For first time, NYC’s libraries to have permanent, baseline funding

FLATBUSH — New York City’s 200 public libraries will no longer have to plead and protest for operating funding in an annual “budget dance,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Friday.

At a press conference in Brooklyn Public Library’s Flatbush branch, Mamdani announced, for the first time, permanent baseline funding for all three city library systems — Brooklyn Public Library, Manhattan Public Library and Queens Public Library. The Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget baselines $31.7 million for the libraries. 

Baseline funding provides stable, ongoing financial support, rather than unpredictable, one-time grants, followed by budget cuts and protests. The baseline funding means that the $31.7 million is now locked into the city’s budget permanently. 

This brings total library funding to nearly $530 million, up from $491.4 million in the mayor’s preliminary budget. 

“For too long, library funding has been treated like a political bargaining chip — cut in February, restored in June, and fought over every single year,” Mamdani said. “That cycle ends with this budget.”

He added, “By baselining this funding, we are giving every branch in every borough the stability to plan ahead, hire staff and serve New Yorkers without wondering if the money will disappear next spring.” 

Fast budget pivot

Friday’s announcement represents a pivot from the mayor’s preliminary budget proposal, which would have cut the library budget by $29 million compared to last year’s budget. 

His initial figures had disappointed library advocates and New York City Council members, who pointed to Mamdani’s campaign promise to “end the practice of using library funding as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations and commit 0.5% of NYC’s budget to libraries.”

On April 1, the City Council proposed an alternative budget, which included $30.7 million for the library systems, among other adjustments.

The mayor’s proposal supplies slightly less than 0.5%, according to the Mayor’s Office — a gap the mayor hopes to bridge in the future.

Applause from libraries and advocates

At Friday’s press conference, the heads of all three branches joined the mayor and Council members to applaud the decision.

“This is a win for all New Yorkers,” BPL President Linda Johnson, NYPL President Anthony Marx and QPL President Dennis Walcott said in a group statement. The library executives also thanked the City Council “for being our tireless champions and long-time advocates.”

“We are turning the page on the annual budget dance where libraries are forced to fight every year just to keep their doors open,” said Councilmember Shahana Hanif, a long-time library advocate who represents Brooklyn neighborhoods including Gowanus, Boerum Hill and Park Slope. “By baselining this $31.7 million investment, we are making library funding permanent and protecting branches from the repeated threats of cuts we saw under the Adams administration.”

Councilmember Crystal Hudson, whose Brooklyn district includes Fort Greene and parts of Crown Heights, said that she and her colleagues in the Council have “fought tirelessly” to ensure the city’s libraries have the resources required.

The mayor’s decision will allow more than 30 branches to keep their doors open on Sundays, Hudson said.

New York City’s three library systems serve more than 37 million visitors annually across more than 200 branches.