For the last two years, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment has aimed to help more than 1,000 third graders in Springfield Public Schools envision themselves as scientists and engineers.

Through the federally funded Schools Exploring Engineering, Design and Sustainability (SEEDS) program, the Amherst-based science and environmental education nonprofit provides teachers with the materials and training for four different design challenges to exercise students’ problem-solving and collaborative skills. Then students see these innovations in action through field trips to Hitchcock Center’s Living Building, a net-zero structure that recycles water and uses composting toilets.

“They (the students) say they feel more connected to engineering,” said Billy Spitzer, executive director at the Hitchcock Center. “They can talk about what a design and engineering process involves, and they have the skills to do this with other kids.”

With the remaining grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the SEEDS program was on track to reach an additional 1,000 more students and teachers in Springfield Public Schools by the end of next school year — until last week when Spitzer received an email that the grant was terminated.

“That was money appropriated by Congress for a particular purpose, and according to the law that should be spent for those particular purposes,” Spitzer said. “It’s a pretty upsetting development, and it’s not something you expect when you enter into agreement with the government.”

Since President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 14 to reduce IMSL to minimum performance and put all 31 staff on administrative leave, the bureau’s grants to many libraries and museums are disappearing nationwide.

Over a two-week period, the Hitchcock Center lost nearly $500,000 in federal grants, and the remaining $538,000 it had secured is no longer guaranteed. For grants that reimburse organizations over time rather than awarding money in one big check, Spitzer said he either cannot access the funding or applications for reimbursements are met with silence.

“It’s really a loss of those learning experiences for lots and lots of young people. That’s really what’s at stake here,” he said.

Wide-ranging cuts

The Hitchcock Center isn’t alone. Programs at museums, libraries and education centers across the commonwealth — including the entire state library system — are suddenly at risk to be reduced or cut altogether.

“The fact (is) that this administration doesn’t want an informed electorate and is removing any possible funding for education, for democracy, for library services,” Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry told the trustees during a March 28 meeting. “It makes you angry beyond belief, it makes you sad beyond belief, and it’s incomprehensible.”

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), the state agency that organizes the commonwealth’s library system, receives $3.6 million from IMLS. The money partially or fully funds 13 of the agency’s 23 staff and supplements statewide databases, the Commonwealth Catalog used for interlibrary loan, summer reading programs, statewide e-book and e-audio book and e-rate program.

Earlier this month, the MBLC announced cuts to Explore Grants that were awarded to 18 libraries in February; elimination of 12 Perkins Access training sessions to increase library accessibility; training programs for library staff, trustees, friends groups and foundations; and a grant to the Department of Correction and funding for the MBLC’s Manga Book Collection that has served libraries at county jails and departments of correction.

Any cuts to MBLC will trickle down to the local consortium, even if those branches do not receive federal funding directly.

Easthampton Public Library Director Katya Schapiro and Edwards Public Library Director Johanna Douglass are worried about losing access to databases, e-book libraries like Libby and the Commonwealth Catalog.

“It would be a terrible situation if those were to be cut,” Douglass said. “It’s a real fear that this will happen and we will unfortunately be affected.”

For the Jones specifically, the reduction of the IMLS means losing a Department of Homeland Security grant to teach English to senior citizen English language learners. The original grant for $120,000 came in 2022 and was set to end in fall 2025. The worst-case scenario is the library loses $66,000, the best case scenario is it loses about $39,000.

“Either way, what hurts the most is the students,” Sharry said. Eleven people from around the world ages 63 to 84, with limited education, will be told the class is ending.

In light of Trump’s executive order, the Massachusetts Library Association, the Massachusetts School Library Association and the Massachusetts Center for the Book are challenging the grant cancellations. A letter to the Massachusetts congressional delegation signed by 26 mayors and town administrators across the commonwealth, including Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, urges the legislators to protect IMLS from defunding and policy changes.

“Libraries also serve as spaces that offer connections to social services and resources, support for small business owners and entrepreneurs, and they can serve as a space for community,” the letter reads. “Since their creation, American libraries have served to keep and circulate knowledge they have remained dedicated to promoting intellectual freedoms in our democracy.”

Archival programs at risk

While patrons of the Hitchcock Center and Jones Library may see the impacts of grant cancellations more directly, other grants given for library preservation could hit archival programs behind the scenes.

Forbes Library’s local history collection has begun to outgrow its room, with hundreds of thousands of photo negatives and thousands of historical documents dating back to the settlement of Northampton. The library received a $7,500 grant funded by IMLS for a consultant to suggest storage, space and organization practices, an assessment Local History Specialist Dylan Gaffney said should occur periodically.

“We have papers going back to the 1600s, so account books, diaries, journals and manuscripts,” Gaffney said. “In the last 10 years, we’ve added collections on LGBTQ history in Northampton and local music and art scenes from the 70s and 80s on to create an archive that better reflects the community.”

The library also received funds from National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the agency in charge of the National Archives, to digitize its large collection. Some of the artifacts scheduled for digitization includes the Judd Manuscript Collection, a set of 70 bound books of thousands of oral and written accounts of colonial life, including aspects of indigenous life and lives of enslaved and free Black people. Gaffney questions when he will learn of that grant’s cancellation.

“That’s the type of grant program that’s really under threat right now,” he said.

The fragility of historical documents and photos is imperative for preservation. Since the last time Forbes conducted this assessment, the library has installed a new HVAC system. These artifacts require a stable temperature for best protections, so the new system could impact the longevity of the documents.

In South Hadley, colonial documents housed at the Gaylord Memorial Library currently remain at risk to poor storage, improper handling and environmental conditions. South Hadley Library Director Joesph Rodio said the department received the same $7,500 grant, but without expertise in the building it will be difficult to save the documents.

“Local history is a major part of our town’s recently revised master plan, so preserving that part of our town’s history for future generations would do a lot of good for the town and library and the community,” Rodio said. “Without those grant funds, everything remains status quo, and when you’re talking about historical documents that are in poor storage, the status quo isn’t good.”

While local libraries received smaller grants for archival preservation, some bigger institutions were hit harder. The Emily Dickinson Museum was notified that its $117,000 grant to improve documentation of its large body of artifacts was terminated.

“Upon further review, the IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities, and no longer serves the interest of the United States and IMLS program,” the notice said.

Spitzer noted that the letter to the Hitchcock Center included similar language when the IMLS grant and an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for air quality data collection suddenly ceased.

Community outreach

With the uncertainty of future federal grant funding, nonprofits are turning to their communities for support. Only, not all support is monetary, Spitzer said.

He recalled an event on April 13 where teenagers worked with the Hitchcock Center to tell their experiences, fears and hopes about climate change at an exhibit of videos and posters. Over 100 community members attended to talk about climate change with the next generation, which really cemented for Spitzer that it’s the community at stake here, he said. The community can continue to collaborate and tackle climate change, even without the federal government’s assistance.

“Our message collectively is anything you can do to support the needs and values of the community is what needs to happen,” Spitzer said. “It can be money. It can be moral support. It can be resistance. It can be talking about what’s going on with others. It can be volunteering your time, It can take many forms. We have the power to make things better, despite all the challenge.”

Reporters Scott Merzbach and Alexa Lewis contributed to this report. Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.