Bellingham library reducing its hours, cutting staff amid citywide budget cuts
Bellingham Public Library will close on Sundays starting next year and will purchase fewer new books and other materials, part of cost-saving efforts as the city tries to close a $10 million deficit going into 2026. The library also will be reducing staff.
Library Director Rebecca Judd announced the cuts during a meeting of the City Council’s Committee of the Whole on Monday.
Reduced hours for 2026 affect the library’s main Central Avenue location as well as its Bellis Fair mall branch. The Barkley and Fairhaven branches already close Sundays.
Two full-time and two part-time positions are being left vacant, the equivalent of 3.25 employees, and the library’s materials acquisition budget is being trimmed by 13%, or $90,000. Four jobs were moved to the Public Works Department as part of a reorganization of the library’s security team and are unrelated to the budget, library spokeswoman Annette Bagley said.
Judd said that trimming the four hours that the library was open Sundays makes the most sense and solves “structural staffing issues” caused by Sunday’s half-day schedule.
“Eliminating that half day did make the most sense,” Judd told the council.
Further cuts target the library’s outreach to long-term care and assisted-living facilities.
Programming is being preserved for young children and students in kindergarten through high school, including the story times for preschoolers and visits to schools, preschools and day-care centers, Judd said.
The library’s popular program to loan Wi-Fi hotspots for families without internet service will continue, along with the Whatcom Reads program.
Currently, the library is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Bellingham’s library system is among the most popular in the state, with 360,000 visitors through September this year.
Patrons borrowed a total of 1.4 million books and other items from the library collection so far this year, Judd said.
More than half of all Bellingham residents have used their library card at least once in the past three years, and one in four Bellingham residents has used their library card in the last three months.
This story was originally published October 21, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
