Library proposes modest budget increase

The growing library budget would equate to a tax increase of about $7.50 for the average household.

Alex Costello/Herald

The Rockville Centre Public Library presented its proposed budget at a meeting last week. The spending plan, a 1.8 percent increase, would equate to a tax increase of about $7.50 for the average home, valued at $500,000.

The proposed budget increases library spending by approximately $61,000. The library is proposing a tax revenue increase of just under $60,000 to cover most of that. The rest is from an increase in other library revenues.

“We’ve managed to keep under the tax cap and we didn’t cut services,” said Catherine Overton, the library director. “The hours will be the same. I think that the board did a good job on making a fiscally sound budget and not cutting services.”

The library did have to make cuts in some areas to keep the budget low, though, and also shifted money between some areas.

Next year, the library proposed cutting how much it spent on books by $6,300. That money would be shifted to purchase more e-books, CDs, DVDs and video games.

“We’re finding a trend that people are going more to electronic books,” Overton explained. “Downloading to their own devices or borrowing Nooks [that the library has available].”

The library is also shifting funds from building to equipment maintenance. “The building is in good shape,” Overton said. “We redid the roof and we have new doors in. But the equipment is getting a little older.”

The equipment, she explained, is for the building: the heating and ventilation system, plumbing, electrical systems and things of that nature.

Overton said that the library has seen a big increase in the number of people paying to use copiers, fax machines and printers, and the projected revenue from that is increasing by 275 percent, to $3,000.

With the budget, the library will also be able to stay open on Sundays in the fall and winter, as well as stay open on Saturdays during the summer.

“It was definitely a challenge to come in under the tax cap,” Overton said. “It was a challenge that I think the board and the library was able to meet.”