St. Mary's County Certifies FY2016 Library Aid; Deputy Director named acting director

Commissioners of St. Mary's County on Sept. 1 approved the countycertification for the Cooperative Local State Library Aid Program for fiscal year 2016 and heard the county library director announce her retirement and the appointment of an acting director.

The approval completes a required state form showing local and state shares of library operating and capital support. The library director told commissioners the countyis contributing $2,588,064 toward operating costs for FY2016 and that the state share for operations is $1,114,000; she also discussed capital allocations included in the submitted paperwork.

The library director noted that Maryland law (education funding provisions) requires a local maintenance-of-effort formula and praised the county for funding above the statutory minimum; she said the countyshare for operating costs is roughly 76 percent of the combined local-state total, above the 60/40 split minimum. The board voted to authorize the commissioner president to sign the certification form, and the motion carried.

In remarks to the commissioners the director said Friday would be her last official day and introduced Mary Anne Bowman, deputy director, as acting director effective that Friday at 5 p.m. The director said Bowman has worked in the system for about 18 years and will "not skip a beat" in leading operations.

The director also asked commissioners to remember library employees during upcoming budget deliberations and described a multi-year capital schedule that includes a groundbreaking for a new library in spring 2018 and a ribbon cutting around 2020.

The boardapproved the certification and authorized the commissioner president to sign the document.