Dear Library Supporter,
As we shared last week, the City of San Diego is facing significant financial challenges due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Only a week after submitting his  proposed budget on April 15, the Mayor announced the City will need to identify an additional $50 million in cuts. Despite an already 13% reduction in the library department’s budget, which will include the elimination of Sunday and Monday hours and the closure of the Mountain View/Beckwourth Library, department staff is being called upon to identify additional cuts.
We need your help to prevent any additional cuts!
- Click on this link to send an email to your City Councilmember urging them to make no further cuts to the library budget.
- Participate in the first City Council Budget Review Committee hearing on the budget on April 30 at 6 p.m. by submitting your comments by 4 p.m. on April 29 comments here. Listed below are messages you can use in your comments to Council. You can watch the April 30 meeting here.
- Support the Library Department at the May 5, 9 a.m. City Council Budget Review Committee of the Library budget by submitting your comments by May 4 at 4 p.m. here. You can watch the May 5 meeting here.
Share with your City Councilmember the following message!
- Libraries are part of San Diego's essential infrastructure and provide equal access to free education and job-training opportunities. As we begin the recovery process, our most impacted communities will rely on their library for employment, education, and community resources.
- To ensure the system has the tools and resources necessary to effectively serve the community, we believe it is essential there are no additional cuts to library hours, materials, and programming budget beyond the already proposed $7 million in reductions.
As additional updates and opportunity for engagement become available, we will communicate and provide updates on librariestransformsd.org.
Sincerely,
Patrick Stewart
CEO
San Diego Public Library Foundation
Joan Reese
President
Friends of the San Diego Public Library
Wendy Urushima-Conn
Chair
Board of Library Commissioners
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