Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 2 p.m. (Boston time), Boston City Hall, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201
Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, FY27 Budget: BPL
The Ways & Means Committee, chaired by Councilor Weber, held a hearing on docket 073320740, an overview of the FY2027 operating budget for the Boston Public Library. BPL President David Leonard presented highlights of 2025 performance (3.2 million visits, 1.9 million physical circulations, 5.4 million digital downloads, 129,000 new cardholders) and a proposed flat operating budget of about $50.7 million, achieved partly by holding vacancies unfilled while maintaining hours and avoiding layoffs. Councilors questioned the panel on the South End branch construction timeline and flood-resistant design, Chinatown branch services for Cantonese speakers, South Boston library planning, collections funding pressures, staffing vacancies, ESOL demand, capital projects at Fields Corner, Eggleston Square, and West Roxbury, and the role of the BPL's external fundraising entities. Two BPL staff members testified on behalf of the professional staff association, criticizing the budget as inadequate and urging the cuts be reversed. No votes were taken.
0:10 and.
0:53 I'm.
1:43 going.
7:41 good afternoon.
7:42 Uh, my name is ben weber.
7:44 I'm the boston city
7:45 councilor for district six and
7:46 I'm the chair of the ways and
7:46 means committee.
7:48 Uh, for the record.
7:52 Uh, today is MAY 19th, 2026 and
7:54 the exact time is still 2:07
7:54 P.M..
7:56 Uh, this hearing is being
7:57 recorded.
7:58 It's also being live streamed
7:59 at boston archives.
8:02 City council tv had broadcast
8:04 on its channel eight rcn
8:06 channel 82 and five channel
8:06 964.
8:08 Uh just I have a couple plenary
8:10 things and then we'll we'll get
8:10 to the panel.
8:13 Um, the council's budget review
8:15 process encompasses a series
8:15 of public hearings beginning in
8:17 APRIL running through JUNE.
8:18 We strongly encourage residents
8:20 to take a moment to engage in
8:21 this process by giving
8:22 testimony for the record.
8:24 You can do, uh, this in several
8:24 ways.
8:27 Uh, you can give testimony at
8:29 one of our public hearings or
8:31 all of them if you uh if you
8:33 can um you can do so in a
8:34 couple ways.
8:35 One, you can show up in person
8:37 to a hearing, uh, sign in on
8:39 the sign in sheet near the door
8:41 and you'll be called on uh, for
8:42 the public testimony portion.
8:45 You can also testify virtually
8:48 at any hearing uh, for virtual
8:49 testimony, sign up using our
8:50 online form on our
8:52 council budget review website
8:57 or by emailing the committee at
8:59 6wm@boston.Gov or by emailing
9:02 our uh uh our budget analyst
9:04 right here chris mitchell on at
9:10 k r ish maco u h a n@boston.Gov
9:11 and you'll get a zoom link uh
9:15 to testify you can also uh come
9:17 to the last or fourth of four
9:21 listening sessions uh which and
9:22 I've been saying I've been
9:24 reading the script and saying
9:26 it's on thursday MAY 26th but
9:27 MAY 26th is a tuesday.
9:30 So it's tuesday, MAY 26th at 6
9:31 P.M. Right here in the chamber.
9:35 Uh, anyone in the public please
9:37 come and, uh, counselors will
9:38 be here to hear your testimony
9:40 about what you want to see in
9:41 the budget.
9:43 Um, again at that listening
9:45 session you can testify in
9:46 person or virtually.
9:48 So follow the same steps to get
9:51 a zoom link if if uh if you
9:52 can't make it in person.
9:54 Um, uh, in addition to
9:55 testifying and hearing
9:56 virtually in person, you can
9:57 email written testimony to the
10:00 committee at seek
10:01 dwm@boston.Gov.
10:04 Uh lastly, you can uh supply
10:05 your testimony by submitting a
10:08 two minute video, uh, of your
10:09 testimony through the form on
10:10 our website for more
10:11 information on the
10:12 council budget process and to
10:15 testify, please visit the
10:16 council budgets budget uh
10:17 council city council's budget
10:20 website at
10:21 boston.Gov/city-sorry that was
10:25 wrong boston.Gov/council-budget
10:27 we will have in-person
10:28 testimony following a
10:29 presentation from the panel and
10:30 our first round of council
10:31 questions.
