Infant story times. Job application assistance. Teen mental health resources. Refuge from the heat. An escape from street violence. Internet and tech access. English learning assistance.
Residents brought up these resources and many more at Long Beach’s budget hearing Tuesday, as the Library, Arts and Culture Department laid out the impacts of its $1.47 million budget reductions.
Over 40 people spoke during public comment, urging the City to find a way to reduce the impacts of these budget cuts. Like every other department, the Library, Arts and Culture team has to reduce its 2027 budget as the City grapples with a $58 million deficit.
What this means for a city with over 70,000 active library card holders: five libraries (Bay Shore, Harte, Burnett, Michelle Obama and El Dorado) will likely be closed on Mondays. Monday operating hours at these five branches were a fairly new addition, relying on various pots of funding since 2023. This would also result in 10 library workers losing their jobs, in positions focusing not only on literature, but also youth mental health and creative workshops.
“This week, our libraries are being asked to stay open until 9 p.m. to serve as cooling centers because of the extreme heat, and we want to do that,” local librarian Elizabeth Sispiglio said. “But the city is recognizing that libraries are essential spaces for residents to go when they need safety, air conditioning and support. At the same time, we’re being told that library staff will be laid off and library hours will be reduced by cutting an entire day of service.”
Since the City announced sweeping cuts ahead of this year’s budget process on July 30, an online petition to keep libraries operating at their current capacity has garnered over 6,300 signatures and nearly $10,000 in donations.
Jasmine Flores, the public health associate whose job is at risk if the proposed budget plan gets approved, said she’s the department’s only mental health educator whose primary focus is working with teens. She also conducts outreach with schools across the Long Beach Unified School District.
“Every day I work with young people in our libraries who are navigating stress, anxiety, isolation, academic pressure, family challenges and many other realities that come with being a teenager,” Flores said.
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Art, Library, and Culture Director Cathy De Leon said these cuts were the “least impactful” option they could come up with, since they wanted to salvage their book budget. This portion of their budget allowed them to add over 55,000 items to the 12 library branches this year.
“To not purchase books or reduce what we spend on books does an incredible disservice to our library patrons,” De Leon said. “By not buying books you’d be weakening our core value of access to literature and relevant and timely information.”
Long Beach libraries received nearly 765,000 visitors in 2025, and De Leon said this number is estimated to reach 790,000 by the end of this year. From those visitors, the library system has provided over 3.3 million separate resources, including books, comics, CDs, movies, state parks passes and more.
Statistics shared at the hearing show that Mondays and Wednesdays are the least utilized by residents, though the Wednesday results are impacted by a one-hour window where libraries open later in order to conduct staff training. De Leon said, “Mondays have not been fully embraced.” Despite this fact, residents were vocal about their objection to reducing library hours.
“Libraries are not a luxury. They are basic infrastructure for an equitable city,” said Kristen Hernandez, director of communications and public affairs with the Long Beach Public Library Foundation.
The department has reached the end of its $1.3 million funding from the Department of Education (DOE), which provided four years of SEED STEAM summer camp programming. This program will be rebranded to the Mobile Creativity Lab and will move away from a summer camp model, De Leon said. It will use Measure US funding for a “less intensive” program, but will “hopefully be able to reach more kids.”
Funds for the five-year ESL (English as a Second Language) programming the department received from the State ended in June. The department had been receiving around $85,000 annually for this program. De Leon said they will no longer have a dedicated staff member for this programming, and it will have to be modified going forward.
“It really seems like the frail programs that benefit the most people in our community seem to be the first in line on the chopping block,” said resident Tony Aldana.
The department is also forced to end its Zip Books program, where patrons can request a book not owned by the City’s library system and receive that book in the mail, then turn it into their library. This service costs around $20,000 annually.
Additional reductions to the Library, Arts, and Culture budget include:
- $140,000 in overtime
- $38,000 for Billie Jean King (BJK) Main Library power washing
- $22,833 in annual fees on general maintenance assistant truck
- $17,000 for landscaping
- $13,500 for security
“You all say you are supporters [of the library] and yet the budget you want to adopt is disgraceful,” Barbara Sosa, president of the Friends of the Long Beach Public Library, told the mayor and city council.
On the Bright Side
After a long hiatus, the Library, Art, and Culture Department is bringing back the Black Authors Festival next year, De Leon announced. This festival, which celebrates local Black authors and readers, ran for a few years in the early 2010s.
A few “critical” projects to improve libraries will still move ahead as planned, including:
- El Dorado Neighborhood Library’s roof replacement, energy efficiency and ADA exterior improvements ($2.2 million in AB32 Energy Efficiency funds)
- Burnett Library’s energy efficient window glass panes ($200,000 in AB32 Energy Efficiency funds)
- Brewitt Library’s roof replacement and ancillary repairs ($700,000 in Measure A funds)
- Mark Twain Library’s fire alarm replacement and other improvements ($500,000 in Measure A funds)
- $100,000 in SAP funds to create multilingual signage at all 12 library locations
De Leon addressed the implementation of a nearly $800,000 fence around BJK Main Library which was installed in May. She said it has made a “drastic difference” for that library, resulting in less calls to the Long Beach Police Department, less vandalism, and halving the number of code of conduct infractions library staff writes up.
Samantha Diaz
Managing Editor
Samantha is an award-winning journalist, sports fanatic and mother. She’s worked for the Signal Tribune for over three years and is passionate about covering environmental news, small businesses, mutual aid efforts and resources.
