(Updated: 6/30/2026)

On Friday, June 6, the New York State Legislature completed its 2026 legislative session. Dominated by an extended budget process that resulted in the latest budget since 2010, this year Albany delivered New York’s libraries a mix of largely status quo spending and genuine legislative victories worthy of celebration.

Despite entering the calendar year with the notion that preservation of FY 2026 funding levels would be a relative win in FY 2027, we were able to earn small increases in several categories of spending, including a crucial $12 million dollars that will be used to stabilize the Office of Cultural Education and New York State Library. At the same time, NYLA also worked with a broad coalition external partners to ensure the passage of priority legislation like the Freedom to Read Act (S.8630-C/A.9537-B), which cleared both chambers of the Legislature by wide margins.

Thank you for your activity and support for New York’s library budget and non-budget legislative priorities over the past six months. The wins secured and progress made this year are both beneficial in the short term and will serve as footholds for further advancements on long-term projects in the years to come.

Compiled below is an overview of the most significant library-related funding and legislation developments this year. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] with any questions, concerns, or requests to connect!

Click here for #LAD26 handouts and advocacy materials!

NYLA's FY 2027 State Budget Requests

Library Operating Aid: $181.3 million

Library Construction Aid: $175M

Library Materials Aid: $11.33/pupil

NOVELny: $3.1M

Office of Cultural Education Stabilization: $12M

The primary source of operational funding for the New York State Office of Cultural Education, including the New York State Library, State Archives, State Museum, Summer School of the Arts, and Public Broadcasting Program, is the Cultural Education Account. The account is primarily funded by the Cultural Education Fee, a one-time fee collected by county clerks and clerks for the City of New York for the recording, entering, indexing, or endorsing certain instruments. The current fee of $15 was set in 2002 and has not increased in 23 years, despite core costs like wages and employee benefits more than doubling in that period. As such, the account runs a chronic deficit, forcing the state to offload responsibility for 55 of the NYSL’s 84 positions to funding received via the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Grants to States program.

In line with requests by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the New York State Board of Regents, NYLA requests a $12 million general fund allocation to stabilize to Office of Cultural Education and maintain a fully operational State Library, both now and in the future. NYLA has also supported increasing the Cultural Education Fee to $30/pupil, but is currently focusing efforts on securing $12 million in dedicated funding for FY 2027, as has been included in the FY 2027 Executive Budget.

Download NYLA's FY 2027 Budget Requests Flyer

FY 2027 Enacted Budget

On May 27, 2026, the New York State Senate and Assembly completed voting on the FY 2027 New York State budget. The core funding levels included are as follows

Library Operating Aid: $106.395 million

• +$70,000 from FY 2026 Enacted Budget, restoration and addition of new funds from proposed $1.655 million cut included in the FY 2027 Executive Budget
  
  

Library Construction Aid: $44 million

• Flat to FY 2026, restored from a proposed $10 million cut included in the FY 2027 Executive Budget

Library Materials Aid: $6.25/pupil

• Flat to FY 2026, no change in statutory per-pupil aid factor

NOVELny: $3.0 million

• Flat to FY 2026
  
  

Office of Cultural Education Stabilization: $12 million

• New funding for FY 2027
  
  

• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: $625,000
  • +$125,000 from both FY 2026 Enacted Budget and FY 2027 Executive Budget
    
    
• Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center: $332,500
  • +$110,00 from FY 2026 Enacted and FY 2027 Executive Budget
    
    
• Brooklyn Public Library Center for Brooklyn History: $100,000

• Same as FY 2026 Enacted Budget, +$100,000 from FY 2027 Executive Budget
  
  
• Love Your Library Account: $250,000 available for disbursement
  
  
• Library Social Worker Pilot Program: $500,000
• +$400,000 from FY 2026 Enacted Budget, +$500,000 from FY 2027 Executive Budget
  
  
• According to the budget’s text, this money will be used:
  
  For services and expenses of a grant program to expand social work services in public libraries. The purpose of this program is to make professional social work services available to the public at library facilities, in order to address social and economic needs of library patrons and to support libraries as trusted community hubs. Grants shall be available on a competitive basis to public and association libraries and public library systems located in economically disadvantaged communities, as defined herein, to support the establishment, expansion, or continuation of social work services at library locations. Eligible uses of grant funds shall include, but not be limited to, the employment of licensed social workers by libraries or library systems; contracts or agreements with nonprofit organizations, local departments of social services, institutions of higher education, or other qualified entities to make social work services available in libraries; partnerships with institutions of higher education to place social work interns at libraires shared service or regional service models; and other innovative or collaborative approaches that make social work services available at public and association libraries.
  
