Overscheduling by the Nashville Public Library system has left popular community classes without a full operating budget starting Jan. 1. At least one operator is independently fundraising to maintain its BeWell programs, which serve thousands of Nashvillians across the city’s 21-branch system. Calling its current level of service unsustainable, the library is in the process of reducing some but not all of its BeWell programs.
Internal budget decisions left BeWell, an NPL initiative that coordinates free wellness-focused classes, without the money to support its full programming schedule from Jan. 1 to June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. BeWell facilitates yoga, tai chi, meditation, music and craft programs, and maintains a particularly strong presence at branches in Madison, Donelson and North Nashville.
Two sources of funding directly support Nashville’s library system. Through Metro’s annual budgeting process and regular capital spending plans, library branches get basic operating support for staff, books, essential services, renovations and maintenance. The city’s budget totaled 444 staff positions and $46,359,200 across all branches in 2024, an increase from previous years’ budgets.
The Nashville Public Library Foundation, a nonprofit that is closely integrated with but legally independent from Metro, raises booster funds to support additional programming like children’s puppet shows, author visits, an early literacy campaign and BeWell. Board members include prominent business and political figures, as well as the mayor. In last year’s annual report, NPLF claimed $12.8 million in fundraising; the same retrospective says BeWell, specifically, brought “3,900 wellness programs to over 32,000 participants.” Kristi Graham, NPLF’s communications director, referred the Scene to Nashville Public Library spokesperson Andrea Fanta.
The longtime Nashville Public Library branch is expanding its digs and its staff
“These yoga classes are highly popular, and — while we offer them at no cost to the community — NPL pays for these classes,” Fanta tells the Scene in a statement. “Unfortunately, we can’t sustain them at the current level. To ensure we can sustainably offer these classes, NPL continues to seek grants and other refunding opportunities.”
Liz Veyhl of Small World Yoga is now looking for $12,000 to keep scheduled yoga and meditation classes in Nashville libraries through June 30.
“Six weeks ago I got a call from Bassam [Habib], who runs the BeWell program, notifying us that we would not get full funding for our full yoga classes for the first half of next year,” Veyhl tells the Scene. “People depend on these classes, especially this time of year. We greatly value our relationship with NPL and are trying to figure out how to keep serving our community there.”
Habib, BeWell’s program coordinator, declined to comment on the record. While budget decisions happen over his head, Habib was tasked with notifying BeWell partners about the funding.
“These classes are for everyone,” Habib says in a Nov. 27 press release issued by Small World Yoga. “We see a really diverse demographic of students attending these classes, across education levels, employment status, income, and housing.”
The city’s seven-person library board — a Metro entity separate from the NPL Foundation’s board — paused its executive search in February. Terri Luke has led the Nashville Public Library as interim director since the retirement of former director Kent Oliver in 2022.
