GUILDERLAND — Library trustees are putting up a $3.6 million budget for next year, just about $40,000 more than this year’s spending plan. The public vote is on May 17.

Numbers on library use tell an interesting story: Total book circulation, comparing this year to the year prior, has increased modestly, from about 262,000 to 264,000, but the use of the library for programs and electronic sharing is booming. Daily foot traffic has increased from an average of 650 to 692.

Director Timothy Wiles said it is part of a nationwide trend for a library to become a “third place — not your home, not your work but for entertainment and information. We’re not profit-driven like the mall,” he said.

Some of the Guilderland library’s programs are traditional — “Electric City” author Elizabeth Rosner is slated to speak on June 2, for example — but some are unusual for a library.

“Last year, our program on hops and craft beers was very popular,” said Wiles. It “shattered” expectations, he said, as the staffers who developed the program, Kristina Ronald and Anne Wemple-Person, “thought outside the box.” They’ll present the beer program to their colleagues at the annual conference of the library association this year.

Continuing to shatter stereotypes, the library will host a program this month on distilling harder liquors. Albany Distilling Company has a whiskey named “Ironweed,” which Wiles quipped is a “literary connection,” referencing William Kennedy’s book by that name.

The library has also started circulating seldom-bought but often needed items like folding tables and bake ware. And Guilderland was the first public library in the country to sell fishing and hunting licenses. Also new: A “Pop-up Library” lets patrons sign out items, sign up for programs, and get library cards.

Drop-in genealogy help is offered by volunteer Lisa Dougherty on the second Wednesday of each month, and Wiles’s “pet project,” called “Knowing Your Neighbors,” will take place on June 13.

Three Muslim women will talk during the program about the history of Islam and about being a Muslim in America.

“We need to break down the barriers,” said Wiles. “Our role as a library is not to be conservative or liberal but to provide information so people can make up their own minds.”

“Knowing Your Neighbor,” Wiles said, “shouldn’t be a political issue. Guilderland is a diverse community with people from 50 to 60 different countries, and people who have been here for generations.”

Young adult programs at the Guilderland Public Library increased from 28 the year prior to 78 this year. And children’s programs were up, too, with 327 programs attracting 7,276 people — over 2,000 more than last year. Last year at budget time, Wiles had noted that circulation of kids’ books had dropped and said he planned to reverse the trend, terming it “job one.”

Wifi use also went up dramatically, from 130,617 sessions to 252,719.

Altogether, electronic use is up 24 percent; databases are accessed through the library’s website, and books and magazines are borrowed through a free app called “Overdrive,” said Wiles. While the library does some video streaming, half of its circulation in the last three years is in movies — either DVDs or Blu-ray.

The library also circulates the Kindle Fire tablet “for people who want to stick their toe into ebooks,” said Wiles.

And, Guilderland now has an e-librarian, Kristina Ronald; starting this month, she takes appointments to help patrons solve problems with using their electronic devices.

“People can also drop in and typically someone at the reference desk can help with electronic devices,” said Wiles.

The library has 25 computers for the public to use, which are “constantly busy,” said Wiles. The library used to charge non-residents a dollar for a 60-minute session but now the computers are used by anyone for free so “the public isn’t nickeled and dimed to death,” said Wiles.

There are also a few 20-minute computer stations that don’t need to be signed up for.

Revenues

In building the budget, Wiles said, “The challenge is always keeping the number about the same as last year, as the law requires.”

The $3,666,832 spending plan stays under the state-set levy limit with an increase of 1.78 percent over last year’s levy. If voters approve the budget, residents of Guilderland will see their library taxes go up about 30 cents per $1,000 next year to $1.16.

The library district, which follows school-district boundaries, also includes parts of Bethlehem and New Scotland, where residents will pay $1.02 per $1,000, and a bit of Knox, where residents will pay $1.64.

The tax levy pays for the lion’s share of the budget, with just $10,000 expected from the state. Book sales are expected to bring in another $10,000. Fines are calculated at $35,000, copier fees at $7,000, interest at $2,500; non-resident fees at $2,500, and gifts and grants at $1,500.

The funds from fines are down because patrons are reminded in emails about their pending deadlines, and funds from non-resident fees are down because those who work in Guilderland no longer have to pay a non-resident fee and the $50 fee was cut in half for those over 60 and for military veterans.

“If you live or work here, you can get a library card at no charge,” said Wiles. “It will reduce revenue but increase use.”

