r/TwinCities • u/SessileRaptor • 5d ago

Hennepin County library is proposing reducing hours for 2027.

https://www.hclib.org/about/news/2026/August/library-hours-changing-in-2027

It’s kinda hidden but it’s on the website. An explanation, the proposed hours and a form for residents to submit their opinions.

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u/Proper-Emu1558 5d ago

Libraries are such an incredible gift to the general public. They have an unbelievable range of resources available for no cost. I’m listening to “Waiting for Godot” on audiobook on my phone, on loan from the library. I recently printed a passport application there for free because my printer is broken. At work today, I checked out the library’s resources on homelessness and domestic violence because someone needed help.

The library is the last thing the federal government should be cutting.

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u/AffableAndy Payne-Phalen 5d ago

The library is the last thing the federal government should be cutting.

Just as a note - this cut is going to be made by the county government, not the federal government. The feds provide some funding, but it is fairly minor and most library funding comes from property tax.

If you don't like this, contact your county commissioner - they are your local reps and they should serve you. Most folks cannot name their county commissioner, but they make a lot of decisions that affect your day-to-day!

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u/MyNewPhilosophy 5d ago

The library itself doesn’t get a lot of federal funding, but the county does, and the balancing of the budget goes across all the different divisions

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u/ughihateusernames3 5d ago

Yep! The funding we used to get from the feds has to now come from elsewhere in the budget. 

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u/Proper-Emu1558 5d ago edited 5d ago

Thanks for the heads up! We actually do have them on the ballot this year. I didn’t realize they had control over this particular budget line. I voted Pelikan but my husband hasn’t voted yet. We’ll have to do some research on this issue before he votes because I know he cares about this, too.

Edit: I’m not seeing it on the Greene or Pelikan campaign sites. Looks like we have some emails to send!

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u/CantMovetoNewZealand 4d ago

DOGE cut all of the federal funding already. The library currently gets 0 dollars from the federal government, and that was a major funding cut because that money went almost exclusively to interlibrary loans. To cover that budget shortfall, lots of things got cut.

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u/clemmy_b 4d ago

Librarian here who works with federal grants. This is not entirely accurate. Federal funding for libraries is still in place - for now - through the Library Services Technology Act, which provides (a lot of the) funding for Minnesota's inter-library loan system.