Boulder’s library district is cutting 20% of its staff. How did it get here?
Facing a roughly $2.5 million budget shortfall, the Boulder Public Library District has announced plans to reduce its workforce by around 20%. The cuts mark a dramatic reversal for a library system that only a few years ago was entering an era of expansion.
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The district has opened two new branches in the past two years. But lower-than-expected property tax revenue, rising personnel costs and millions of dollars in looming maintenance and technology expenses have changed its financial outlook.
For longtime library employees, the shift has been jarring.
Rachel Levine, a librarian at the NoBo Library who has worked for Boulder’s library system for more than a decade, remembers the sense of possibility that accompanied the creation of the district.
“When I asked about professional development funds for the librarian position, I remember being told, ‘We could send you to the moon,’” Levine said.
Now, employees are waiting to learn whose jobs will survive the cuts.
“This feels like an about-face from where we were when we became a district,” Levine said. “From there to here in almost exactly two years is a pretty rough change for staff.”
From expansion to cuts
In November 2022, Boulder voters approved a ballot measure to form a library district. Prior to its creation, the Boulder Public Library was owned and managed by the City of Boulder as part of the Boulder Library and Arts Department. The new district created an independent government entity overseen by a board of trustees and primarily funded by property taxes collected across a broader geographic area.
The decision to create a library district came after years of advocacy. Proponents said it would be a more equitable way of funding the library because it would draw revenue from beyond city boundaries and better reflect the library’s broader user base. It was also expected to provide substantially more money for the library system.
As Boulder Reporting Lab reported in 2022, the city library’s operating budget that year was about $9.2 million, though city staff estimated the actual cost of running the libraries at roughly $16.8 million. The new 3.5-mill levy was expected to generate about $18.8 million a year.
But the financial assumptions underpinning the district’s early budgets soon began to unravel.
The Board of Trustees wrote annual budgets based on an assumption that Boulder property values would grow by an average of 6% annually, according to library finance director Adriana Boniakowski. Instead, the growth the district expected did not materialize.
At an August 2026 Board of Trustees retreat, Boniakowski described what she said was an unusual stretch for Boulder property revenues.
“Boulder property revenues have never experienced three consecutive years of flat or reduction,” she said.
The district did not anticipate the slowdown, and the consequences have been significant. Property tax revenue has fallen short of projections while inflation and operating costs have continued to rise.
Boniakowski said that without changes, the library district’s expenses will exceed revenue beginning in 2027. The district currently maintains a $7 million fund balance, but officials say those reserves would eventually be depleted if expenses continue to outpace revenue.
Part of the revenue decline stems from changes in how property is taxed. When the library district was initially approved, residential property was assessed at a rate of 6.95%, with a lower rate for multifamily homes. Commercial properties were assessed at 29%.
In 2026, changes in legislation lowered the residential rate to 6.25% and the commercial rate to 27%. The rates are set to change again in 2027, further reducing the district’s expected revenue.
District tax revenue is expected to decline from $21.7 million in 2024 to $20.3 million in 2027, according to a Sept. 25 library district press release citing the Boulder County Assessor.
At the same time, the cost of running the library system is climbing.
“Every single public entity — the state, the school district, the county, city — we’re all in the same boat,” said Library Director David Farnan. “We’ve seen declining revenue for three years, and I look at what we’re doing now as a course correction.”
Aging buildings and rising costs squeeze the budget
Health insurance costs for library personnel will increase 15% between 2026 and 2027. The Board of Trustees will likely take bids for a new health insurance provider in 2028 to avoid a similar jump in costs. The library district anticipates around $1 million in technology replacement costs in 2028.
Additionally, the library buildings, which the district leases from the City of Boulder, are an average of 56 years old and require significant upkeep that has not been a major part of the district budget to date. Capital needs overall are expected to be higher in 2028 and 2029 because certain upgrades and necessary maintenance have been delayed and cannot be put off indefinitely. The current budget has little money allocated for facilities upkeep or future capital needs.
“Within two weeks of approving the budget last year, we had a sewer line back up in Gunbarrel. Two months later, we had a leak at Reynolds. A month after that, we had a failure of the HVAC system here [at Main], which caused the basement to flood,” Farnan said.
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“There was no strong financial element of our institutional budget to deal with those things from the get-go,” said Josh Mathews, a unionized library specialist who splits his time between Main and Reynolds. “That should have always been there. I would like to imagine that by earmarking a substantial part of our budgets [for facilities needs], we won’t end up in the same circumstances in the future.”
With those expenses looming, district leaders turned to the largest part of the library budget: its employees.
“We spend about 65% of our annual budget — roughly $14 million — on staffing costs, and so we have to reduce the cost of staffing,” Farnan said.
At the August retreat, Boniakowski presented budgetary forecasts showing the consequences of 10%, 15%, 18% and 20% personnel cuts.
Even with a 15% reduction in personnel, expenses will exceed revenue as soon as 2028. Presented with these figures, the board quickly coalesced around a 20% reduction in personnel, equivalent to about 26 full-time employees.
The effects could extend beyond the people who lose their jobs. Library employees organize and support much of the programming that has made Boulder’s libraries cultural gathering places, from author events and writing programs to children’s activities and community workshops. It is not yet clear which programs or services could be affected by the staffing reductions.
Staff say the process has been painful
The speed of that decision has become a major source of tension between employees and the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees voted to recognize the union representing Boulder library staff, AFSCME, in May 2026. According to Emily Reynolds, a union member and coordinator of Boulder Writes, unionization “has massively influenced the trajectory” of the current personnel cuts.
On Sept. 22, the union released a statement criticizing the board for choosing the deepest staffing reduction so quickly.
“The Board opted for the harshest cuts in a matter of minutes,” the statement reads.
“They seemed to approach it without any intention of bedside manner,” Mathews said. “Callous is the word I lean on.”
Employees who spoke with Boulder Reporting Lab said they felt the board did not fully understand their work or the effect such deep cuts would have on the people who provide library services.
Board President Sylvia Wirba acknowledged the mission-driven nature of library work during the trustees’ discussion.
“If you work for the library, it’s generally not just a job to you,” Wirba said. “There is a mission related to that. That is a part of your identity.”
Trying to soften the cuts
While employees have criticized the board’s decision-making, union members said negotiations with library management have helped reduce some of the damage.
Ultimately, the union and library management have collaborated to create a process for early retirement, voluntary reductions in hours and severance packages along with layoffs.
Other unionized library workers who spoke with Boulder Reporting Lab said bargaining has produced tangible benefits for library employees.
“We’ve already made strong material gains to make this really unfair situation as fair as possible and as dignified as possible for the staff. That is a testament to our union, and it’s also a testament to the management staff who have worked with us in such good faith,” Mathews said.
But the uncertainty remains.
“I feel like we’re all walking around like zombies right now,” Reynolds said. “I care very deeply about my coworkers, and it’s just heartbreaking to walk around and see everyone and not know who is still going to be here.”
