West Fargo Library Board approves final fiscal 2026 budget

The West Fargo Library Board voted Oct. 9 to approve the library’s final fiscal year 2026 budget following a presentation from Director Jenna.

Jenna told the board the only substantive change from the preliminary budget was a reallocation of funds from the furniture and equipment line into e-resources and physical books, a move she said was made in proportion to recent circulation statistics. She said the city commission has already finalized the overall appropriation for the library; the board’s approval finalizes how those dollars are allocated across the library’s internal budget lines.

Board members asked practical questions about the budget packet and vendor relationships. Several members noted the spreadsheet in the meeting packet appeared cropped in the PDF (salaries and other lines were not visible); Jenna said the full budget is available and that the PDF had likely been cropped during conversion. She offered to pull up the complete document for review.

A board member raised whether the impending closure of bookseller Baker & Taylor would affect West Fargo’s print acquisitions. Jenna said West Fargo uses Ingram as its primary book vendor and has done so for several years; because West Fargo already uses Ingram, she did not expect immediate disruption, though she warned that other libraries switching vendors could create onboarding delays for Ingram.

A motion to approve the final FY2026 budget was made and seconded; a voice vote passed and the chair declared the budget approved. The transcript records multiple "aye" responses but does not include a roll-call tally in the minutes.

Next steps: Jenna said the library will ensure its budget page is updated in the city’s budget book so residents can see the finalized figures.