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The $250,000 allocation from the Institute of Museum and Library Services funded a program that taught local high school students the value of libraries and encouraged careers in the field through paid internships and other curriculum, said Elizabeth Kamper, an information literacy librarian and associate professor at SIUE.

“It’s a big slap in the face of libraries, higher education and intellectual freedom,� Kamper said.

The federal institute notified SIUE by email at 9:16 p.m. Wednesday of the grant’s termination, saying the program is “no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States,� according to a copy of the email.

The program, called Diverse Librarianship Career Training & Education Program, has helped students from Sumner High School in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, as well as Edwardsville and East ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Charter high schools — the latter of which had students taking part in program events Friday, Kamper said.

The Trump administration has sought to eliminate the IMLS, an independent federal agency that helps fund libraries and museums, as part of the president’s drastically reduce federal spending.

Earlier this week, the Missouri Historical Society said it lost funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and was expecting to lose additional funding from the IMLS. A spokeswoman for SIUE said Friday that the feds canceled another IMLS grant, worth $175,000, that was for a collection inventory project.

Keith Sonderling, acting director of the IMLS, by Trump that he aimed to revitalize the agency and “restore focus on patriotism.�

³§±õ±«·¡â€™s thanks to the IMLS grant and has since helped dozens of students, Kamper said. The grant enabled SIUE to pay students $15 an hour to intern at local libraries, and also provided them transportation and meals.

In his email to SIUE, Sonderling said that “IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the president’s agenda.�

He added that his agency may conduct an audit after terminating the grant.

Mary Ann Mitchell, the communications coordination for Edwardsville School District, said 12 high school students took part in the program earlier this year, and information they learned was shared with all students.

“Any time funding is cut from initiatives that have a positive impact on students,� Mitchell said, “it’s disappointing.�

East ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Charter and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The last-minute termination before Friday’s event has left the university scrambling to figure out how to continue the program, Kamper said.

“It seems so personal that what we are doing is personally going against the agenda of the president,� Kamper said.