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A library is a place where you can enrich your mind, access resources, and find community.

This accessibility is central to the role that libraries fulfill in their communities. And it’s precisely why we must protect this access to materials, resources, and libraries themselves when they come under attack.

In 2023, the number of books challenged on library shelves surged 65% year-over-year, reaching a record high of 4,240 unique book titles. Titles representing LGBTQIA+ or BIPOC voices made up nearly half of all those targeted in censorship attempts, according to the American Library Association.

Join us in our fight to protect intellectual freedom and libraries!

In their final vote to approve a $5.8 billion FY2025 city budget, the San Diego City Council approved an additional $230,000 for the library’s underfunded books and materials budget. This comes after Mayor Gloria reversed his proposed library budget cuts that would have devastated the library’s basic ability to provide quality services and returned $300,000 to the city match program and $250,000 for programs. He also added funding for Youth Service Librarians at the Oak Park, Paradise Hills, and Mountain View/​Beckwourth libraries and invested $1.2 million to design a new San Carlos Library.

Thank you to our more than 1,000 library advocates who testified in person, called in, wrote an email, or sent a postcard on behalf of our libraries. Your advocacy made a difference! 

Thank you to Budget Review Committee Chair Lee and Council President Elo-Rivera for their leadership in securing additional materials funding. And, we commend Mayor Gloria for removing drastic budget cuts he first proposed in the 2025 budget.

While we are pleased the approved budget does not include drastic library cuts, we also recognize it does nothing to reverse decades of historic disinvestment in our city’s libraries.

San Diego continues to have one of the lowest library budgets of any major metropolitan area. The San Diego Public Library’s operating budget is less than 70% of the California average, and the library system has more than $50 million in deferred maintenance issues – with no budget to address them.

Libraries are critical infrastructure. It’s proven that newer and more modernized libraries make a significant impact on their communities, including increased student achievement, reductions in crime and higher levels of cultural engagement. To that end, the San Diego Public Library circulates nearly 5.9 million items and 2.6 million children’s items each year

Last year, the San Diego City Council unanimously approved the Library Master Plan, a long-range vision and strategy for a robust and engaging library system that meets the needs of the entire community. At Library Foundation SD, we can only hope that San Diego keeps its word and delivers on the promise that the Master Plan outlines.

We look forward to working with our City Council and the Mayor’s office in the coming year to identify ways to address long-term solutions to the library’s financial deficiencies.