State Property Tax Cuts Will Decimate Libraries: Book Censorship News, July 31, 2026

Last year in my personal newsletter, I wrote about a new tactic emerging in several U.S. states that had a direct impact on funding public libraries: state-level cuts to property and income taxes. It’s a tactic because state Republicans are seeking ways to keep citizens happy and voting for them amid ongoing cost-of-living challenges, and the words “tax cut” have a tremendous appeal. One thing that went unsaid for far too long in these conversations and proposals is the impact of such tax cuts. Local governments are not only going to see their budgets squeezed–they rely on property taxes and state income taxes to meet the needs of their residents–they’re going to see services wither and ultimately shutter altogether. For the wealthy, it’s the same nothing impact that books being pulled from public school and library shelves has. They can afford to keep buying whatever they’d like, and they can certainly find ways to pay for expensive private services for things like garbage. For the average middle-class person, as well as for anyone in the working or lower classes, these service cuts are detrimental and life-altering, further straining already tight budgets. Public libraries and pu...