Mayor frames difficult choices as library patrons, staff react
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her laid out a 2027 budget proposal Thursday that would close a neighborhood library and reduce hours at recreation centers across the city as she grapples with an estimated $26 million budget gap.
Speaking at the newly rebuilt Hamline-Midway Library, Her said the shortfall forces “sensitive choices,” and that she will forgo $20,000 of her own salary as part of the proposal. The plan would also result in a small number of municipal layoffs, described by the mayor as being in the single digits.
The proposal would shutter the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood library and cut hours at multiple recreation centers. At the same time, the administration intends to press ahead with a Transforming Libraries initiative that will bring major changes to the Hayden Heights and Riverview branches and install new technology across the system.
“For a child who doesn’t come from means, this is an extraordinary gift,”
Her invoked her own childhood experiences borrowing DVDs and spending time in the young-adult section of the downtown George Latimer Central Library to underscore the role libraries play for low-income families. Still, she warned the outlook is bleak: “this is an extremely difficult budget year, and … the years ahead will be equally difficult," she said to a packed room at Hamline-Midway.
City officials said the proposal keeps funding for seven library safety specialists. Those positions will be funded primarily by moving expenses from a pilot program previously paid for with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds — money that is expiring — into the general fund and other sources. The safety specialists are trained in de-escalation and will work to reduce negative encounters in branches.
Philanthropic support is playing a role in the plan: the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, and city officials said some of that grant money will be dedicated to sustaining the safety specialist positions.
Local branches seeing uneven impacts
The Rondo Community Library on Dale Street remains closed while security improvements are underway, city officials said. Meanwhile, the administration’s Transforming Libraries effort will reconfigure services and spaces at specific branches, including Hayden Heights and Riverview.
- Dayton’s Bluff branch: proposed to close.
- Hayden Heights and Riverview: targeted for Transforming Libraries changes.
- Rondo Community Library: remains shuttered while security improvements continue.
City leaders and library advocates will now weigh how to balance service reductions against investments in safety and technology. For patrons who rely on libraries for internet access, job searches and youth programming, the changes could mean fewer hours and a redistribution of services across the system.
| Item | Impact |
|---|---|
| Budget gap | $26 million |
| Mayor’s salary reduction | $20,000 forgone |
| Mellon Foundation grant | $1 million to Friends of the St. Paul Public Library |
| Library safety specialists | 7 positions funded |
Her said officials tried to protect services that are working, even if that requires shifting funding sources. She described the decisions as painful but necessary, citing both the expiring federal funds and long-term fiscal constraints.
City residents, library staff and advocacy groups will have an opportunity to respond as the budget moves through the public process. The administration’s proposal frames the coming months as a period for tough deliberations about which services to maintain, which to reconfigure and which to reduce.
As St. Paul officials prepare for budget hearings and possible revisions, the proposal makes clear that libraries and recreation centers — long considered vital neighborhood anchors — will be central to debates about the city’s fiscal priorities and the services it can sustain.
