A wave of art organizations and libraries are speaking up to warn that federal and state cuts could impact the lives of Granite State citizens.
Those sounding the alarm include the New Hampshire Library Association and a wave of local libraries, as well as cultural institutions like Arts4NH, the Capitol Center for the Arts and Prescott Park Arts Festival.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration released an executive order cutting the Institute for Museum and Library Services (also known as IMLS). The agency provides funding and grants to libraries and museums across the country, including New Hampshire, to help fund special projects, research and educational opportunities.
Additional cuts are now looming at the state level. A House committee working on state budget proposals voted in favor of eliminating funding for the Division of Arts, which helps provide funding to arts organizations and advance arts and culture in the state. They are also considering a proposal to shut down the New Hampshire State Library.
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Rep. Joseph Sweeney, a Salem Republican who proposed those cuts on Monday, cited the loss in federal funding as part of his rationale, noting that the state wouldn’t be in a position to fill in the gaps. He also said the state library building in downtown Concord could be better used as office space.
“This is a budget in which we really need to identify what we need to fund in this state, and make reductions in the — what I would call — the optional, or the wants, of the state,” Sweeney said at the House Finance Division I committee on Monday.
Sweeney told his colleagues that he did not confer with the state library on its services before bringing the proposed cuts to the committee and noted the state librarian role is currently vacant. The previous state librarian retired in 2024, and former Gov. Chris Sununu pulled a nominee who drew conservative pushback over her opposition to book restrictions.
New Hampshire is home to the first state library ever instituted in the country. In addition to supporting library lending programs, the state library manages a variety of other programs and research databases, including those archiving historical records, government documents and other materials. It received $1.5 million from the IMLS program last year, according to a federal dashboard.
The New Hampshire State Council of the Arts also funded over $1.5 million in grants to arts organizations across the state in 2024, according to Arts4NH, an organization advocating for the state’s creative economy.
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Computers at the Goffstown Public Library provide internet access for patrons who may want to apply for jobs online, research or connect to loved ones. Loss of funding from ILMS could mean people who use the library for internet access could be affected. Libraries that use federal and state funding may need to find other resources to provide many of the services to continue serving the public.
Libraries and museums consider the loss of state, federal support
The potential cuts at the federal and state level are sending shockwaves through New Hampshire’s literary and cultural communities.
Arts4NH estimates that arts programming contributes billions of dollars to the New Hampshire economy and represents some 21,000 jobs.
“Now is the time to advocate for the arts and remind our community, state, and federal leaders that arts and culture are essential—not only for creativity and cultural enrichment but for their economic and health benefits to our state,” the organization wrote in a recent call to action on social media.
According to local library officials, the federal funding from IMLS supported a range of programs, including offering books with braille and talking book services to assist readers with visual impairments, as well as providing New Hampshire library patrons with access to e-books and audiobooks through the Libby App. Portsmouth Public Library reported 17,000 borrows through the app last year, while Manchester City Library said its patrons borrowed an average of 6,000 titles per month.
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The funding also supported high-speed internet access, STEM and job training programs, veterans’ telehealth spaces, and more, according to New Hampshire librarians.
Laura Horwood-Benton, the assistant director at the Portsmouth Public Library, said she’s especially concerned about the impact on inter-library loans. She said IMLS funding helped to make it possible for local libraries to share materials in different branches all across the state. Through that program, she said, the Portsmouth Public Library gave out roughly 2,700 books to library patrons in other communities last year.
“It makes it a much more equitable service across the state,” she said. “And it means that libraries can curate collections that are specific to their communities but also have access to a much wider range of materials including sometimes academic materials from state universities, as well.”
Horwood-Benton said the Portsmouth Public Library also relied on funding from IMLS to support administrative staff, van drivers. Without the funding, she said, the library is considering how they can continue to provide those services.
“What needs to be decided is whether the state can fund that service at a state level, and that is not clear,” Horton said. (Her comments came before Monday’s budget hearing where lawmakers discussed cutting state library funding.)
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Horwood-Benton said they’re looking at the city budget, which will be up for discussion later this spring, to see whether they can find a means of funding many of the programs IMLS helped keep afloat. Without federal and state support, she said libraries throughout the state will be tasked with finding additional funding or looking at cutting programs.
“We would have to lose something in order to provide individual library funding for some of these services,” Horwood-Benton said. “So even if we’re able to maintain an interlibrary loan, for example, that would be a loss from somewhere else.”
Nearby at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, Executive Director Leanna Grimm said at the moment the museum has the funding it needs — but she predicts that, in the long term, the loss of IMLS funding will force museums and art organizations to look to private donors. She predicts that the market for donations will get increasingly tight over time.
“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges with the proposed funding cuts is that all the local nonprofits – we’re all doing amazing work and amazing projects,” Grimm said. “They’re going to have to turn to private donors and foundations to try to fund that work, which means that competition is going to be all the higher. It means that they’re gonna be some really good projects that end up without funding.”
