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Council approves Malibu library set‑aside budget package, increases poet‑laureate funding to $100,000
Summary
Council approved a FY25‑26 package allocating library set‑aside funds for operations and new programming — including community resilience, a film speaker series, school support and a poet‑laureate program — and voted to increase the poet‑laureate allocation to $100,000 over staff recommendation.
On Sept. 8 the Malibu City Council approved a package of library set‑aside expenditures for fiscal year 2025‑26 that funds continued services and several new programs proposed by the library subcommittee.
Staff reported an ending balance of roughly $24.97 million in the set‑aside fund and proposed a $2.235 million budget of rollover and new programming. Ongoing items include additional library service hours, security guards and school library support for Malibu schools. New programming recommended by the subcommittee and subject to county nexus review includes a community poet‑laureate program, a Malibu‑centric film speaker series, teen area improvements and mental‑health/community resilience programming.
Councilmembers pressed staff and county representatives for clearer line‑item justification for some increases — notably a proposed additional librarian salary line and increases in school supply allocations — and requested that proposals be reviewed by the subcommittee before county submission. Public speakers both supported and questioned elements of the package, including calls for more spending on a Western Malibu facility versus investment in Malibu’s civic‑center library site.
After debate the council approved the package and voted 4–1 to raise the poet‑laureate allocation from $50,000 to $100,000; councilmembers emphasized that county review (the MOU requires county nexus review) and project‑level proposals would follow before any funds are disbursed.
