Mayor Gloria’s Revised 2021-22 Budget Restores SDPL Hours to a 7 day week
Dear Library Advocate,
Mayor Gloria released his May Revised Budget yesterday, (May 18, 2021) and listened to Library advocates. The Mayor’s new budget returns proposed cuts that would have required a five-day Library schedule in the coming fiscal year. The Revised Budget also includes new investments in funds for electronic resources, systemwide programs, Do Your Homework @ the Library Program expansion, and staff training. The final budget will be adopted in June following several weeks of review by the public and the City Council.
We welcome these long-overdue investments but are concerned the Revised Budget also removes $100,000 intended for Open+, a pilot program to extend morning and evening access in Council Districts 4,8, and 9. While this budget helps the Library reopen, the Library will not be fully open until late in the fiscal year. We ask the Council to keep the $100,000 in the Library budget to help ensure broad, equitable access to Library programs.
Thank you again for your help earning this win. Every Councilmember noted the impact of LibrariesTransformSD advocacy efforts during the Library budget hearing. Our collective advocacy will be even more crucial moving forward. While this budget returns Library funding, it is still woefully inadequate. We hope this is the first step in a long-term look at how we invest in our Libraries. We will need your support as we call on our elected leaders to make these systemic changes in the future.
Please help by communicating with your Councilmember now. Please email or call to:
- Thank them for their Library support and for their help in returning the Library budget and ensuring long-overdue new investments in materials, staff training, and programs.
- Ask them to return the $100,000 removed from the Library budget to ensure equitable access to Library services.
- Urge them to work with LibrariesTransformSD advocates to address needed, systemic changes in how the city invests in its Libraries and neighborhoods.
You can learn more about these advocacy messages HERE. Thank you for your continued work. We will keep you updated as the budget process continues.
Sincerely, 
#LibrariesTransformSD is a coalition of
