Dallas is holding a series of public town halls as the City Council considers the proposed Fiscal year 2026–27 budget. Residents can comment on city spending priorities, including funding for Dallas Public Library and its neighborhood branches. District 14 Council Member Paul E. Ridley will host an in-person Budget Town Hall at Oak Lawn Library on Thursday, August 13.
District 14 Budget Town Hall
Thursday, August 13, 2026
6:00 p.m.
Oak Lawn Branch Library
4100 Cedar Springs Road
In person only
Meeting details are available on the City’s official event page.
Save the Books at the Dallas Budget Meetings
In January, Dallas Public Library presented a Regional Library Model that proposed reducing the system from 28 neighborhood branches to 24 while concentrating longer hours, staffing, programming, and services at five designated flagship locations. Oak Lawn, Arcadia Park, Skyline, and Renner Frankford were recommended for closure. The presentation proposed opening the flagship locations in January 2027 and closing the selected neighborhood branches the following September.
The plan was presented as a response to the library system’s financial position. Dallas Public Library reported that its operating budget had remained stagnant since 2001 after adjusting for inflation, even as Dallas added residents, technology, and library locations. The department also reported spending $32.77 per resident, compared with a $38.74 median among the peer systems included in its presentation.
The library had already absorbed approximately $1.9 million in reductions during the previous budget cycle and was instructed to identify another $2.6 million in savings. Potential branch closures were included in that cost-cutting process.
More than 4,000 people later participated in the City’s feedback process. Large majorities opposed the closures and supported maintaining or increasing library funding. In April, the City Council’s Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee supported developing flagship services without closing the four neighborhood branches. That committee direction did not appropriate the recurring operating funds needed to staff, maintain, and operate those branches through the FY 2026–27 budget.
Oak Lawn’s Data Tells a Different Story
Oak Lawn Library was selected for closure despite data showing a busy branch operating from a facility that is too small for its current demand. Thanks Manya Shorr.
Dallas Public Library’s own facilities planning identified Oak Lawn as the second-most-visited branch in the system and described the building as already maximizing the service capacity of its size and layout. The current branch is approximately 12,900 square feet, while the facilities plan recommended expanding it to more than 30,000 square feet. Popular programs can exceed the 50-person auditorium, and the shared parking area becomes strained during heavily attended events.
During the first two quarters of FY 2026, Oak Lawn recorded:
- More than 106,000 physical checkouts
- A 22% increase in physical circulation compared with the same period in FY 2025
Visitor counts declined during that period, but circulation increased substantially. Our previous data review examines the branch’s usage, facility limitations, and the disconnect between its performance and the closure recommendation. Oak Lawn functions as a major election site. During the March 2026 primary, more early votes were cast at Oak Lawn Library than at all but two other voting centers in Dallas County.
The regional model weighted community need at 50%, library usage at 30%, and geographic coverage at 20%. The variables included household income, high school completion, the number of children under five, checkouts, computer sessions, programs, attendance, drive time, and building size. The model did not measure walkability, voting activity, LGBTQ+ history, the branch’s circulating LGBTQ+ collection, or the consequences of removing a public institution from the neighborhood it serves in any meaningful capacity. All efforts to reach out to Manya Shorr have been met with obstruction and bad faith.
Ridley Says Oak Lawn Library Is Still Endangered
Ridley has publicly opposed treating the branch as secure before the full City Council approves a funded plan. After the council committee supported keeping every neighborhood branch open, Ridley told the Dallas Observer: “It is still endangered. We need to fight for it.” Removing Oak Lawn from a closure list does not provide the staffing, operating revenue, maintenance, collections, technology, or service funding required to keep it functioning.
Ridley has also estimated that maintaining the four threatened branches would require approximately $3 million to $3.5 million. The August 13 town hall gives District 14 residents an opportunity to ask how that funding will be handled in the proposed budget and what support exists on the full council for protecting every branch.
The Flagship Model Has Not Gone Away
The immediate closure recommendation was pulled back, but the flagship model remains part of Dallas Public Library’s planning. No More Manya.
The January proposal described flagship branches as locations operating seven days a week, remaining open later in the evening, and offering concentrated staffing, adult learning, workforce development, partnerships, and other expanded services. It proposed growing from one flagship location to five in FY 2026–27 and eventually seven, subject to future budget development.
Flagship development was also listed as a priority for a newly created Programs and Partnerships Administrator position. Proposed uses of a recent $2.825 million library donation have included preparing selected branches for flagship operations, along with systemwide furniture replacement and work at the Central Library.
Those plans leave several budget questions unresolved:
- How much recurring funding will Dallas Public Library receive?
- Will all existing branches receive enough staffing and operating support to maintain current services?
- How much funding will be assigned to flagship development?
- Will flagship locations receive expanded resources while neighborhood branches operate with reduced hours or staffing?
- What criteria will be used to evaluate branches in future budget cycles?
- Will the City commit to keeping Oak Lawn Library open beyond a single fiscal year?
- How much of the proposed budget will support frontline library service compared with new administrative capacity?
Residents do not need to limit their comments to Oak Lawn. Dallas operates a citywide library system, and the regional model placed four different communities at risk under the same consolidation strategy.
Previous Oak Lawn Library Coverage
CSMA has followed the regional proposal, its supporting data, and the leadership decisions surrounding it. Our Save the Books campaign asks the City to protect Oak Lawn Library in the FY 2026–27 budget, restore the funding needed to maintain current services, reject closure models that fail to account for a branch’s full community role, and require library leadership to engage directly with affected neighborhoods.
Our leadership op-ed examines the closure proposal, flagship priorities, restrictions placed on community support, the handling of Oak Lawn stakeholders, and the continuing loss of public trust in Dallas Public Library leadership.
Attend the August 13 Budget Town Hall
Residents attending to address library funding can prepare a brief statement, share how they use the branch, and ask for a specific budget commitment. Comments may address Oak Lawn Library, funding for the entire Dallas library system, staffing and operating hours, or continued investment in the flagship model.
Residents unable to attend the Oak Lawn meeting can review the full citywide schedule on the official Budget Town Halls page.
Save the books. Protect the branches. Fund Dallas libraries.