Princeton officials to library: Want more funding? End free two-hour parking (updated)
Trustees given until April 20 to decide whether to eliminate validated parking at Spring Street Garage
The board of trustees for Princeton Public Library was told at its April 15 meeting that it could receive the $149,000 needed to balance its budget this year by eliminating the free parking benefit for library patrons at Spring Street Garage.
Currently, all library cardholders can park in the garage for up to two hours if they have their parking validated at the library.
Mayor Mark Freda, who serves on the board of trustees but did not attend the Friday emergency meeting, discussed the plan at the trustee meeting along with other trustees. A formal letter outlining the proposal was sent to the trustees from the Princeton Council finance committee, which is chaired by Councilman Brian McDonald.
Under the plan, the library would receive the additional $149,000 needed for its 2026 budget to prevent further cuts if validated parking is eliminated for all cardholders.
If free parking is eliminated only for out-of-town cardholders, the library would receive $50,000, according to the letter.
The library was given an extremely short deadline — until Monday, April 20 — to decide on the proposal. The library board of trustees held an emergency meeting on Friday, April 17, but did not take action on the finance committee’s request.
Former Princeton Council member Tim Quinn noted in a letter to the editor that it is the municipality, not the library, that controls the Spring Street Garage. In the past, the Princeton Council has voted on whether to continue the free parking program.
“Putting aside the fact that the library neither owns nor operates Spring Street Garage, I now fear this latest dictate from the municipality is setting the library up for ‘a death by a thousand cuts’ scenario,” Quinn wrote in his letter to Planet Princeton. “As a longtime middle-class resident, now a retiree on a fixed income, further cuts would be bad for me and for others who rely on library services to lower their cost of living in a town and state where such costs are among the highest.”
The issue was last debated in 2015, when eliminating the benefit was proposed. Public backlash led the council to keep the free parking at that time.
Parking has long been tied to debates over whether the library should remain in the center of town or move to a location with more parking. Some township residents favored the period when the library was temporarily located at the shopping center because of easier parking access. The free two-hour parking program was offered as a way to keep the library downtown while addressing parking concerns.
The proposal to eliminate the free parking comes as the Princeton Council considers adopting a proposed 2026 municipal budget of $84.8 million. The budget includes a 7% spending increase that municipal officials said is driven by a 36% rise in health insurance costs, salary increases, and debt service.
Yet despite those increases, the town has kept library funding flat. The library reduced hours earlier this year because of rising costs. More cuts will need to be made if the library does not receive an additional $149,000 for its budget.
“I see lawn signs throughout town proclaiming “Princeton For All,” something I think everyone supports,” Quinn wrote. “That said, I don’t know how cutting the one institution that serves everyone in our community, mostly for free, is consistent with achieving that goal.”
In an email about the issue to Planet Princeton, Freda said there was a communication to the library director that offered two potential options that could be recommended to the full governing body about the library operating budget.
“Those options would help find offsetting revenues to the town to increase the amount of money from the town for this year’s library operating budget. So comments discussing those two options were made by many of us at the meeting,” Freda wrote.
“I would not so narrowly define the context of those ideas to mean the library would make the decision about parking. Instead, the board was offered the opportunity to work with the town to find some middle ground on the library’s budget request,” Freda wrote. “The library director and board president had been told a year ago and again during 2025 that a zero percent increase was possible for 2026. So very recently some options were provided that could potentially find a way to provide additional funding while keeping the overall tax increase down.”
Freda said the town’s practice with all the municipal departments is the same. “A budget request is made, there is a detailed review of the request and almost always ways to reduce the requests are found,” he wrote.
Editor’s note: Planet Princeton has reached out to Councilman Brian McDonald for comment on why the library board is being asked to make a decision that falls under the jurisdiction of the governing body.
We will stop parking at the parking next to the library and town will not make the anticipating profit.
NO!
I don’t ever drive to the Library or use this parking perk – I always walk there. And so with that said, I still find this bit of “transactionalism” on behalf of Council, offensive, as well as sadly in keeping with the those running the highest office in the Land and how they role these days….”Nice library ya got there….be too bad if ya couldn’t get da funds ya need to keep it runnin’ and keep da doors open….howevah if ya sign this here pledge…”
Thanks for bringing it up. I wasn’t aware of the financial situation at PPL.
It always rubbed me the wrong way that Princeton residents pay more in taxes for the library, than the cost of the non-resident library card. Do we know if those non-resident fees are meaningful as a fraction of total costs?
The rates for non-resident cards were adjusted a few years back to match what taxpayers pay.
Right, and under the apparent financial stress those should be significantly higher unless it’s like 50 non resident cards total which won’t move the needle.
The last time I checked (2023), the number was 963. That didn’t include courtesy cards given to municipal and school employees and other, smaller groups.
A library is an investment into the future. You remove funding, and you snatch the opportunities of the young who come there. At a time when literary engagement is at an all time low, it is a shame that of all things, the library related services is what’s considered a burden.