10:34 Um uh again you'll be called on
10:34 in order.
10:36 You've arrived uh you signed up
10:39 and uh or um get a zoom link
10:41 from our uh, legislative budget
10:46 analyst karishma carr ish amoco
10:48 you have an at boston.Com for
10:49 the zoom link and your name
10:51 will be added to the list.
10:52 This afternoon's hearing is on
10:56 docket number 073320740.
10:57 An overview of the fiscal year
10:59 20 2027 operating budget for
11:00 the boston public library.
11:02 This is one in a series
11:03 of hearings to review the
11:05 fiscal year 2027 budget.
11:07 These matters were sponsored by
11:09 michelle MAY or michelle wu and
11:11 referred to the committee on
11:12 APRIL 8th 2026.
11:13 I'm joined by my colleagues in
11:15 order of arrival
11:16 councilor flynn,
11:17 councilor murphy uh I've
11:18 received letters of absence
11:20 from councilor louijeune and
11:21 councilor culpeper.
11:21 Uh, no.
11:23 Um I'm just gonna introduce the
11:25 panel and then, um, you can,
11:26 uh, give a presentation if you
11:27 have one.
11:28 Uh, we're joined today by the
11:29 PRESIDENT Of the boston public
11:31 library, david leonard, uh, the
11:34 chief financial officer
11:35 of emily tokarczuk.
11:36 Great.
11:36 Okay.
11:39 Uh, the director of library
11:42 services, michael kofod and, uh
11:44 ,our director of neighborhood
11:45 services with the boston public
11:47 library, priscilla foley.
11:48 Um, okay.
11:50 Uh, so that that's that's it
11:50 for me.
11:52 uh, I'm going to hand it over
11:53 to the panel and then we'll go
11:55 to questions from our the
11:55 counselors over here.
11:57 Uh, thank you, mr CHAIRMAN.
11:59 Uh, it's a pleasure to be back
12:00 with the council once again.
12:03 I believe this MAY be my 10th.
12:05 Time, uh, presenting on our
12:06 budget for the library.
12:09 Uh, and it remains, uh,
12:11 although we are a complicated
12:14 institution with our own
12:15 challenges, uh, it remains a
12:18 joy and privilege to lead this
12:18 institution.
12:21 Uh, for all of the residents
12:22 of boston and beyond.
12:24 Uh, we have a number of slides
12:26 to present on, but I'm just
12:28 going to pick off a couple
12:29 of highlights from the slides
12:31 so we can get to your questions
12:34 uh, in particular uh and which
12:36 will also lead us into um the
12:36 budget picture.
12:40 Uh uh you warned me about this
12:41 not to be too aggressive with
12:42 the clicker right.
12:45 So let me start right here and
12:47 um, you have all of this
12:48 information in your packet.
12:52 But the bpl 2025 calendar year
12:54 is a snapshot of performance.
12:58 Um, uh, few highlights that I
13:00 want to point out just to give
13:02 context to the work of our
13:04 staff and the institution
13:04 systemwide.
13:08 So in 2025 we had over 3.2
13:10 million visits to the central
13:13 library and all of our branches
13:15 um our circulation numbers say
13:19 the books borrowed um 1.9
13:21 million items in uh physical
13:24 items actual books, um uh which
13:25 is actually an increase over
13:28 the previous year and 5.4
13:30 million um items downloaded as
13:32 e-books or audio books.
13:34 uh, the other number I want to
13:36 point out is the sign up of new
13:39 library card holders at 129,000
13:41 which is uh which is kind
13:43 of the norm for us uh, from
13:43 year to year.
13:46 Uh, so what I want you to take
13:47 away from this slide is a
13:48 really strong year for the
13:51 boston public library in terms
13:52 of serving the community.
13:55 Um, we base all of our
13:57 messaging on our new strategic
13:59 plan from 2020 form which
14:01 centers for key roles of the
14:02 library in our work in
14:03 community.
14:05 Those are our role as a
14:07 lifelong learning and research
14:09 partner, our work as a
14:12 community engagement um, our
14:14 work to present a welcoming
14:16 destination at all of our
14:17 physical and online locations
14:19 and our work to be a trusted
14:20 resource.
