MCPL board OKs reduced hours, $12.7M budget proposal

Beginning Nov. 24, the Monroe County Public Library’s downtown location will close two hours earlier on weeknights—7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday each week.

That decision was made on a unanimous vote by the library board of trustees at a regular meeting on Wednesday (Aug. 20) in response to financial challenges resulting from Indiana legislature passed earlier this year. MCPL is estimated to lose about $370,000 in 2026 as a result of SEA 1.

The trustees have been discussing the proposed reduction in hours since June.

The shortening of the schedule by two hours for the first four weekdays of the week days means a reduction of 8 hours per week, or about a 11.4% reduction in total hours.

Also part of MCPL’s adjustment is the reduction of the equivalent of five full-time employees over two years—through natural attrition, rather than through layoffs.

Communications and marketing director Tori Lawhorn told The B Square in an email that the reduced hours and the attrition of five full-time equivalent positions would reduce expenses by about $360,000.

At its Tuesday meeting, the library board also approved a public advertisement for the 2026 budget. The total operating cost for 2026 is budgeted at $12,758,531, with an increase of about $622,000 from 2025.

About $7.9 million of that comes from property tax levy, and $3.1 million from local income tax (LIT). At $3.1 million for 2026, MCPL has pegged 2026 LIT revenues at around $200,000 less than the recently released estimates from Indiana’s DLGF (Department of Local Government Finance).

The increase in operations cost is mostly due to increased compensation for employees.

The public hearing on the library’s budget will be held on Sept. 17. The board is scheduled to vote on adoption of the budget Oct. 15.