  For the purposes of this program, “economically disadvantaged communities” shall mean communities that have high poverty rates.
  
  
• Dolly Parton's Imagination Library: $1,000,000
  
• +$500,000 over FY 2026 Enacted Budget, +$1,000,000 over FY 2027 Executive Budget
  
  
• Grants in Aid:
• Senate: $7.5 million
• Assembly: $9 million
  
  

Policy Included in the FY 2027 Budget

• Tier VI Updates:
• For Tier 6 members in NYSTRS and NYCTRS the retirement age will be reduced by five years, from 63 to 58, for members with 30 years of service (without penalties).
• For Tier 6 members in NYSERS, NYCERS and NYCBERS contribution rates will be reduced across most salary bands. New NYSERS/NYCERS/NYCBERS Contribution Bands:
• For Tier 6 members in the SUNY and CUNY Optional Retirement Program (ORP), contribution bands will be adjusted to align with changes in the other retirement systems, and members will receive an additional 1% state contribution to their ORP accounts.

• $75k or less: 3%
• $75k - $100k: 4%
• $100k - $125k: 5.25%
• $125k or more: 5.75%

• For Tier 6 members eligible for overtime, the overtime cap used in final average salary calculations will increase from $22,500 plus CPI to $30,000 plus CPI.
  
  
• Protections for Immigrant New Yorkers
• Despite inclusion in Governor Hochul’s announcement of a budget deal on 5/7, public, association, and municipal libraries were not explicitly included in the budget’s provisions meant to protect immigrant New Yorkers. While some libraries are covered under existing sections of the bill, others are not. Municipal libraries are included under the bill’s section dealing with “restriction on use of municipal government resources for immigration enforcement,” while public library buildings located on properties/within buildings owned by public school districts might be covered under the section that creates protections for public schools.
  
  Unfortunately, libraries were left off the list of entities deemed “sensitive locations,” where policies established restricting access to non-public locations without a judicial warrant receive the backing of the NYS Attorney General’s office.Conversations regarding this decision and the extent to which the provisions included in the budget might cover libraries are ongoing. Meanwhile, Assemblymember Gabriela Romero has introduced legislation, A.11596, that would rectify the issue and add libraries to the list of sensitive locations for immigration enforcement purposes.

FY 2027 One-House budgets

On March 9, 2026, the New York State Senate and Assembly unveiled their FY 2027 one-house budget proposals. The core funding levels included in her proposal are as follows:

Senate:

Library Operating Aid: $114.67 million

• +$10 million from the Executive Budget
  
  

Library Construction Aid: $54 million

• +$20 million from the Executive Budget

Library Materials Aid: $11.33/pupil

• +$5.08/pupil from current law

NOVELny: $3.1 million

• +$100,000 from the Executive Budget
  
  

Office of Cultural Education Stabilization: $12 million

• Retains the new funding included in the Executive Budget
  
  

Assembly:

Library Operating Aid: $109.3 million

• +$4.63 million from the Executive Budget
  
  

Library Construction Aid: $70 million

• +$36 million from the Executive Budget

Library Materials Aid: $6.25/pupil

• No proposal included to change the $6.25 library materials factor currently set in law.

NOVELny: $3.0 million

• Even with the Executive Budget
  
  

Office of Cultural Education Stabilization: $12 million

• Retains the new funding included in the Executive Budget

FY 2027 Executive Budget

On January 20st, 2026, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her FY 2027 Executive Budget. The core funding levels included in her proposal are as follows:

Library Operating Aid: $104.67 million

• $1.655 million cut from FY 2026 Enacted Budget
  
  

Library Construction Aid: $34 million

• -$10 million Cut from FY 2026 Enacted Budget

Library Materials Aid: $6.25/pupil

• No proposal included to change the $6.25 library materials factor currently set in law.

