Kelly Jensen writes: “If there were a single word to capture the state of library cuts across the US, it would be ‘rough.’ It’s rough not only for public libraries but also for school and academic libraries. This is not a comprehensive look at library cuts in 2026. It can’t be. Most of the time, these stories—especially ones about ‘smaller’ cuts to library materials budgets or to popular databases—don’t make the news. But this sampling is representative of what’s happening across libraries in the US right now.”