Library Board Proposes Budget Increase

Budget discussions and some new technology on the horizon were the highlight of the recent Sayville Library Board monthly meeting.

During the budget discussion, funding of the retirement fund and health insurance, two areas that also , were topics of interest. Operating expenses have remained relatively flat with no increase in the operating budget in the last two years.

However, due to the above mentioned increases, this year the library will be putting forth a 2.77 percent increase on its operating budget, with a 2 percent overall increase, which would equate to an estimated annual increase of $8.82 on a residence assessed at $40,000, depending on the Islip Town assessed valuations for the coming year. 

As far as the bond repayment for the building project, “the taxpayer will be paying the same amount of the debt services that they did the year before,” said Brendan McCurdy, the library board president. “The bond repayment is being subsidized by the interest earned.”

On the new technology front, the library is looking into purchasing five E-Readers for patrons to checkout. The Sony Company has a library partnership program which offers a discount on readers and  allows one book to be copied to five different devices.

The idea is that each E-reader would be preloaded with books already downloaded, such as New York Times bestsellers, Library Director Alice Lepore said. “That would be the easiest way to manage what you would load on it. We would also look into purchasing Nooks in color for the children,” she said. The Board’s Services & Programs Committee will meet on the matter and discuss it again next month.

The board has made the decision to move forward with the self-checkout system. They moved to enter into contract with the service provider and the hope is to have the system in place during the summer.

The plans for the signage to be installed throughout the building were revamped and a newer version was presented at the meeting. Everyone was in agreement with the changes and the next step is to choose color and materials and then have specifications prepared for quotes.  

In other news, Sayville Library will be featured in the April issue of “American Libraries” magazine. The issue is available online by clicking here. A Poetry Open-Mic Night will be taking place at the library on April 6 at 7 p.m. Participants will be videotaped for uploading onto YouTube with links from the library’s webpage.