Madison Public Library board approves 2026 cost-to-continue budget and supplemental priorities for Imagination Center operations

The Madison Public Library Board on Tuesday approved the library’s 2026 cost-to-continue operating budget of $22,768,274 and a prioritized supplemental request to cover partial-year opening costs for the Imagination Center, a new library facility the system plans to open in 2026.

The vote to approve the base budget and the supplemental priorities was put by the board after a presentation by Tana, the library director, and finance staff. Tana said the base figure is the city’s “cost to continue” amount after adjustments and clarified that the city’s efficiency target for agencies was 0.77 percent for the library.

The supplemental request presented by staff totals roughly $326,040 for 2026 operating costs tied directly to opening the Imagination Center (staffing, part-year wages and supplies). The board approved a prioritized list of reductions the library would implement if the supplemental is not fully funded. Those reductions, in the approved priority order, are: (1) eliminate Sunday hours at Goodman, South Madison and Lakeview branches; (2) reduce program services and supplies; (3) leave a vacant librarian position unfilled; (4) eliminate Sunday hours at Central Library as a lower-priority cut; and (5) move the Imagination Center to a single-shift staffing model as the last resort.

Tana told the board that the city also adjusted the library’s budget to cover an expected increase under the Dane County funding formula and other cost increases, noting that some previously requested items were made whole by the city. She described the supplemental pathway as narrowly defined by city rules — supplementals are allowed when an agency must fund operating expenses for a new facility or to replace one-time revenues — and said the Imagination Center qualifies as a new facility.

Board members debated placing Central Library Sunday hours low on the reduction list. Jen Carter, a board member, said she "would strongly, strongly agree" that Central’s Sunday hours should be preserved at higher priority than other cuts, citing downtown service and the patterns of Sunday use. Salud Garcia, another board member, proposed adding a senior manager (restoring a position previously eliminated) to the supplemental request; staff explained that any additional position would need to be explicitly included in the supplemental total and would increase the amount requested.

The board recorded these formal actions during the meeting: approval of the June 5 minutes (motion passed without recorded roll-call names), approval of the director’s report, approval of the May 2025 financial reports, approval of the 2026 base/cost-to-continue budget, and approval of the supplemental priorities described above. The board also unanimously passed a motion thanking outgoing member Matias Lemos Castillo for his service.

Board and staff repeatedly emphasized that the supplemental, if approved by the mayor and Common Council in the normal budget process, would partially fund 2026 operations and likely create an ongoing obligation into 2027; if the full supplemental is not awarded, the library would implement the prioritized reductions and could return to the board with further adjustments. The director and finance staff laid out the city’s calendar: final budget documents due to city finance by July 18, mayoral executive budget release in October and council amendment week in late October.

Notes on funding specifics discussed at the meeting: the library’s base budget reflected a roughly $400,000 increase tied to the Dane County formula, and a $118,000 decrease in revenue that the city offset in its budgeting round; staff also called out a $195,000 offset related to Imagination Center funding already included in last year’s budget. The supplemental total for 2026 operating needs at partial year was presented as $326,040 in staff materials.

The board instructed staff to file the base budget as presented and to include the approved supplemental request and prioritized reductions in materials sent to the city’s finance office as the library’s official request for council consideration.