New Canaan Library leaders ask town for $222,000 increase to sustain programs, staffing and operations

Library representatives told New Canaan Town Council liaisons to the Board of Finance that their fiscal 2026 request includes a $222,000 increase in the town grant to sustain programming, add operations staff and cover rising energy and benefits costs.

The discussion, held during a liaison meeting to review the library’s written answers to town council questions, focused on how the library balances fundraising, program expenses and staffing. Ellen [last name not specified], a library representative, described fundraising and event cash-flow and said the library’s endowment is “about $900,000 and change.”

Why it matters: The library is drawing substantially more visitors and running a large schedule of programs in a new, 100% electric building. Liaisons pushed the library to explain how requested increases would be spent and whether the town can sustainably support growing program and operations costs without assuming fundraising results.

Library leaders said fundraising remains critical but unpredictable. “We have to pay for the author in advance,” Ellen said, explaining that large events require deposits and that revenues from ticketed and sponsored events typically arrive months before the largest bills are due. She told liaisons the library budgets seed money for events because some costs—such as guaranteed speaker fees—are due before event receipts arrive.

The library reported a projected fundraising event revenue line of $340,000 for fiscal 2026 and a line-item fundraising expense of about $90,000. The library described its largest fundraiser, the literary luncheon, which nets roughly $250,000–$260,000, and said author fees typically range from $10,000 to $20,000.

On programming, the library asked to increase children’s program spending from $15,000 to $20,000 and adult programming from $45,000 to $60,000 in fiscal 2026. Ellen and Cheryl (library staff) said much programming is delivered by existing staff rather than outside contractors, and that some categories of special or ticketed events are held opportunistically when they can yield net revenue. The library noted it spent about $85,000 on adult programming last year from restricted gifts and that audited fiscal 2024 program expenditures were about $128,000.

Staffing and facilities were central concerns. The library requested one full-time custodian (estimated at $50,000–$55,000) and a part-time audiovisual specialist (about $25,000). “At the moment, we have one facilities manager doing everything from managing our complicated HVAC systems to setting up chairs,” the library said, adding that existing staff are stretched by a 64-hour weekly public schedule and rental events.

Energy and operations questions focused on electric bills and solar credits. Library staff said overall electricity usage has fallen since moving into the new all-electric building but that Eversource rate increases and timing of solar-generation credits affect net costs; the library reported actual energy bills near $91,000 in fiscal 2024 and said generation checks from selling solar power are credited to the energy line in operations.

Council liaisons also discussed the library’s long-term funding strategy. Board trustee Rob Lowe, who identified himself as chairman of the library trustees, urged focusing on endowment growth: “If we had a $20,000,000 endowment, you'd be getting a million bucks a year.” Library leaders said building a materially contributory endowment is a long-term (possibly 10-year) goal and that much past endowment growth has come from large, unplanned bequests.

Other points raised during the meeting included the legacy building (the library still holds a separate, older building), which library staff said will require planning and funding if repurposed; insurance and flood-recovery costs (the recent flood was covered by the construction company’s insurance); and benefits costs (the library said it has 23 full-time employees, with 17 enrolled in town-provided insurance). The library also agreed to provide details on lighting and commissioning schedules after a liaison questioned nighttime lighting and meter corrections tied to earlier meter issues.

The meeting did not include any formal votes; liaisons closed by thanking library staff for detailed responses and arranging follow-up, including a facility tour and additional documentation on specific line items.

The library’s written answers and the discussion give town liaisons additional detail to weigh as they prepare budget recommendations for the larger budget process later this cycle.