Dallas is set to close five branch libraries in the coming year amid wider budget cuts.
The Skillman Southwestern Branch Library in northeast Dallas is slated to close as early as next month. The city says it’s one of the more underutilized branches and is close to other nearby libraries.
Dallas Public Library Director Manya Shorr is also proposing to close four additional library branches under the 2026-27 budget due to funding constraints and as part of a shift toward a regional model. That aims to make the libraries run smoother by putting together “specialized services, technology, and programming into a smaller number of strategically located regional branches, supported by surrounding satellite locations,” according to the budget.
“What I'm hoping to achieve is seven day a week branches that can serve a larger community base with enhanced programs, enhanced services and, of course, additional days and hours,” Shorr said. “By doing that, what I would hope is that we would no longer have to change hours and days for budgetary savings.”
Shorr said Dallas libraries have changed service hours eight times in the last 15 years to save money. That creates instability which makes it harder for the community and library to connect, so by closing some locations they can keep others open longer for the whole week, she said.
Shorr, who previously served as library director in Fort Worth, told KERA News Dallas libraries are not as well funded as peer library systems across the country.
“There's not a single library director in this country who would say, 'I want to close libraries and eliminate positions,’” she said. “But at the end of the day, it is my responsibility to run a library system that is impactful to its community.”
The four closures will save the city $2.6 million in the next budget cycle. Eight staff will be relocated from the closed locations to support keeping four to five other branches open seven days a week, though some staff members will likely be laid off.
Maggie Watson, a local library advocate, led a petition last year that helped keep Skillman open and is pushing against its closure this year. She said she takes the bus to the library a couple of times a week.
“My life would absolutely not be the same without that library,” Watson said. “It is so much of the culture, it feels like this foundation that the rest of the community is built over.”
The city hasn’t determined which other four locations will be cut, but research and community engagement will be done over the next year to decide.
Erin Brown, another library advocate, said she’s worried cuts will impact lower-income neighborhoods.
"I (...) kind of have a hunch that the libraries that will be closed will be in the areas that have a higher density population of people who are higher need," she said. "I doubt it's going to be the higher income areas that are going to lose their branches."
People can give feedback on the proposal at the upcoming virtual and in-person budget town halls taking place through Aug. 28.
The Skillman library was saved last year after community outcry led to Council Member Paula Blackmon, who represents the area the library is in, redirecting money to give the branch another year of funding.
Blackmon may just be able to pull that off again: She told NBC 5 staff helped her find $500,000 in the budget to fund Skillman through 2026, but that will need to be approved by the council in a budget amendment vote.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Fall news intern. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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