AMHERST — A $1 million National Endowment for the Humanities grant awarded to the Jones Library two years ago is being canceled by the Trump administration.

Library officials on Thursday received a letter stating that the Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant, to support the creation of a Garden Level Humanities Center in the expanded and renovated Jones Library, is terminated.

This center has been envisioned as a permanent home for the town’s Civil War plaques, which contain the names of the Black soldiers from Amherst who served in the 54th Regiment and are on display in the Bangs Community Center, as well as having an enhanced space to highlight the contributions of the town’s African American and Agro Indigenous residents.

Ginny Hamilton, campaign manager for the Jones Library Capital Campaign, said losing the money toward the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library will not stop the project or alter the renovation and expansion plans that will soon get underway.

“Yes, this is a blow to our funding efforts,” Hamiton said. “Even so, we remain committed to the project’s vision, including a permanent home for Amherst’s Civil War tablets and gender-neutral bathrooms on every floor.”

Hamilton explained that the cancellation notice came in a letter from Michael McDonald, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, who wrote that “NEH is repurposing its funding allocations in furtherance of the President’s priorities.”

The withdrawal letter, dated May 6, was delivered through the online digital grants communication system used by NEH, she said. McDonald became acting chairman in March after Shelly Lowe, who had previously chaired the federal agency, was asked to resign by the president.

The loss of the grant comes as the 43 Amity St. library closed on Wednesday in anticipation of the 18-month renovation and expansion project that will be completed by Fontaine Brothers Inc. of Springfield. Work is supposed to begin in June, with operations of the main branch to resume from a building at 101 University Drive in the near future.

The letter from NEH follows from an appeal made to federal officials, including the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, by an Amherst resident asking for a halt in the funding, specifically drawing attention to the Civil War tablets and the gender-neutral bathrooms.

The original NEH funding was announced at a celebratory event in March 2023, with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern present to present $1.11 million he secured through a federal earmark

The Garden Level Humanities Center would include the existing Special Collections and allow for programs to serve broader audiences, ensure a fully climate-controlled collection space for the historical and literary materials housed there, such as works by Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Robert Francis and Julius Lester, new space for the Burnett Art Gallery and after-hours access.

This week, Gov. Maura Healey announced the creation of a new public dashboard that will display both direct funding cuts to state agencies, which already total $350 million, and eventually the hundreds of millions of federal dollars for federal programs, federal jobs and nonprofit organizations.

“President Trump’s cuts to federal funding are having a terrible impact on Massachusetts and states across the country,” Healey said in a statement.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said having all of this information in a centralized place will help bolster the state’s response. Healey has also directed Quentin Palfrey of the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office to monitor federal funding cuts to organizations, municipalities and other entities.

Even with the loss of the grant, Hamilton said that money secured from all sources is just over $39 million, or 84% of total project costs.

“Libraries are a cornerstone of democracy. We are disappointed to lose promised federal funding to upgrade a central piece of our civic infrastructure,” Hamilton said.

Town spending is capped at $15.75 million, with the remaining money coming from $15.57 million from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, along with fundraising and other grants.

“Since we had already secured approximately three-quarters of the challenge gifts required by this grant, we are confident that our community will see this effort through,” Hamilton said.