Really scummy way of doing business by Princeton officials here. I would echo the sentiments of another commenter here, this feels very sleazy and akin to a shakedown. “Funnel more parking money to the town’s coffers or your budget stays the same” is a frankly disgusting sentiment, and I hope Mayor Freda and others understand just how poor they are making themselves look here. The library is one of the town’s greatest jewels, and attracts tourism and reputable literary figures from all around the country. If Princeton officials want to kneecap such an institution because their greed for parking incomes knows no bounds, they are pathetic.
The Princeton Public Library is one of the few places downtown where a child can walk in alone, spend an afternoon, and leave better for it. No purchase required. No ticket. No adult supervision beyond what the space itself provides. That matters enormously in a town that wants to call itself a community.
Cutting hours and now threatening the parking benefit that makes the library accessible to families without easy alternatives is a slow erosion of something we cannot replace. Once you hollow out a downtown library — through budget pressure, reduced hours, diminished access — you don’t get it back.
Princeton should be the kind of town where a ten-year-old can enjoy an easy trip to the library. Right now, it still is. Let’s keep it that way.
Isn’t the town council supposed to represent the interests of its citizens? I’m okay without the ‘free parking’ but I don’t appreciate the strongarm approach to the library and its budget, that’s a low class move and the town council should be reprimanded for their demeanor and approach.
Holding library funding at 0% was insulting enough while we paint parts of streets green for no reason and block off traffic lanes near Princeton Shopping Center for phantom bikers that rarely, if ever, appear. Perhaps the town council should rethink their approach to traffic management and fiscal responsibility – acquiring the dilapidated Westminster Choir campus with no clear plans or strategies and not holding contingency funds for necessary repairs as part of their due diligence and associated planning was shortsighted and an utter failure of management. How town council members weren’t dismissed, or offered to resign, after that bungling is a mystery.
Perhaps its time for new leadership in Princeton. Leadership that values the unique aspects of our town, including our focus on education and free, public, access which is embodied in our remarkable public library.
Have you noticed that it’s practically illegal to just exist somewhere without paying for it anymore? Every square inch of the world has been monetized, and now, the Princeton Council has decided to come for the public library, eliminating free parking.
I’m sure some “Tiger Parent” council member with a spreadsheet explained to council members this was a brilliant way to “optimize municipal assets” toward balancing the budget..
Let’s call it what it actually is: a paywall on a public good.
A public library is the absolute last place in America where you are treated like a citizen instead of a consumer. You don’t have to buy a seven-dollar oat milk latte just to sit at a table. It’s a safe haven for the teen completing homework, the senior citizen reading the paper, and the remote worker who just needs an hour of decent Wi-Fi.
By slapping a price tag on parking, the Princeton Council is putting a toll on the library. It’s incredibly short-sighted. We already fund the building, the books, and the librarians with property taxes. But apparently, the privilege of leaving your car on a piece of asphalt while you go inside to learn or work requires another transaction. Hey, at least they balanced the budget while increasing the entry bar for those on fixed income. More space for the privileged.
Why don’t we just tax Princeton Council Members for their ignorance. Say, about $149,000.
If we can’t even let people park for free at the library, we’ve completely lost the plot. It’s not just frustrating; it’s plain stupid.
The free parking privilege is widely abused. By my observation, most who use this benefit are not library patrons. I’ve frequently observed people walk into the library, validate their parking ticket, and immediately turn around and walk out. When I moved here seven years ago, several neighbors told me that I need to be sure to get a library card so that I can get two hours of free parking whenever I go downtown. I don’t take advantage of this “perk” because I believe that doing so is dishonest. But I’d hazard a guess that much of the money spent on this program goes to people who never visit the library except to validate a parking ticket.
You are either a council member posing as a resident or work for another nonprofit in town that will remain nameless that is trying to syphon money away from the library. If you spend enough time at the library you would know that many residents who use the library validate their parking after using the library. Is there some abuse? Probably. But not what you claim. Also, the people “abusing” it are the residents who pay the taxes to fund the municipality and the library in the first place.
“Widely abused”? Have any data to back that up or just the testimony of neighbors?
Maybe a public record to show were that $89 million municipal budget is being dispersed into salaries and not allocated properly where it is necessary for community services and public places. It would be interesting to see exactly what certain individuals do for the high salary they are receiving. Why not offer a discount on parking at various times of the day or during the week if they dont want to agree. At least its an option. Not sure what the argument from anyone who lives in Princeton is to have and pay for parking. All the money made from meter parking can easily offset the Spring Garden Parking. Sad that this is even being debated. There is no where to park for the Princeton Arts Council or Library that is convenient. Make more parking free on the street if they dont want to do it in the garages.
Perhaps if the town Council hadn’t rubber stamped so many PILOT developments, a move that smacked of corruption at worst and self-absorption at best, the library would not have this funding situation in the first instance.
This library is the greatest part about our town. I’ve been going here for 53 years, since Dudley Carlson was the children’s librarian, and have loved and supported it ever since. Not only can you of course get booked here, but it is a community hub in so many different ways. Who exactly is the town council representing at this point? Surely not the people who live here whose library is in some financial streets, nor the families with children in crowded classrooms, nor the people driving down the pothole streets. Exactly what is our tax dollar going for anyway these days?