Princeton Public Library to cut hours due to budget deficit
The Board of Trustees of the Princeton Public Library held a special meeting on Monday afternoon to approve a budget that includes cuts to on-demand streaming services and library hours.
Beginning on Monday, Jan. 12, the library will close an hour early every day.
“The library’s 2026 budget required finding cost savings that would have the least impact on service,” said Executive Director Jennifer Podolsky in a written statement. “While our operating hours and streaming services will be changing, our role as a valued community resource remains the same.”
Long known as Princeton’s living room, the library, one of the top public libraries in the country, is a central community hub that is frequently packed with people.
The library will close at 8 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The welcome desk will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Kanopy on-demand video streaming service will be eliminated, and Hoopla checkouts will be limited to three per patron per month, effective Feb. 1. Hoopla allows patrons to stream audiobooks, music, video, and e-books at no charge to the user. The library will eliminate fees for DVD and video game rentals to soften the blow of new limits on streaming services.
According to library officials, the cuts in hours were necessary to address a budget deficit due to significant increases in fixed costs, including a 36.5% increase in health insurance premiums. Officials also cited soaring costs for building maintenance and utilities, and rising usage fees for the library’s digital platforms, along with steady growth in visitor traffic.
“Protecting the library’s long-term financial health is critical to ensuring it can remain an accessible, inclusive center for learning and cultural enrichment for all members of our community,” said Board of Trustees President Christopher Van Buren in a written statement. “Princeton Public Library is a vital community asset, and preserving its ability to deliver outstanding service and world-class programming was a paramount consideration in the budget process.”
The municipality funds the library and approves the budget each spring. The 2026 budget, which includes the cut in hours and streaming, is subject to approval of the Princeton Town Council.
Editor’s note: Planet Princeton reached out to the library’s executive director on Monday night regarding the cuts. She did not respond to the email, which asked whether the cuts are permanent or temporary. Instead, the public relations person for the library sent a press release out at about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning that includes the quotes in this story.
Hi. I’m very disappointed – I use the library from 6:pm to 9:pm to do my studies after I finish with my job.
People are used to using the libraryin the evenings. I’m really devastated with the modification of the new hrs
Thanks for informing us!
Agree…why not open later
Many people with young children use the library early in the morning.
Express your concerns to town council These are thoughtful pragmatic points that are being made and at least two days sttaying open until 9 pm makes sense given the public adult student needs and community meetings and events which often end after 8 P The public ‘s needs should be primary.
Hioe therehas been a thourough consideration of alternatives to the health insurance increases.?
Really sad about the Kanopy cut … any statement about when that will take effect?
FYI i live in Lawrenceville and the MCPL offers Kanopy. The Princeton has its own library, Princeton is a part of Mercer County and I don’t see why you can’t register with the county library, which is free, and entitled you to a card. For many years I paid for a PPL card until it became ridiculously expensive and rediscovered my local library (main branch) and am happy to report it is able to get many great perks and the intralibrary loan works very well.
While it’s true that Princeton is part of Mercer County, Princeton (and Hamilton and Trenton) opted out of the county library system, so it is not free for Princeton residents to get a Mercer County Library card — though it is possible. It costs $75/year ($10/year for seniors) for a non-resident card, but there are exceptions if you work or go to school in a participating municipality.
https://mcl.org/about/system-policies/#c_non-resident_cards
No one likes change, however everyone will adjust to the new times and Princeton Library will still be a top location for local academia individuals. The one downside of this amazing place is being across the street from the cemetery and the huge power grid next to the library. Still one of my top 5 libraries in Mercer County.
1) Lawrence
2A) Plainsboro
2B) Princeton
3) Theodore S. Wright
4) West Windsor
5) Trenton legal library
If you reside in Princeton and have a Princeton Public Library card, then you can visit the other libraries but you cannot check out materials. Even though Princeton is in Mercer County, they only give access to Princeton residents only and Vice Versa. Mercer County Libraries do not share their resources with Princeton.
A budget shortfall? Perhaps Council spending $50,000,000+ on the purchase of Westminster with no clear purpose and another $15,000,000 on one road in Princeton (Witherspoon Street) along with other whim expenses are outside of a properly planned budget! A BUDGET. Seriously. Already a boiler at Westminster is busted making a building unusable and Council is mulling the “unplanned” expense. Maybe they should have factored in maintenance, upgrades, renovation into their “needing” to purchase Westminster. Plan to a real budget instead of spending wildly and asking the taxpayers to fund the latest ridiculous expenditure like green paint, traffic delineators and police presence all over Harrison Street for the single bicyclist on the road. Why isn’t Princeton affordable? Council’s tax bill to every taxpayer keeps going up and up. Council: “Stop wasting taxpayer dollars that you don’t have” should be your new year resolution.
Wow, this is sad. I always thought Princeton was a community that supported education, and by extension, the library. Still, when you follow the $$, you see what is truly supported by the community.
Rather than discussing how we can increase the library hour until midnight, the board is discussing how to close it at an hour earlier. Really? The direction at which we, as a community, are heading is unfortunate. Our libraries are instrumental to free education. Sometimes simply its ambience brings you back to studying. We should do whatever it takes to figure an appropriate solution to the budget.