NOVELny: $3 million

• Stable funding at FY 2026 Level
  
  

Office of Cultural Education Stabilization: $12 million

• New dedicated funds for FY 2027

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2026 Policy Priorities

Intellectual Freedom

Key Legislation to Support:

Freedom to Read Act - S.8630 (May)/A.9537 (Simone) - NYLA Memo of Support
Passed the Senate 6/2 & Passed the Assembly 6/4

Open Shelves Act - S.1100-A (May)/A.3119-B (Kelles) - NYLA Memo of Support
Passed the Senate 5/29

Libraries across our state face rapidly expanding efforts to censor materials and programming they deem objectionable based on subjective personal sensibilities and partisan ideologies. We require legislation that empowers library professionals to exercise their expertise and ensure public access to materials, services, and programs that represent their interests.

NYLA supports and helped craft the Freedom to Read Act (S.8630-C/A.9537-B) and Open Shelves Act (S.1100-A/A.3119-B).

For a second year in a row, a version of the Freedom to Read Act has advanced through the New York State Legislature. The bill will now wait to be called to Governor Hochul’s desk for consideration. After it reaches the Governor’s desk she will have 10 days to either sign or veto it.

If enacted, this bill would add a new section to the Education Law requiring Board of Education to adopt and publicly post written policies for the development of school library collections and the reconsideration of school library materials. For these policies, it would establish baseline procedural components required for inclusion, including review committees, appeal pathways, and the provision that no library material shall be removed or restricted solely because of disagreement with themes, ideas, or viewpoints expressed within it or because of the identities of the author, subject, or characters.

Furthermore, the legislation would also require that all materials remain available within the library while under review, protect school library staff from discipline for actions taken in reasonable reliance on district policy, and direct the Commissioner of Education to promulgate implementing regulations.

School library systems may provide guidance, training, or professional development to assist school districts and school personnel in implementing this section, consistent with existing programs, resources, and offerings.

Unfortunately, the Open Shelves Act only passed in the Senate in 2026 and will not reach the Governor's desk this year. In its present form, the act would include in the state's Standards of Library Service a requirement that libraries adopt policies and procedures that that ensure library staff are able to curate and develop collections, services, and programming in a manner consistent with the values and protections established under the Human Rights Law under Article Fifteen of the Executive Law and the Equal Rights Amendment to the State Constitution.

The legislative intent of this bill, included in its text, states:

It is the sense of the legislature that public libraries are essential to ensuring broad access to information, fostering informed citizenship, intellectual exploration, and imagination. By ensuring that library collections, services, and programming reflect diverse experiences and perspectives, the legislature seeks to maintain libraries as spaces where all members of the community can engage with the marketplace of ideas, promoting open access to information and points of view. Librarians are professionals trained to curate robust collections that serve the full spectrum of their communities, and this legislation affirms the state's trust in their ability to do so.

eBooks Licensing Reform

Key Legislation to Support: A.3589 (Carroll)/S.9339 (May) - NYLA Memo of Support
Referred to Assembly Libraries & Education Technology (1/7) & Referred to Senate Libraries (3/3)

Interest in electronic materials, specifically eBooks and eAudiobooks, spiked at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and, according to data released last month as part of the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services’ annual Public Libraries Survey, circulation has only continued to grow in the years since. Attempts to keep up with increasing user demand for eBooks have been throttled by an industry-specific pricing model that precludes libraries from accessing materials on terms equal to those afforded to the general public.

Rather than allowing libraries to purchase eBooks on equal terms with individual consumers, they are largely restricted to limited licenses that cost exponentially more than print materials or even private purchases of the same e-content. These temporary licenses typically expire after fixed periods of time or once a particular number of circulations is reached, whichever occurs first. As such, libraries must continuously re-license materials to maintain access. This situation strains already limited budgets, prevents the development of stable collections of eBooks and eAudiobooks, and prices many libraries out of satisfying patron demand for those materials.