14:23 Um, briefly taking a highlight
14:25 from each of these four roles
14:28 and community um, from the uh
14:30 lifelong learning and research
14:31 partner role.
14:32 I just want to point out that
14:35 last year we, uh, delivered an
14:38 all ages summer reading program
14:39 whereas normally it's just for,
14:41 uh, our young people that last
14:42 year we did very successful,
14:44 uh, program uh, for people
14:47 of all ages um, that was
14:49 augmented by uh some work with
14:51 our uh, lego grant.
14:53 So learning through play is an
14:55 important part of, um, how we,
14:57 uh, animate kids programs
14:58 across the system.
15:01 Um, continuing in this role, uh
15:03 ,one of the other highlights
15:05 relates to our workforce uh,
15:07 development program, uh,
15:10 including our esol services
15:11 which continue to have
15:13 waitlists and be much in demand
15:16 and then looking at uh,
15:17 bringing history to life and
15:19 bringing engagement to life
15:20 work.
15:20 around our arts and culture
15:23 Uh, we have 98,000 visitors to
15:25 our revolutionary art
15:26 exhibition at the central
15:27 library.
15:29 The current exhibition which
15:32 will be up through SEPTEMBER,
15:34 uh, focusing on the declaration
15:37 of independence, has all eight
15:38 copies of the original printing
15:40 that the boston public library
15:42 holds for the people of boston
15:45 and the commonwealth moving to
15:47 our welcoming destination.
15:49 Um, I am actually just going to
15:52 talk about our, uh, major
15:53 capital projects uh, fields
15:56 corner branch is uh almost uh
15:57 almost done.
15:59 Uh, and we look forward to an
16:01 opening in this in the fall.
16:03 Uh, this is probably one of the
16:05 two fastest projects in terms
16:06 of the building going up.
16:08 And for those of you in the
16:09 neighborhood you can actually
16:10 see it happening right in front
16:10 of you.
16:13 Uh, the other uh, branch uh,
16:15 renovation project is the new
16:17 chinatown branch, uh, which is
16:18 part of the uh housing with
16:20 public assets program down on
16:23 chinatown.
16:23 tyler street in uh in
16:25 Um, uh, that's more
16:25 complicated.
16:26 So we'll take a little longer
16:28 but but absolutely underway and
16:31 we have work underway to
16:33 support a future renovation
16:34 of the remaining parts of the
16:36 central library the old mckim
16:39 building on copley square, uh,
16:42 within our trusted resource
16:42 category.
16:44 I just wanted to highlight our
16:45 intellectual freedom training.
16:48 Uh, very relevant to today's
16:50 um, period that that old staff
16:51 who are very familiar with
16:53 these principles and concepts
16:54 but uh, it's always good to get
16:56 retrained on things as well as
16:59 our books on band program where
17:01 we offer uh through private
17:04 funding, um, uh, resources to
17:05 those in other parts of the
17:07 country who are unable to
17:08 Uh.
17:08 access resources.
17:09 in their local neighborhoods
17:10 .
17:13 Um, our social service program
17:14 servicing those who are housing
17:15 insecure.
17:17 Uh, we continue to double down
17:20 on that uh, again supporting um
17:22 uh some with supporting that
17:23 work with some external grants
17:24 .
17:25 Um.
17:27 This year we're also.
17:29 able to extend our block
17:32 programing to all 25 branches
17:34 and so uh, you know, whereas in
17:36 years past people MAY have
17:38 focused on just borrowing a
17:40 book or going to um the use the
17:42 space at a branch um programs
17:45 and services are key to the.
17:47 Work serving all of our all
17:48 of our communities.
17:50 Uh, we also have work underway
17:53 around civic engagement, um,
17:54 because we want people to be
17:55 able to participate in our
17:58 society and see the library as
17:59 a resource for that work.
18:01 Um, there's a whole set of, uh
18:04 ,accomplishments around our
18:06 internal um, uh, equity
18:07 diversity and inclusion
18:09 programs, workplace culture.
18:09 um.
18:12 and collaboration and
18:12 communication.
