Last Thursday, Ed Garcia, director of the Cranston Public Library, attended a US District Court hearing for a preliminary injunction filed by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and 20 other state attorneys general to halt the Trump Administration’s Executive Order eliminating the Institute of Museum of Library Services (IMLS). IMLS is the primary federal agency that supports libraries. According to Garcia, if enacted these proposed cuts will be devastating to Rhode Island libraries and the communities they serve.

From left to right: Kate Sabatini, chief of the RIAG Civil Division, Katherine Connolly Sadeck, Rhode Island Solicitor General, Ed Garcia, director of the Cranston Public Library, Karen Mellor, chief of library services for the state of Rhode Island, Natalya Buckler, RIAG assistant attorney general, and Dave Day, special assistant to the attorney general of Hawaii outside US District Court in Providence, RI. Submitted photo