DALLAS — The Dallas Public Library will reduce operating hours at some branches and eliminate more than 70 positions as the city works to close a $51 million budget gap, with the cuts also ending adult learning programs such as GED and English language classes.
About 30 of the positions targeted for elimination are currently filled, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Dallas Public Library Director Manya Shorr said the reductions follow several years of budget cuts and will allow all library branches to remain open.
“The Dallas Public Library has seen several years of budget reductions, and we’ve really reached the point where we need to focus on our core services,” Shorr said in an interview Thursday. “That would be our books, our buildings and our programs.”
Shorr said the library can operate with the reduced hours but questioned whether further cuts would undermine its ability to serve residents.
The system will also eliminate adult learning programs, including GED and English language classes. Shorr said other organizations provide similar services, although some require participants to show proof of legal residency or authorization to work in the United States. The library does not require those documents.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has suggested that libraries lease space to cafes, similar to arrangements in Austin. Shorr said cafes and restaurants would generate limited revenue because of their small profit margins.
Instead, she suggested that the library system consider adding passport offices as a potential source of additional revenue.
The cuts come as other North Texas communities consider changes to library services.
In Mesquite, city leaders have proposed closing one of the city’s two library branches and consolidating some services with recreation centers.
Daniella Smith, director of the University of North Texas Information Science Ph.D. program, said library systems should preserve physical locations to prevent communities from becoming “information deserts.”
Smith said libraries remain important even as more residents use digital borrowing and online resources.
“Libraries should be vibrant and fully engaged with their community,” she said. “Digital resources, they’re not going to come over and ask you how you’re doing.”