{"id":291999,"date":"2026-04-29T21:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/291999\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T21:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:08:24","slug":"library-foundation-warns-of-budget-cut-ripple-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/291999\/","title":{"rendered":"Library Foundation warns of budget cut ripple effects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing a nearly 5% cut to San Diego\u2019s library system, a $3.4 million reduction that the head of Library Foundation SD says will reverberate across quality of life<\/a> in the city.<\/p>\n

Patrick Stewart, the head of the nonprofit foundation dedicated to the city\u2019s library system, said residents should expect to feel the cut hours, reduced services and eliminated programs well outside the walls of their local branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cCuts\u00a0 to the library are cuts to the arts, cuts to public safety, cuts to economic development,\u00a0cuts to public infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gloria and the City Council are looking to close a $146 million budget deficit. Proposed cuts, including eliminating arts funding, have generated a swift backlash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For libraries, the largest cut comes from closures and reductions in hours at branch locations across the city \u2014 though officials have not yet specified how or where they\u2019ll implement those closures. <\/p>\n

Options outlined in a report from the city\u2019s Independent Budget Analyst<\/a> include preserving current operating hours at one branch each in three \u201chistorically underserved\u201d council districts (4, 8, and 9) while curtailing hours at other branches; reducing Saturday or Monday hours at all 17 locations currently open on either day; or some combination of the first two approaches.<\/p>\n

Budget savings also come from eliminating positions with a program for youth success<\/a> that is housed within the library department. The city would also cut spending on gallery exhibitions, training for library staff and security at branch locations. It will also end a grant that libraries used to bring in matching private donations.<\/p>\n

Gloria\u2019s proposal would bring the department\u2019s budget to $73.2 million \u2014 roughly what the city spent on libraries three years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrograms and service hours have been reduced resulting in a hyperfocus on core services such as literacy, workforce development, accessibility,\u201d reads the proposal, in a section on its effects on equity.<\/p>\n

But public libraries have never been just about books, Stewart argues.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeenagers with nothing to do is shenanigans,\u201d said Stewart, \u201cand shenanigans leads to police intervention\u2026. I don\u2019t think that there\u2019s been an ounce of creativity that\u2019s been employed not to balance this budget on the backs of children and teens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research backs up the claim that libraries themselves reduce crime. A study<\/a> out of Kansas City, Missouri in 2023 showed a drop in \u201ccrimes of opportunity\u201d \u2014 crimes that aren\u2019t planned out beforehand \u2014 in a three-mile radius around a new library after it opened<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers attributed the lower crime numbers to better street lighting around the building, more pedestrians and the fact that it gives young people something to do.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s research to back up his argument on economic development, too. Libraries aid job seekers with both services and computer access, and offer workforce development materials and classes. But they can also produce spillover spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people spend time at the library, they spend money at nearby businesses,\u201d said a report from the California State Library<\/a>. \u201cThe \u2018halo spending\u2019 effect gives restaurants, retail, and services that are close to library branches an estimated 23% more in spending from library visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same report cites a study estimating<\/a> that between two dollars and ten dollars are returned<\/a> for every dollar invested in public libraries, with the most common return being between three and six dollars. <\/p>\n

Stewart said the budget not only downplays the economic boons libraries provide, it also the long-term benefits they confer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never had this conversation that says look, young people, this is what it\u2019s going to look like tomorrow \u2014 or five years from now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

San Diego isn\u2019t alone. Budgets are getting cut to the bone all over the country, and public libraries are often first in line for cuts.<\/p>\n

Now, with the city\u2019s budget process underway, offering a chance to lobby the city to find another place to cut spending, the Library Foundation is reaching out to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of conversation between now and then,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI just feel like what we were given to start with was really an unfortunate starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Library Foundation is holding \u201coffice hours\u201d at the Mission Hills Library Shop<\/a> on May 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m, with representatives present to discuss the library budget and how it might affect residents, as well as how to get involved and advocate for the institution.<\/p>\n

The organization is also offering pre-addressed, pre-stamped envelopes for people to write the mayor and councilmembers urging an alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get flooded with thousands of them and I hear from them every year that\u2019s one of the best ways we know people want the libraries to stay open,\u201d said Stewart. <\/p>\n

But if you don\u2019t have funds or time to donate, there\u2019s another option that\u2019s equally valuable, Stewart added. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201calways a good time to go in to your local library, check out what they\u2019ve got and do a high five to a librarian,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cVisit your library and tell your librarians that you love them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing a nearly 5% cut to San Diego\u2019s library system, a $3.4 million reduction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[94730,15743,44652,64660,74,76,75,61062,3235],"class_list":["post-291999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-budget-crisis","tag-budget-cuts","tag-library-foundation-sd","tag-patrick-stewart","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-public-library","tag-todd-gloria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}