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Portland Public Library seeks continued city support as calls and overdoses rise
Summary
The Portland Public Library told the Finance Committee the city provides roughly 84.5% of its revenue and that the library has seen sharp increases in police calls and overdoses this year; the library is proposing operating cuts unless additional city funds are provided to retain staff and add a safety position.
The Portland Public Library presented its FY26 budget to the City Council Finance Committee on May 8 and urged continued city financial support while reporting rising safety and operating costs.
Sarah Moore, executive director of the Portland Public Library, said PPL is a nonprofit component unit that is financially dependent on the city. “The library is financially dependent upon the city. The city owns all of the land and buildings in which the library operates,” Moore said, and she outlined the library's services across age groups and neighborhoods.
Moore presented usage metrics and financials: FY24 saw nearly a 4% increase in new borrowers and a 4% increase in circulation compared with FY23; computer sessions increased 56% year over year. She said the city contribution is proposed at about 84.5% of the library's total revenue in FY26, down slightly from about 86% in FY25; she described a roughly 10-year annual average city contribution increase of 3.45%.
Moore reported a sharp increase in safety incidents. Since January, library staff called the police about 80 times (compared with 32 calls for all of 2024) and reversed nine overdoses — the same number of overdoses as the previous year but occurring much faster: in five months rather than over the whole year. Moore told the committee that without a day shelter on the peninsula, the downtown branch often serves in an informal day-shelter capacity.
On costs, Moore said staffing is roughly 75% of the library's expenses and the library is contractually obligated to a 5.5% staffing increase (3.5% union cost-of-living increase plus a 2% staff step increase). The library projects steep increases in utilities and contracts — electric up ~43% last year and projected to rise another 12% next year, natural gas up 17%, water up 5% — and is proposing a roughly 7% operating increase overall largely driven by these contract and utility cost pressures. To address budget pressure, PPL plans a roughly 4% reduction in collection purchases, cuts to programming and technology upgrades, a $9,000 increase in endowment draw, and a $75,000 fundraising target increase.
Moore said any additional city contribution would help the library avoid planned cuts and could fund a safety position to respond to the increased calls and overdoses. Councilor Kate Sykes (the council's library liaison) described recent capital investments as addressing long-term building needs including air handling and roof repairs.
No formal action was taken at the committee; Moore and staff will provide backup materials for the public hearing and council review.
