Houston Public Library outlines FY26 cuts, vows to protect accreditation as security funding falls

Houston Public Library Director Sandy Gah told the Houston City Council that the library plans to close a $1,853,523 shortfall in its proposed fiscal year 2026 general fund budget through targeted cuts and operational changes while preserving the system's state accreditation.

Gah said the library proposes a $798,769 reduction in personnel costs and $1,054,754 in reductions to administrative services and digital strategies, including a $734,754 cut in administrative services and roughly $320,000 from digital subscriptions and maintenance. The proposed FY26 general fund total is $50,056,632, a 7% reduction from the current plan, she said.

The library director outlined measures the department says will protect accreditation — including maintaining at least one item per capita, meeting or exceeding the three-year average of local operating expenditures and preserving minimum weekly service hours — even as staffing and service adjustments are made. "To remain compliant, we must maintain at least one item per capita in the collection," Gah said.

Gah also described workforce changes driven in part by retirements and a voluntary retirement incentive: 92 employees were retirement-eligible, 27 employees accepted a voluntary municipal retirement payout before the April 20 deadline, producing a stated reduction valued at $2,863,278. The library plans to implement recommendations from an Ernst & Young efficiency study that would flatten the organization, increasing average span of control from three to seven direct reports and reducing management layers from eight to six.

Council members pressed Gah on service impacts. Council Member Kamen asked whether programming would be cut; Gah replied, "At this time, we are doing what we can to ensure that we provide the quality services to the public and with the foundation support... At this time, we're not cutting any programs." She said the HPL Foundation does not support personnel costs and reported Foundation contributions of about $1,430,000 for FY25, roughly $1,400,000 for FY24 and about $1,800,000 for FY23.

Public safety funding and facility incidents were raised repeatedly. Gah told the council that library incidents have doubled year over year — from about 1,000 to 2,000 across locations — and that the city's General Services Department (GSD) has informed the library its security funding will be "significantly reduced" in FY26. Gah said the library currently supplements GSD security with a separate library contract that was about $75,000 and is being reduced to roughly $50,000.

Council members and public commenters urged more city support. Terry Chen, a District H resident and community organizer with Rudy Juntos, said the contrast between library cuts and proposed increases elsewhere was telling: "It tells Houstonians where your priorities are," Chen said, referencing a separate proposed increase to the Houston Police Department budget described during public testimony.

Members of the council asked for operational metrics. Gah identified Pleasantville, Melcher and Cashmere as the branches with the lowest attendance and said a minimum of three staff members is required to open a branch for safety reasons. She noted differences in performance between smaller, older facilities and newer, larger branches that offer meeting rooms and TechLink services.

Several public speakers urged the council to restore or increase library funding and to consider service changes. Misha (last name not specified in the transcript), a graduate student and advocate, urged a pilot to extend weekend and evening hours at one or two branches, saying a study found added weekend hours increases overall use: "I ask you to consider a pilot program to extend hours even if just at one or two key branches first, including evening and weekend access." Others emphasized libraries' role as cooling centers, internet access points and community gathering spaces.

Gah and deputy director John Middleton answered questions about revenue sources: the library is not a revenue-generating department and passport processing revenue is remitted to the general fund rather than retained by the library. She said four positions are currently paid with ARPA funds. Gah described ongoing coordination with Harris County libraries on shared services and vendor contracts but said the systems remain distinct in structure and funding.

The presentation included additional operational details: personnel comprises about 73% of the library's budget, there are more than 300 full-time-equivalent staff across the system and roughly 200 volunteers contributing about 7,000 hours annually. The library reported 1.8 million in-person visits in the most recent year, a 3% increase; 3.1 million physical checkouts, a 6% increase; and more than 127,000 program participants, a 7% increase. Meeting room bookings rose 21% to more than 11,700 reservations.

Public comment ended with multiple speakers asking council members to prioritize libraries in future budget decisions. The council did not take a vote on the library budget during this portion of the meeting; the presentation closed and the body moved to public comment and then to the next agenda item.