If the San Diego City Council does not revise this budget reduction, all 37 City of San Diego Public Library locations will be closed on Sundays and Mondays starting as early as July 1, 2025.
On Wednesday, May 14, Mayor Todd Gloria issued his final proposed budget for the City of San Diego’s 2026 fiscal year. This revision did not adjust the proposed library closures presented in the draft budget.
Both versions of the City’s fiscal year 2026 budget include a more than $8 million reduction to the San Diego Public Library’s budget.
If the San Diego City Council does not revise this budget reduction, all 37 City of San Diego Public Library locations will be closed on Sundays and Mondays starting as early as July 1, 2025.
The FY26 budget cuts to the Library will reduce operating hours, but will preserve the programming and community resources during the proposed operating hours of Tuesday through Saturday.
“I am disappointed the City of San Diego is unable to find alternatives to across-the-board cuts that could have prevented the proposed Sunday and Monday closures for the Library’s 37 locations. While this is a difficult budget year for the City, the San Diego Public Library is already experiencing the loss of federal and state funding for critical library programming, and we hoped to see the City support its Libraries rather than cut their hours.
We remain diligent in our support of the dedicated library staff who will continue to provide a wide range of programming for patrons — which is the soul of the Library. We know that despite the cut to Library hours, they will continue to serve communities to the best of their ability.
The Library Foundation SD is grateful for the thousands of San Diegans who joined us in advocating for the library during this year’s budgeting process. Through postcards, emails, phone calls, in-person and virtual attendance at City Council meetings, San Diegans shared their personal stories of what the library means to them and made clear to our elected officials the harm they will experience because of Sunday and Monday closures. Libraries, in alliance with parks, recreation centers and the arts, are vital to support and strengthen San Diego communities.
To ensure that a 5‑day-a-week Library schedule doesn’t become the norm in San Diego, I continue to urge City leaders to commit to building sustainable revenue streams that will safeguard the San Diego Public Library. We look forward to working with the City to develop a plan that gives San Diegans access to their 37 Library locations seven days a week.” – Patrick Stewart, CEO of the Library Foundation SD
- The San Diego Public Library’s per-capita operating budget is less than 70 percent of the California state average and well behind many of its urban library peers.
- With a books, materials, and e‑resources budget of more than $7.4 million (in FY2025), San Diego County spends 3.5 times more on their library’s resources than the City of San Diego
- SDPL’s security spending is larger than its materials budget
- The City’s Public Library Department has over $50 million in deferred maintenance issues and no maintenance budget to address them.
