Tori Spring, the new director of the Carter County Library, told county commissioners she is asking the county to increase its annual contribution from $12,000 to $15,000 and reviewed the library’s usage and expected cost pressures.

Spring said the library’s preliminary budget totals $65,400 and that last year the library used about 81.97% of its allocated budget. She highlighted programs and usage — 338 student visits to story hour with 682 books checked out, 3,589 in‑person visits year‑to‑date, and 1,040 digital checkouts through the Montana Library to Go app — and warned that rising statewide vendor fees (Montana Shared Catalog, OverDrive/Libby and OCLC interlibrary loan services) mean local support will be more important.

Spring described community partnerships and new services the library is pursuing: tying the school library into the shared catalog to allow holds across both collections, a small makers‑type program run by community volunteers, and plans to pilot non‑book circulating items such as health‑monitoring kits and equipment for outdoor education. She also said the library has been doing extra fundraising and that staffing plans rely on subs rather than hiring a new assistant director.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the budget line and where county funds would be drawn; Spring said the county contribution comes from the library fund (line 2220). Commissioners said they supported the request in principle but wanted final taxable value numbers before authorizing a formal increase. No formal appropriation was made at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to confirm final mill levy/taxable value figures before committing to the additional $3,000.

Spring said she will continue to pursue federation IT support for several small libraries in the region and to refine the library’s budget for the board once county finance completes final figures.

The commission did not take a formal vote on the appropriation at this meeting; staff and commissioners indicated they would include the request in the preliminary budget review once final revenue numbers are available.