If enacted, A.3589 would require that any contract between libraries and publishers who offer electronic books (eBooks and eAudiobooks) be governed by the laws of New York State under its authority to regulate intrastate commerce. Additionally, it would establish a list of provisions prohibited from inclusion in said contracts, thereby affording library patrons across our state equitable access to the content they seek.

Media Literacy in New York State

Media Literacy education is an instructional discipline that teaches students how to apply critical thinking, reading, and reflection skills as they engage with our ever-evolving information and media landscape.

In New York's school libraries, Certified Library Media Specialists have utilized their unique credentials as experts in both education and information science to lead the way in development and delivery of media literacy education. As information technology advances and use of artificial intelligence continues to alter the digital landscape, Media Literacy instruction and the expertise of our school librarians will only grow in importance.

As such, NYLA is working to develop and pursue legislation that expands Media Literacy education in New York schools and solidify the role of Certified Library Media Specialists as leaders in the discipline.

Civil Service Reform

Across New York, persistent issues within Civil Service for the field of librarianship are undermining the recruitment and retention of library staff. As such, NYLA is revisiting still unrealized Civil Service priorities from past legislative sessions to identify specific amendments to current processes and protocols to target in 2026.

Download NYLA's 2026 Legislative Priorities Flyer

There are nearly a dozen other initiatives that NYLA is currently in the researching, drafting, and advocating for. Please contact [email protected] for more information on any additional priorities that NYLA is pursuing.

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Other Policy Updates

• Libraries Literacy Education Guidance Act –S.8044-A (Bynoe)/A.5835-B (Carroll)
  
• Passed Assembly & Senate and now awaits delivery to Governor Hochul’s Desk.
• If signed by the Governor, this legislation will require the State Librarian, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education and any other group deemed necessary, shall provide guidance on evidence-based practices for literacy education, focusing on reading competency in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, comprehension, including background knowledge, oral language and writing, and oral skill development, for students in pre-kindergarten through grade three based on the instructional best practices established by the Commissioner. Such guidance shall be distributed to every public library and association library in New York State.
• Such guidance may include but not be limited to texts, education technology, professional education, and public informational materials.
• The State Librarian shall update such guidance every two years and shall consider feedback from the public libraries and association libraries to which the guidance is distributed.  
  
  
• Relates to expanding opioid overdose prevention measures in certain settings – S.9272-A (Fernandez)/A.8814-A (McDonald)
• Passed Assembly & Senate and now awaits delivery to Governor Hochul’s Desk.
• If enacted, this bill will amend Section 922 of the Education Law to require certain entities, including public libraries, to stock opioid antagonists. It requires that upon the request from one of the entities, the department of health must provide the antagonists at no cost to the entity. It also requires the department of health to provide opioid antagonists in an amount sufficient for the school district at their request. Employees are not required to administer opioid antagonists to anyone and are shielded from liability.
• For the purposes of the section of law this legislation would amend, public libraries is interpreted to include association libraries.
  
  
• Relates to granting employees access to personnel records – S. 3460 (Gounardes)/A.2107 (Gonzalez-Rojas)
• Passed Assembly & Senate and now awaits delivery to Governor Hochul’s Desk. 
  
• If enacted, this legislation would grant employees access to personnel records, require notice of negative information in such records and an opportunity for a review, and permit employees to include certain information – including written statements explaining the employee’s position on matters of dispute in the record which cannot be corrected through mutual agreement – in personnel records.
  
  
• Relates to requiring employers to obtain an acknowledgement of receipt from employees of their sexual harassment prevention policy and sexual harassment prevention training program. – A.368-A (Rozic)/S.10057 (Ramos)
• Passed Assembly & Senate and now awaits delivery to Governor Hochul’s Desk.
• If enacted, this legislation would amend labor law by establishing that when an employer provides employees with written notice of the sexual harassment prevention policy, the employer must obtain electronic or written acknowledgement of receipt of the notice which must be preserved for six years. Additionally, employers must notify employees in writing of any changes to the sexual harassment prevention policy at least seven calendar days prior to the time of such changes.

Advocacy Resources

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