A man heads for the front door of the closed J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, July 10, 2026, after the city decided to furlough employees to save money. He found the doors locked and a sign informing him of the furlough.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Dallas plans to keep all 29 library branches open next fiscal year, but the proposed budget eliminates 72 library positions, ends the city-run adult learning program and shifts the system toward a new model centered on five flagship branches with extended hours and services.
City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert unveiled a $5.6 billion budget proposal Friday that would close a $51 million shortfall without raising taxes, partly by laying off employees and reducing hours and programs at some city facilities.
In the proposal, the library budget falls to $41.6 million, a decrease of roughly $1.9 million, or about 4.4%.
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Under the plan, Dallas would adopt a regional library model that concentrates longer hours, programming and other resources at five larger branches. The city says the locations were selected to put every Dallas resident within a 15-minute drive of a library.
The Bachman Lake, Vickery Park, Fretz Park, Hampton-Illinois and Pleasant Grove branches would serve as the flagship locations. The J. Erik Jonsson Central Library would remain the system’s primary anchor.
Other neighborhood branches would operate with fewer or redistributed hours. Tolbert characterized the change as a way to make library hours more predictable rather than repeatedly cutting schedules whenever the city faces budget pressure.
“I call it a redistribution of hours,” said Tolbert. “Our residents will still have access to a library that is within reach, but we have to make sure that our libraries are open when people need us to be open, not just when we want to open the libraries.”
Denise McGovern, executive director of the Friends of the Dallas Public Library, said keeping branches open does not resolve what she views as years of instability caused by recurring budget reductions.
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“The library is continuing to be hit by cuts,” McGovern said.
Related: Dallas residents left frustrated as city furloughs begin
McGovern pointed to the city’s summer furlough, when libraries closed for a day, as an illustration of how residents rely on the facilities.
“The importance of the library in people’s everyday lives is not always seen so visibly. And then when it’s not there, you see it,” she said.
Staffing reductions
Of the 72 positions proposed for elimination, about 30 are currently filled.
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Four positions at the Arcadia Park Branch and one data coordinator position in the community libraries program are also cut in the budget proposal.
Tolbert said many of the library jobs are shifting to part time.
Related: Dallas residents can weigh in on proposed $5.6 billion budget at town halls
McGovern questioned what repeated reductions could mean for the city’s ability to recruit and retain library workers.
“How are you able to attract good employees when you’re regularly having to lose positions?” McGovern said.
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Adult learning
The proposal would also end the library system’s direct operation of adult education programs, including citizenship, GED and English-language learning classes. Eight positions supporting those services would be eliminated, saving about $432,000.
The city plans to rely on outside organizations, including Dallas College and Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas, to provide similar services at libraries.
People participated in adult learning programs 9,830 times during the first six months of fiscal year 2026, down 17.5% from the same period last year, according to the city’s data.
More changes coming
The staffing changes would continue into fiscal year 2027-28.
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The city plans to convert eight full-time library circulation representative positions into 16 part-time positions, a change the budget says would improve operational flexibility.
An audience member wears a button that reads, “I ♥︎ my Dallas LIBRARY”, as Dallas Public Library director Manya Shorr speaks at City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. At the time, the City of Dallas was proposing to close several branches.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
Arcadia Park would lose an additional six positions in fiscal year 2027-28, meaning 10 cuts in the two years.The city says the changes are intended to restructure the branch’s hours to better serve the surrounding student community.
McGovern said she hopes the City Council will restore funding before the budget is adopted. She said consistent funding is necessary for the library to plan its services and maintain reliability for residents.
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“Being able to have a stable library budget allows the library to provide for the city in the way that it should,” McGovern said.