18:15 Uh, we have our uh, coming up
18:16 on the year of our first data
18:18 analyst on the staff who's able
18:19 to help us look at our
18:21 programs, understand who are
18:23 reaching um, where they are
18:24 from and what they might need.
18:29 Um, and so, um, um, you know,
18:31 there are a number of of uh
18:33 of programs that we are
18:35 continuing to do either patron
18:37 facing or internally to augment
18:38 the work of staff.
18:42 Um, which leads us to um you
18:45 know, a set of uh goals for
18:45 next year.
18:47 Each of those slides also
18:48 included some goals.
18:50 Uh, those are aspirational but
18:52 they are contingent on what our
18:54 budget capacity will be as we
18:55 go into next year.
18:57 And so, um, I believe we want
18:59 to leave the budget
19:01 conversation, uh, for questions
19:01 .
19:04 Uh, but I do want to note that
19:06 our uh, proposed operating
19:08 budget, uh, from the city
19:11 of boston is proposed as a $50
19:14 million, $724,000 budget.
19:17 Um, that is largely flat
19:18 compared with last year.
19:21 Uh, and so while we were
19:23 originally asked to do a 2% cut
19:27 across the board, um, uh, we
19:30 were able to look at a more
19:32 modest set of um reductions and
19:35 cuts, um, because we want to
19:37 avoid uh, this is the guidance
19:38 from city administration was we
19:39 want to avoid a situation where
19:41 we have to entertain the
19:43 possibility of layoffs.
19:45 And we also want to ensure that
19:48 our, um, operating hours across
19:50 all locations is currently
19:50 maintained.
19:52 And so we've been able to
19:54 achieve that within the flat
19:56 budget, uh, largely by holding
19:59 um, uh, trimming here and there
20:01 but uh holding a number
20:02 of vacancies as unfilled going
20:04 into next year.
20:05 Uh, you MAY have questions
20:06 about that capacity.
20:10 Um, this is about $1.5 million
20:11 below what our maintenance
20:12 budget would have been as
20:13 proposed.
20:15 Um, so this will not be easy.
20:18 Uh, but compared with many
20:19 of our colleagues and what they
20:21 are facing, uh, we believe this
20:23 is a fiscal responsible budget
20:24 right now and we will do our
20:27 part, um, with belt tightening
20:28 and other measures to ensure
20:29 that it works.
20:32 Um, we will be working with our
20:33 city colleagues to.
20:33 Ensure.
20:36 um, we don't hold too many
20:37 vacancies because we could
20:39 easily dip below the minimum
20:40 standards of service across
20:42 branches across central and
20:43 across back of how spots.
20:46 Um, and then just uh a note on
20:50 our capital budget um, the five
20:52 year capital budget, uh, totals
20:54 about 231 million in proposed
20:56 renovations right now we are
21:00 very focused on um, the uh,
21:01 feels corner and chinatown
21:02 branch as I mentioned earlier,
21:06 which are well underway and on
21:07 ensuring the next project which
21:09 is the south end branch
21:11 actually uh, goes into
21:11 construction uh, during the
21:13 course of the next year.
21:14 Um and.
21:16 Then there are a number of.
21:17 Projects in the out years where
21:17 there is a.
21:19 level of uh, still
21:20 of uncertainty about when they
21:21 could start.
21:23 Um, did you want to add
21:25 anything or shall we move to uh
21:26 ,councilors questions?
21:27 So I think if we can go ahead
21:29 into questions and we'll add
21:30 some detail for you.
21:31 Okay.
21:33 thank thank you very much.
21:35 Uh, so we've been joined by
21:35 councilor fitzgerald.
21:38 Uh, have six minutes uh, for a
21:39 first round.
21:40 Uh, whenever you're ready.
21:40 Councilor flynn.
21:41 Thank you, mr chair.
21:50 Thank you to david and the
21:52 library team for being here for
21:53 your professional work.
21:56 I share david as you know, the
21:58 south end with, uh, john
22:00 fitzgerald and reverend
22:02 culpeper were concerned about
22:04 the south end library.
22:06 commitment?
22:06 David, can you make a
22:08 Is the money in the capital.
22:09 Budget for the south end
22:09 library?
22:10 What is the delay?