Sandra Mack, chair of the Hooksett Library Board of Trustees, told the Hooksett Town Council on Thursday that the library’s proposed operating budget is 5% higher than last year but “32 less than what we requested last year” (amount not specified in the transcript). To meet the bottom line during a second consecutive default budget, trustees said they reduced staff hours, shortening public access hours and trimming several line items.

“The most significant line in our budget… in order to meet the bottom line of our budget this year, we had to reduce hours,” Mack said, adding that the library will now close at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., reducing open hours by 11 hours per week.

The trustees described other adjustments they made to limit taxpayer impact while sustaining core services. The board reduced the information-technology hardware line by shifting to laptops and docking stations for staff, trimmed office and library supplies, and cut one low-use online resource after reviewing monthly usage statistics. Custodial services increased by 3% in the trustees’ draft, and the trustees said they increased the programs-and-services line because programming is central to the library’s mission.

Heather Rainier, the library director, detailed program volumes to underscore demand: one full-time children’s librarian and two part-time staff provided 338 youth programs to 12,249 children and families in fiscal 2024; adult programs numbered 370 with 4,355 attendees in the same period. The trustees said many children’s programs are staff‑provided (supplies only), while some adult programs use paid presenters and were scaled back where per-attendee costs were deemed too high.

Trustees told the council that flood remediation and renovation costs were covered by insurance rather than by local tax dollars. When Councilor Gibson asked whether premiums would rise, a town staff member said, “We have not heard that the claims would go up based on that incident, but that incident was caused by a third party, and the insurance company is gonna try and subrogate against that third party.”

On interlibrary services, trustees said Hooksett’s local collection of roughly 50,000 items is supplemented by a three-day-a-week courier service to consortium libraries and by statewide downloadable collections. The trustees noted the courier line item in the draft budget is $5,520 and said the service increases Hooksett patrons’ access to roughly 1.3 million items across the consortium.

Trustees repeatedly framed the reductions as a response to the town’s default-budget process: they said the first-year default forced initial cuts and the second consecutive default made avoiding reduced hours untenable. Christine (town staff) and other council members explained that default budgets preserve last year’s appropriations but do not absorb rising costs such as health-insurance shifts and inflationary increases, forcing service reductions to balance current-year expenses.

Trustees said they are asking the council to consider the budget as a fiscally conservative proposal that preserves core services while recognizing the library’s role as a community center for seniors, families and children. They invited council members and residents to visit the renovated downstairs space following the flood remediation.

Questions from councilors covered volunteers (used for some adult programs but limited for children’s programs because of background-check rules), program cost-per-attendee calculations, and whether a third consecutive default would require further cuts.

Trustees said they will continue to monitor usage statistics and return-on-investment for digital subscriptions and program spending and will report back to the council if further changes are necessary.