Nearly every day, Claudia Martinez and her kids drive from National City to the Logan Heights Library. The kids, aged 7 and 9, can get one-on-one help with homework there from Monday through Thursday.
“The teachers, specifically here, have a kind of connection with the kids,” Martinez said in Spanish. “At home, they don’t want to do homework. Here, they do.”
Her son has an Individualized Education Plan, or IEP.
"The help he gets at school isn’t enough,” Martinez said. “He’s made much more progress here than what he gets at school.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s draft city budget proposes closing all city libraries on Sundays and Mondays. It’s projected to save about $8 million. The city is facing a $258 million budget deficit.
The cuts would be significant for the library system, said Library Foundation CEO Patrick Stewart.
“We understand cuts need to be made. We understand that every department needs to, you know, pull its own weight,” he said. “But what our concern is going forward is that we are allowing a new baseline standard of deficiency when it comes to library operating hours.”
The city closed all libraries during the pandemic. They slowly reopened over the next few years.
In 2023, 14 of the city’s 37 libraries added Sunday hours back. At the time, Library Director Misty Jones said Sundays were popular with many families who couldn’t go to the library during the week.
Stewart said the city needs to find a way to pay for all branches to be open seven days a week. That could include trash collection fees, hotel tax revenue or new ballot measures.
“We need to find the solution that is going to really, really support the city's ability to deliver on its services,” he said.
The average daily patron count across all libraries is 4,000 on Sundays and 14,000 on Mondays, according to the city. City spokesperson Caleb Olsen said closing for two consecutive days helps save money, because employees get overtime pay if they don’t get two days off in a row.
The draft budget also reduces funding for the “Do Your Homework @ the Library” program that Martinez and her kids use. It started at 18 locations, but the number decreased during the pandemic amid staffing challenges, according to the city. The draft budget funds the current 10 locations rather than the original 18, saving more than $560,000.
The San Diego City Council will hold public hearings on the budget from May 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Gloria will release an updated draft on May 14.