Grimm said now is the time for people to get out and support the arts. She’s been encouraged to hear positive community feedback in response to a letter the museum issued about the federal cuts.
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“I was really heartened by our members’ reaction and the support for not only Strawbery Bank museum but museums and libraries throughout the state,” Grimm said. “I see some positives and, and some hope there.”
Ed. Note: If this was you and you are interested, please email [email protected] so I can put you in touch with OP.
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I was biking home from a doctor appointment a little before noon on Friday, and stopped at a red light on New Hampshire & L st nw. There was a woman across the street who was looking fine in her dark blue (I think they were) scrubs. I might be crazy, but it felt like we kept checking each other out. By the third time,
if we were in a romcom, one of us would have waved. Sorry I didn’t, but if you are reading this and date men, reach out to the Prince if you are interested in that man on the bike. Have a great weekend!”
Ed. Note: If this is you, please email [email protected] so I can put you in touch with OP. PoPville is not affiliated with either party, please proceed with any potential connection at your own risk using caution as you would any online encounter. For those curious about past missed connections, many have been made and when possible I’ll try to update when/if more are made.
A New Hampshire motorcyclist who had been missing since the Fourth of July was found dead in Shelburne late Thursday night.
State police say they received a request from the Berlin Police Department just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday for help locating 41-year-old Wesley Grondin — the Berlin man was last seen riding his motorcycle on Saturday, July 4, and had been reported missing.
Troopers received a call a couple of hours later, around 10:10 p.m. Thursday, from a concerned resident who had been out looking for Grondin along Route 2 in Shelburne. The person told police they had found Grondin dead, along with his Harley Davidson.
According to state police, a preliminary investigation determined that Grondin was riding his Harley on Route 2 westbound in Shelburne when, for reasons that remain under investigation, he crossed over into the opposing lane, struck a post, and came to a final rest in the wood line.
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The crash is believed to have occurred just before midnight on July 4. At this time, police say there’s no indication that another vehicle or person was involved.
All aspects of the crash remain under investigation, however. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is asked to contact Trooper Hunter Newsham at Hunter.P.Newsham@dos.nh.gov.
KEENE, N.H. — A Nashua woman who had a town clerk falsely certify a marriage that never happened so she could claim her late partner’s property has been sentenced to seven days in jail, placed on probation and ordered to repay thousands to his estate.
Attorney General John Formella said Wendy Leedberg‑Snow, 60, turned to Winchester Town Clerk Jim Tetreault after the death of her longtime partner, Eric Leedberg — who was born in Lowell — using the falsified license to pose as his spouse and lay claim to property from his estate, an effort prosecutors describe as an attempt to rewrite the couple’s history for financial gain.
“This case involved a deliberate effort to manipulate official government records and exploit the death of a loved one for personal financial gain,” Formella said in a press release announcing the sentencing. “Our vital records system depends on honesty and integrity, and those who seek to corrupt that system will be held accountable. I want to thank the investigators and prosecutors whose work ensured justice for the victim’s family.”
According to Leedberg’s obituary, he was 53 when he died on Oct. 12, 2023, following a two‑year battle with cancer.
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In the obituary, Leedberg-Snow is described as his “significant other.”
Prosecutors said Leedberg‑Snow moved quickly after his death, relying on Tetreault’s signature to fabricate a marriage that never occurred and position herself as Leedberg’s surviving spouse.
Tetreault, who was a New Hampshire justice of the peace at the time, falsely signed the marriage license claiming he had officiated the couple’s wedding. He later admitted he never performed any ceremony for Leedberg‑Snow and Leedberg and had no personal knowledge of them ever being married.
Leedberg‑Snow used the fraudulent certificate to obtain property from Leedberg’s estate, including a pickup truck and trailer, and later attempted to influence a witness connected to the scheme.
Leedberg‑Snow pleaded guilty in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene to felony counts of solicitation to commit vital records fraud, title fraud, theft by misapplication of property and witness tampering.
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In addition to her seven‑day jail term, she must serve two years of probation, pay $4,600 in restitution, return the truck and trailer to Leedberg’s estate and comply with a suspended three‑and‑a‑half‑ to seven‑year prison sentence, which means the sentence only takes effect if she violates the conditions of her probation.
Tetreault, who continues to serve as Winchester’s town clerk and “fully cooperated with the State’s investigation,” according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty in April to notarial misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of a negotiated plea, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of vital records fraud. He was sentenced to 90 days in the house of corrections, all suspended for two years on good behavior, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus a $240 penalty assessment.
He resigned his commissions as a justice of the peace and bail commissioner and agreed not to seek recommissioning as a justice of the peace or notary public during the two‑year suspension period.
Tetreault could not be reached for comment at his office number.
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