Sydney Public Library board says it was excluded from 2025–26 budget; seeks amendment

Leaders of the Sydney Public Library and the library board told the City Council on Oct. 14 that library staff and board members were not given the opportunity to prepare or review the library’s 2025–26 budget worksheet, and requested council consideration of an amendment to restore cuts the board did not authorize.

Tanya Lewis, president of the Sydney Public Library and the Sydney Public Library Foundation boards, said the library discovered after the city budget was submitted that the city finance director and the former city manager prepared the library’s worksheet without input from the library’s employees or board. "No Sydney Public Library employee or board member contributed to the creation of the 2025–2026 budget for our department," Lewis said, and the board subsequently found its operating budget cut $15,500 after a $30,000 one-time building reduction.

Lewis cited Nebraska statutes while explaining the board’s concerns about the process. The presentation referenced Nebraska Revised Statute 51-207 and other state provisions the board says confer the library board exclusive control over library expenditures and require board authentication of vouchers.

Kristen Berning, the library office manager who said she learned of a city budget workshop on Aug. 20 with less than 24 hours’ notice, described attempts by the library to raise concerns during and after the workshop. She said the then-interim city manager had told library representatives the budget was final and that the city had not provided the library an opportunity to supply or review the worksheet.

Board members said the largest cuts were to the books and library automation line items, which the board said will reduce purchases of new and replacement books and limit planned upgrades and maintenance to the library’s Alexandria management system and OverDrive online services. "Providing books and online library services to our patrons are the two most essential services that we provide to this community," Lewis said.

Council members and staff discussed options on the floor. Finance Director Kegan Carwin said staff could review line items and that some departments occasionally cover overages in other lines during the fiscal year. Councilmember suggestions included temporarily reallocating the library’s $6,000 equipment reserve toward materials to ease the immediate impact while staff and library leadership work on a formal amendment process, which Carwin said would require public hearings and state filing and could take approximately a month to complete.

No formal budget amendment was adopted at the meeting. Council and staff agreed to work with library leadership to review options and report back; staff said they could review the library’s line items with the library director and board and bring a proposal to a future meeting. Board members emphasized they wished the record to show they were not responsible for the cuts.

The library asked council to consider amending the adopted budget under the statutory amendment process in Nebraska Revised Statute 13-511, and library representatives said they would pursue discussion with finance staff to identify specific reallocation options.