Carroll Public Library presents budget request, cites Carnegie gift and steady city funding

Wendy, presenting on behalf of the Carroll Public Library, reviewed the library’s FY25 annual report and its long‑range plan for 2025–2029 and walked council through the library’s line‑item budget. She said there is no change to staffing hours in the proposed budget and that the requested revenue is largely unchanged from prior years.

Wendy explained the library’s revenue mix: small state payments for open‑access and interlibrary loans, a county appropriation (the board of supervisors approved a $40,000 request that morning), township contracts with nearby towns that lack libraries, miscellaneous front‑desk receipts, and a dominant city contribution. “If you looked at a pie chart of our funding, we get .7% from the state, 6.3% from the supervisors of the county, .9% from township contracts, 9.4% for miscellaneous revenues, and then 91% comes from the city,” Wendy said.

Councilors asked about training versus travel and conference lines; Wendy clarified that in‑library training costs are modest while travel and conference funds cover mileage and conference fees tied to outreach and countywide library activities. She identified Kirsten as the children’s librarian and described children’s outreach work to local schools and daycares.

Wendy also told council the library received a $10,000 gift from the Carnegie Corporation; the library trust balance was about $58,000 at the start of the fiscal year and could fall to roughly $26,000 by the end of FY27 if planned expenditures occur. She said the library typically does not charge community groups for public programs but charges $30 per hour for exclusive private rentals of meeting space.

The presentation closed with council questions about mileage and car‑allowance policy; Wendy said the car allowance line is for the department head and covers routine in‑county travel tied to library operations and outreach.