibrary loan (ILL) under the Institute Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The contract ends on April 30.
Most of the services provided by the S.D. State Library depend on federal funds from the IMLS, according to the South Dakota Library Association.
“South Dakota got slightly less than $2,000,000 and it will be very difficult or impossible for the state to replace the services and products that those funds provided,” Elizabeth Fox, president of the South Dakota Library Association, said in a statement to KELOLAND News.
“I am absolutely heartbroken that this essential system, which serves our small community and others across South Dakota, has been dismantled,” Melissa Hutmacher, director for the Cozard Memorial Library in Chamberlain said in a statement to KELOLAND News.
Under the courier process, if an item you wanted wasn’t at your local library, then the S.D. State Library would use its courier system to ship that item to your local library for free. This courier process was faster than USPS, used reusable bags, and covered postage for both ways, according to the South Dakota Library Association.
Without the federal money, every item shipped will now need postage covered both ways and packing materials, according to Fox.
“Because we don’t want any books lost in the courier, we are being asked not to send anything by courier from now on,” Fox said in a statement to KELOLAND News. “We are just letting what is in the courier find its way home.”
“This change will directly impact the level of access we can provide, and for many patrons, it means fewer opportunities to explore, learn, and connect with materials they care about,” Tara Thomas, librarian at Emil M. Larson Public Library in Clark said in a statement to KELOLAND News. “It feels like a step backward in our mission to make information accessible to all South Dakotans, regardless of location or income.”
“This loss does not just affect individual readers; it disrupts an entire ecosystem of learning and shared knowledge,” Hutmacher said in a statement to KELOLAND News. “Our library serves multiple book clubs in Chamberlain and surrounding areas, all of which depend on the courier system to borrow multiple copies of books—a necessity we simply cannot accommodate within our limited space. Book clubs often require up to 10 copies of a title at once, something the courier system made possible. Without it, these groups and their communal love for literature will suffer.”
According to the South Dakota Department of Education, the SD State Library is continuing to provide services such as its online databases, summer reading program, Braille and Talking Book activities, and technical assistance to public libraries and schools.
Jodi Fick, director of the Siouxland Libraries, said she anticipates a budgetary impact of over $20,000 for Siouxland Libraries to continue to provide the service.
“Without that courier, we’ll still do that interlibrary loan,” Fick said. “Most of us, as our budgets allow, but we’ll have to we’ll start using the US Postal Service to deliver items which will cost significantly more.”
Siouxland Libraries uses the courier system to send about 9,000 items to customers a year, according to Fick. She said that Siouxland Libraries borrow more items than they lend, based on population size and the number of items customers are interested in.
“We at least have a wider range of topics available, where in a small library with a materials budget of only, like, you know, $10,000, they’re not going to have nearly as many items as Siouxland has with our materials budget,” Fick explained.
On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order to dismantle IMLS. Weeks later, IMLS staff were put on administrative leave and experienced grant cuts after a visit by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“We are fighting at the federal level to get the LSTM (Library Services and Technology Act) reauthorized and IMLS restaffed,” Fox said in a statement to KELOLAND News. “With the IMLS completely unstaffed at this time, there is no federal support for libraries or museums. We encourage anyone who feels that library services are important to contact their federal senators and representatives and to ask them to reauthorize LSTA funding and restaff the IMLS.”
“This is about more than books,” Thomas said in a statement to KELOLAND News. “Libraries are safe spaces for learning, connection, and opportunity. We are doing everything we can to continue serving our patrons in creative and meaningful ways—but we can’t do it alone. We need the support of our communities and our state to keep moving forward. Thank you for standing with your local libraries.”
