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Kendall County libraries emphasize high use, grants and services as budget season approaches
Summary
Directors from the county's three libraries told commissioners the system logged heavy use, leveraged major grants and provided vital community services — from bookmobile outreach to free tax assistance — and asked the court to consider continued support in the coming budget.
Directors of Kendall County's three public libraries presented usage statistics, services and funding requests to the commissioners court on April 14.
Natalie Schultz, director of the Patrick Heath Public Library, told the court the library recorded about 197,000 visits last year and that county residents account for roughly 41% of cardholders. "We're 1 of the few places people can go in town that is not anticipating them to pay to be in our building or pay to use our services because it's paid for up front by you," Schultz said, describing the library as a community hub used by schoolchildren, retirees and remote workers.
Tracy Erens, director of Comfort Public Library, reviewed staffing and operating-cost priorities, including a push to maintain at least four positions and to cover utilities and collection updates. Candelio's director outlined programmatic services — story time, homeschooling support and technology access — and emphasized that the county remains the library’s principal revenue source.
Library leaders described grant support from the Mellon Foundation and the Texas Book Festival, a new bookmobile used for outreach, and a memory‑lab project funded by a $694,000 foundation grant. They also urged the court to consider modest funding increases to help the libraries keep up with inflation and rising digital‑resource costs.
The court thanked the directors and asked staff to keep libraries in mind during the upcoming budget discussions; no formal appropriation was made at the April meeting.
