St. Paul library board approves special‑fund authority as staff warns budget cut will widen waits for materials

The St. Paul Public Library Board on a 5-0 vote approved a resolution to increase special‑fund spending authority so the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library can transfer additional funds to library projects, and then heard a staff update on how proposed budget cuts would affect the library’s collections.

Director of Libraries Sarah Hartman told the board, “The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library have additional funds to transfer to the library before the end of the year in support of transforming libraries and youth and family services programs. This resolution increases our special funds of spending authority to allow us to encumber and spend those funds.”

Why it matters: library staff said a proposed reduction to the materials budget would shrink purchasing power, increase wait times and reduce the variety of titles and formats available to residents. Joshua Schafer, presenting an overview of the collections proposal, said, “There is a proposed reduction of $65,079 which represents about 6.3% of the library materials budget.” He said the Friends have agreed to pursue a special fundraising effort to raise $40,000, which would reduce the net cut to about 2.4%.

Board action - Motion: approve the resolution described in the agenda item “resolution public hearing 20 five-two 21 amending the 2025 financing and spending plans in the library agency special projects.” - Mover: Council Vice President Kim. Second: not specified in the record. - Vote: 5 in favor, 0 opposed. Outcome: approved.

What staff told the board Materials management supervisor Jessica Zillhart outlined how the collections budget supports physical items, e‑books, eaudiobooks, CDs and special collection pilots. She said digital materials now make up a large share of circulation and carry particular cost pressures from publisher licensing. Zillhart said, “If we are to have a budget reduction, we will see wait times for all materials increase.” She cautioned that digital content is priced and licensed by publishers — often at rates far above consumer prices — and that licenses can expire or require renewal rather than being owned outright.

Schafer gave a budget breakdown discussed in the presentation: levy revenue applied to collections of about $857,000, a competitive Cultural STAR grant at $175,000, and combined general and special funds totaling about $1,670,000; the slide also listed a city support total of $1,400,000. He and Zillhart described recent investments that had allowed the library to replenish high‑use items, expand early‑literacy “read along” picture books systemwide and build community‑informed pilots at Rice Street and Rondo libraries that added roughly 1,200 items at Rice Street in response to community feedback, including Arabic and expanded Spanish collections for children.

Board and council discussion Board members and city council liaisons asked about trends in digital versus physical circulation, whether digital checkouts can be tracked by location, and whether funding more digital content would reduce wait times. Staff said digital usage rose during the pandemic and has stabilized near the current mix; tracking digital checkouts by individual branch is harder because many digital vendors deliver content through a central platform. Staff identified OverDrive/Libby as the primary vendor for the library’s licensed e‑content and noted the library participates in a regional consortium administered by the Metropolitan Library Services Agency (MELSA) for some consortial purchasing strategies.

Potential impacts described by staff - Higher wait times across formats if the library’s materials budget is reduced. - Fewer new titles, less midlist and debut author acquisition, and slower replacement of worn or outdated items. - Reduced capacity for special projects such as community‑informed collection pilots and format‑specific pilots (for example, read‑along picture books). - Possible discontinuation or scaling back of subscription databases that support schoolwork and research if cuts deepen.

Board response and next steps Council President Naker and other members emphasized the board’s interest in maintaining purchasing power for collections. Director Hartman and presenters thanked the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library for the proposed transfer and said staff will continue to work with the council and the Friends on fund‑raising and budget choices. With no further business, Chair Jost adjourned the meeting.