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Each year, the San Diego Public Library is visited nearly 7 MILLION times, making the Library department system one of the most widely used services in the City.

San Diegans deserve and have called for a full-time Library department. Just last year, thanks to thousands of voices in our community, a crucial budget adjustment was secured that restored Monday hours at 17 Library locations. This partial restoration exemplifies the power of collective advocacy, and demonstrates what we can achieve when the community rallies behind the Library department. 

Being open every day of the week ensures that libraries remain important community spaces that close educational gaps, support digital equity, and promote workforce readiness. Each day a branch is closed, students, job seekers, families, and neighbors who depend on their public library miss valuable opportunities.

The annual cost of restoring seven-day service across all branches is less than 0.5% of the City’s General Fund — a modest investment that benefits half of all San Diego households.

We are working with our city officials to ensure that the Monday library hours remain protected. Ultimately, Library Foundation SD is advocating for a full-time Library department for San Diegans – what we’re calling ³⁷⁄₇ – when all 37 Library locations are open to the public seven days a week. Read my letter to the City Council or my Op-Ed in the Union Tribune, which drives home this message.

Become a library advocate TODAY by signing up for our advocacy alerts OR showing up for our Libraries by clicking below.

Over the last 20 years, the San Diego Public Library has lost more than $640M in City funding during the budgeting process.

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, and the City’s Public Library Department has over $50 million in deferred maintenance issues and no maintenance budget to address them.