Wiles said the money for added programs as well as for capital improvements and improvements to the physical plant is coming from cutting expenses.

He gave the example of reduced lighting costs. Through a state grant secured by Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, the library changed its fluorescent lights to LED (light emitting diode) lighting for a 30-percent drop in cost. Formerly, the library paid $3,200 monthly for lighting; now it pays $2,600. The new lights were installed last October and by November Wiles expects the savings will reach 50 percent.

Prices for natural gas were also renegotiated and the library is now paying 10 to 15 percent less, he said. Similarly, the price for garbage collection was knocked down from $280 to $80 each month, he said,

“We’re incorporating a culture of trying to make the bills go down with the department heads,” said Wiles.

Expenses

The costs for materials in the 2016-17 budget is staying the same as this year: $365,000 for printed books, ebooks, audio, video, and databases.

The cost for programming and planning is up, to $38,000 from $30,500 to accommodate the many new activities.

The greatest portion of the budget, typical of all libraries, is for salaries and benefits — at $2.48 million next year, up from $2.45 million this year.

The Guilderland library has a total of 54 staff members, said Wiles, and about 35 of them are full-time workers. There are a total of 12 full-time librarians and three part-time librarians.

“They have had small raises in recent years,” said Wiles, noting that negotiations are just now beginning as the current contract expires on June 30.

Last year, a teen librarian was added, Ashleigh Whitfield, who has moved on to Clifton Park. She started a Pride Group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth, which meets the first Monday of every month.

A teen writing program, new this year, was also successful garnering 75 entries. Wiles, who was one of the contest judges, said, “Reading some of them, I felt like I was reading The New Yorker.”

The cost for business operations is up from $119,500 to $130,608. This reflects the cost of an expanded newsletter, promoting more library programs, said Wiles.

He also noted the library has a new electronic sign on Route 20 that announces events.  “If the electronic sign and social media perform well, we may reduce the newsletter,” he said.

The cost for properties, including capital improvements, is up from $269,232 to $287,997.

New roof and dock

In June 2012, a $13 million expansion project that would have updated the library and nearly doubled its size was defeated, 3 to 1, by about a quarter of Guilderland’s registered voters.

Subsequently, under the leadership of Wiles, who became director in January 2014,  the library created its first-ever capital reserve fund to be ready for repairs, setting aside $90,000.

The library, built in 1992, will be getting a new roof and a new loading dock this spring. Both projects will be covered largely by grants, Wiles said, and will be done in conjunction with school-district projects for a savings to taxpayers. The library will be paying its own way, he said; the savings comes from using the same contractors who can do the library’s work in May and the school work over the summer when students aren’t in class.

The bid for the loading dock came in at $37,000, said Wiles. The project had languished, he said, because the sole bid in two previous rounds, had been $90,000 to $100,000. The dock on the west side of the library is where deliveries come in and where garbage and recycled materials go out, Wiles said. With its concrete chipping, the dock has become unsafe, he said.

Clifford Nooney, the school district’s supervisor of buildings and grounds, suggested the shared approach, Wiles said. “I said, ‘Cliff, you’re not doing this because I have the same last name as the school superintendent?’” reported Wiles who is married to Marie Wiles, at the helm of the Guilderland schools.

“‘Absolutely not,’ Cliff said. ‘We’re working on the same kind of projects and we’re serving the same taxpayers.’”

“He did ask me that question,” Nooney told The Enterprise as the newspaper checked on the exchange. “I had approached my boss, Neil Sanders, to see if we could work together so the library could benefit from the economy of scale…We accomplished what we set out to do: We attracted a larger bid pool for the library…We can get the work done and save the same taxpayers money — that was the goal.”

Management costs for the library’s roof dropped from $29,500 to $28,500, because of the sharing, Timothy Wiles said, “saving $1,000 for Guilderland taxpayers.”

He also said the mild winter, when roofers could continue their work, made the bidding more competitive. The cost was also lower because roofing is largely petroleum, which hit a historic low in February.

A scan of the 1992 library roof showed there was little degradation, said Wiles. “We are able to re-use 99 percent of the existing roof,” he said, explaining the new roof will be rolled in sheets over the old one for a “higher insulation value.”

Grants totaling $195,000 should cover all roofing costs, Wiles said.

Wiles concluded about the library’s stability, “What is saving the Guilderland Public Library from downsizing is the generally good growth in Guilderland — both in the residential and business tax rolls.”

He concluded, “I keep my fingers crossed that Guilderland continues to grow. And I shop in Guilderland.”