Miller-Meeks visits Washington library

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks paid a visit to the Washington’s square on Thursday, taking a tour led by Main Street Washington through the downtown area.

The trip made Miller-Meeks the latest in a line of elected officials to visit the Washington Public Library’s Makerspace, where community members have undertaken all sorts of creative projects. MSW Director Samantha Meyer said the library was a “natural place to start” such tours.

“We obviously want to show off all the amazing projects that we’ve done with grants from Main Street Iowa, and the beautiful remodels and restorations,” she said. “We have to show this off, right? This space is amazing, and the more people that know about it, the better.”

While looking through the space, the congresswoman spoke with Mark Keedy, a retired hobbyist working to digitize a trove of local newspaper photos. Keedy said he was worried that federal budget-slashing efforts might soon aim to cut Social Security spending, a move that could force him out of retirement, and potentially upend the historic preservation project.

“We haven’t talked about doing anything to social security, just to let you know,” Miller-Meeks replied. “As far as I’ve been aware, any conversation we’ve had … Donald Trump said, ‘No cuts to Social Security.’”

Keedy also started a discussion about federal support for The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that supports libraries across the nation, as well as botanical gardens, zoos, children’s science centers, and other educational institutions.

President Donald Trump had signed an executive order earlier in the week aiming to dismantle it and other federal agencies “to the maximum extent of the law.” On the same day of Miller-Meeks’ visit, news broke of Department of Government Efficiency representatives entering the IMLS building to swear in a new director.

Keedy and Washington Public Library Director Cary Ann Siegfried said they worried “reckless” state and federal budget cuts would upend the IMLS and other projects funded by The Library Services and Technology Act, potentially endangering local libraries like their own.

“We have great libraries all throughout Iowa, and I think a lot of that is due to LSTA funds that trickle down to the state library,” Siegfried said. “When I think about all the stuff that the state library does for us that would go away if the LSTA goes away, it just makes me want to go crawl into a dark room somewhere.”

Miller-Meeks said she understood the concern, but that federal actors would balance it with other worries about deficit spending.

“The U.S. is $37 trillion in debt, that threatens all of us, and all of those great programs,” she said. “We want to be conscious where that money goes, we want to prioritize spending, and where there’s money that’s wasted, or fraud, we certainly want to help that.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com