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Library warns of possible 40% budget cut if borough ends services agreement; board approves guideline edits
Summary
Library staff told the advisory board that the borough’s planned termination of the city–borough library services agreement could reduce the library budget by roughly 40%; the director outlined four options (renegotiate, ballot measure to assume area‑wide powers, transfer additional powers, or do nothing) and the board approved amended advisory‑board guidelines unanimously.
The Ketchikan Public Library director told the advisory board on June 21 that the borough assembly’s vote to terminate the current city–borough library services agreement could cut about 40% of the library’s budget if no alternative arrangement is reached.
The director presented the library’s midyear budget performance report and described policy options for the borough. “The short answer is we just don't know when changes are gonna take place,” the director said, summarizing four options for the borough: renegotiate the services agreement to increase borough support; put an area‑wide library powers measure on the October ballot; negotiate a transfer of additional non‑area‑wide powers so the borough would cover city and non‑area residents; or allow the agreement to end — which, the director said, could reduce the library budget by about 40% and restrict access for non area‑wide residents.
Key budget figures presented: staff wages and benefits make up about 73% of the library’s budget; contract services are roughly 15% and supplies about 8%. The director said the overall library budget is up about 37.5% from 2020 to 2026. The 2026 budget includes a $53,000 one‑time line for migration to a new online library system; the current vendor’s annual maintenance fee is about $38,000 and the vendor estimated a 7.9% annual increase. The director said two alternate vendors had significantly lower initial fees and lower projected increases, and that the library had applied for a state interlibrary cooperation grant to cover the school district’s share (about $21,500) of the one‑time migration cost.
Operations manager Robert Rice described the library’s procurement, invoice and cataloging operations and flagged rising processing and maintenance costs, including security gate and HVAC work: “All book prices, processing, and shipping costs have gone up, so we are buying less books for the same amount of money each year,” he said.
The advisory board also debated and approved a small amendment to its operating guidelines (making officer election the last action item at the organizational meeting), then moved to approve the guidelines as amended with a corrected typo. The motion to approve the amended guidelines passed by roll call with unanimous support.
What’s next: the borough assembly will hold a public hearing on the library services agreement on July 20. The library staff said they are preparing impact statements and scenario plans in case of a major budget reduction.
Attribution: quotations and budget figures are taken from the library director and operations manager comments during the June 21 advisory‑board meeting transcript.
