GUILDERLAND — The trustees for the Guilderland Public Library, by unanimous vote, have proposed a $2.66 million budget for next year, up about $238,000 or 9.85 percent from this year.

If voters in the Guilderland School District approve the budget on May 16, the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value for Guilderland residents is estimated at 86 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, up from 80 cents this year.

So, if the budget passes, someone living in a $160,000 home who paid $128.35 in library taxes this year would pay an estimated $137.31 next year.
"The library is a community center, for information and intellectual inquiry," said Barbara Nichols Randall, the director of the Guilderland Public Library. "We feel people in Guilderland appreciate what we do and deserve the best."
In the last year for which the library has figures, 2004-05, Nichols Randall said, "people walked through our doors" 331,636 times.

This past year, circulation increased by over 6 percent to 518,555. And, the collection size increased by 7.8 percent to 160,429 items and included access to 24 on-line databases and 2,263 downloadable audiobooks or e-books.
About the electronic books, Nichols Randall said, "We’re reaching people who thought maybe they didn’t need a library anymore." Patrons can download books from home onto their MP3 players, and the library offers programs to show them how.
The increases in next year’s budget, said Nichols Randall, "are for things that are leading us to the future."
Four years ago, a community committee set goals in a strategic plan for the library. "We’ve been able to meet a majority of those objectives," she said. "It involves a shift in emphasis as technology and the world around us changes."

Some of the new initiatives, supported by the budget proposal, include new computers; added programs to support learning for all ages, including a genealogy and local-history program; a librarian designated to reach out to older patrons and to strengthen the library’s homebound program; added cultural programs; and studying future needs of the 14-year-old library building.
"We’ve been blessed with budgets that keep us stocked with what the community wants," said Nichols Randall. "We have very few empty shelves in our building." There needs to be "discussion with the community," she said, on whether expansion is needed, now that the library has acquired adjacent property.

A public hearing will be held May 11 on the 2006-07 budget proposal. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the library’s Helderberg Room.

On May 16, besides deciding on the spending plan, voters will choose among four candidates to elect three library trustees. (See related story.)

Expenses

The biggest increase in spending at Guilderland’s library, as with most schools and libraries, is for salaries and benefits — up 7 percent or about $161,000 to $1.8 million.

The increase is responsible for more than half the budget hike.

This accounts for 57 workers — an increase of three over this year — about half of whom are part-time, said Nichols Randall.

All but six administrative employees are unionized.

The board negotiated a four-year contract with the CSEA to replace a contract that expired at the end of last June.
"As part of the contract, this year’s salary has had an adjustment so we are closer to compatible with other libraries in the county," said Nichols Randall. Last year, she had said that, compared to other similar libraries, Guilderland salaries were low.

Now, the starting annual salary for a librarian at Guilderland is $40,000, she said; all librarians have master’s as well as bachelor’s degrees.

Costs for programming and planning have gone up from $15,500 to $24,450.
"We did have a lot of programs last year," said Nichols Randall; 23,231 people attended 1,063 programs.
"One of the things our long-range planning showed is that the community wanted more cultural programs," said Nichols Randall. "We wanted to increase the kind of programs we offer." This will include such things as dance and academic lecturers, she said, as well as such staples as story hour.

The library has been a partner with the Guilderland schools for a Reading Connection program and with other groups like the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, Literacy Volunteers of America, and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

New collaborations include those with Bellevue Women’s Hospital, for portable mammography; with Karner Psychological Associates for programs on attention deficit disorder, both in youth and adults; and with the University at Albany Department of Information Studies, where Nichols Randall is an adjunct professor.
A partnership with Seton Health systems allows two Guilderland librarians trained in consumer-health services to access databases "a public library could never afford," said Nichols Randall, "but a medical library needs for doctors."

She said the library’s consumer-health services were much used and well appreciated.

Budget increases in human resources, equipment, and professional services are consistent with cost-of-living increases.

The physical-plant costs are up substantially, from $146,375 to $192,425, largely because of increases in energy expenses, Nichols Randall said.

Library operations costs are increasing from $73,500 to $84,850, mostly because the library plans to produce five, rather than four, newsletters next year, with one devoted primarily to the budget.

The final substantial hike is in technology and communications, which is budgeted to increase from $29,325 this year to $42,665 next year. A wireless network was installed in parts of the library this year and will be installed in the rest next year, including in the courtyard outdoors. Outdated computers will be replaced and two new computers will be installed in the teen area.
"The teens are embarrassed to do their homework in the little kids’ chairs, and they don’t really fit in them," said Nichols Randall.

There is one decrease in expenses, for properties, which is being reduced from $69,315 this year to $43,585 next year. The library acquired Western Avenue property, which now has a Victorian house, adjacent to its parking lot. The $69,315 includes funds to dismantle the house, said Nichols Randall, which is slated to happen this spring.

Revenues

The lion’s share of library funding comes from the local tax levy — $2.3 million for next year.

Other sources for the $2,658,109 spending plan include investment income at $21,000; gifts and donations at $10,000; and state aid at $8,890.
"A budget is an estimate," stressed Nichols Randall.

The estimate for investment income is up by $5,000 because interest rates are up, she said.

Miscellaneous income, which includes fines for overdue books, up nearly $10,000, is estimated at $84,690.
"You could end up with no fines, if everyone brought their books back," said Nichols Randall, emphasizing the fickleness of estimation. She added, though, "That’s not likely, given human nature."

The budget estimates that gifts and donations will hold steady, along with state aid.
Although the state aid may be as much as $3,000 more, Nichols Randall said, "You really can’t count your chickens before they hatch."
She went on, "The increase will be based on a per-capita formula." In the past, the 1990 census has been used to figure this and now the 2000 census will be used.

If Guilderland does receive an additional $3,000, that money will go into the general fund, Nichols Randall said.
"I think the library provides a valuable service to the community," she concluded. "We try to listen to concerns and have something for everybody."