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Library director asks council for higher borough support; council questions costs
Summary
Library Director Dana Trey described high usage and growing demand and asked the borough to increase its share of library salary funding from 60% to 75%, a change staff estimate will cost roughly $58,000–$58,000 (total compensation impact). Council asked whether the extra funding would expand hours or staffing.
Dana Trey, library director, told council the library serves nearly 5,000 cardholders and is open six days a week year‑round. Trey said demand for services — preschool readiness, public Internet access, programs and community gathering space — is growing and that current funding levels constrain staffing, collections and the ability to 'future‑proof' services.
Manager Miller recommended increasing the borough’s share of library salary costs from 60% to 75% to reduce the library’s local fundraising burden. Miller estimated the change in employer cost (including benefits, FICA, workers’ comp and pension) would amount to roughly $58,000 in total employer cost and explained accounting line items cause the budget display to read differently in some tables.
Council members asked whether the increase would allow longer evening hours; Trey said the request is primarily to stabilize staffing and collections (targeting a state standard of allocating 12% of the library budget to collections) and that additional evening hours would not be guaranteed immediately although long‑term expansion remains a goal.
The item remains part of the general fund discussion; council did not adopt a final decision at the workshop.
