Delaware Senator Chris Coons says he will continue to fight funding cuts targeted at libraries.
Coons delivered a strong defense of libraries and a sharp rebuke to the efforts of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency at an event Tuesday at the Wilmington Public Library.
In a speech quoting everyone from Lady Bird Johnson to Cicero, Coons underscored the wide array of services that today’s libraries provide to their communities.
“A library in our modern community is a place where folks apply for jobs, get access to healthcare, figure out their own future, and find a path," he said.
He also had strong criticism for the budget-slashing efforts of the Trump administration, which includes a $1.3 million cut to libraries in Delaware.
“Does it make us more efficient? No. Does it make us more productive? No. Is there widespread waste, fraud and abuse in our libraries? No," Coons said. "What I can find as a common theme to the cuts that DOGE and Elon Musk are directing is cruelty.”
The cuts to the library system are among many stoppages of federal money to hit the First State. Other cuts have impacted non-profit organizations and Delaware Humanities.
