Library leaders and patrons urge higher funding amid facility and staffing shortfalls

Residents and library officials asked the Board of Alders finance committee to support the New Haven Free Public Library’s proposed FY27 operating budget.

Lee Cruz, a Ward 14 resident and library volunteer, said the library’s requested budget of $5,709,277 reflects essential services and requested a modest $25,000 increase for books and digital materials to address rising demand and the shift to ebooks and audiobooks. Cruz said the library currently would receive about 0.76% of the general fund under the mayor’s proposal and urged the aldermen to recommit to the city’s long‑standing 1% funding goal.

Andrew Gearing, president of the library’s board of directors, described facilities and maintenance shortfalls—leaky roofs, aging electrical panels, and security and cleaning needs—and urged fuller funding for contractual services to avoid repeated emergency repairs. Laura Anderson, a small‑business owner and library board member, noted staffing shortfalls compared with peer Connecticut cities and said the library’s asked increases are "modest, essential, urgent, and prudent." Witnesses requested that the committee consider both immediate supplemental funding and a path toward restoring the library to at least 1% of general‑fund allocations.

Why it matters: Library testimony combined usage data, facility concerns and staffing metrics to argue that current funding levels constrain basic services and program expansion. The committee did not vote during this meeting.