Local libraries prepare for budget vote

Local libraries prepare for budget vote

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Port Jefferson Free Library's children's section is bursting with books. Photo by Heidi Sutton

Coming Tuesday, April 2, the libraries in Port Jefferson and Port Jefferson Station will ask their local residents to vote on their budgets, each with marginal increases from last year.

The Comsewogue library. File photo

Comsewogue Public Library

The proposed 2019-20 budget total will be $5,999,878, an increase of close to $280,000 from the previous year. This year the library is proposing a districtwide total tax levy increase of $112,417. With the adoption of the proposed budget the library’s tax rate will increase approximately 56 cents from $12.845 to $13.402 per $100 of a home’s assessed valuation.

The new tax rate will repreent a 3.99 percent tax levy increase, which is below the library’s allowable tax levy increase of 4.64 percent. 

The library has continued to see significant demand for print collections, according to its director Debbie Engelhardt. It also has grown its online, electronic e-book, audiobook and streaming video collections. 

Engelhardt said the library will continue to integrate web and phone platform collections like Hoopla, which offers music, audiobooks, e-books and TV shows; Libby, offering e-books and audiobooks; and Flipster, which provides digital magazines. She said these will offer members convenient access to content from their phones and tablets. The library plans, in the near future, to add Kanopy, a video streaming platform consisting of classics, documentaries and indie films to its online collections.

Services like one-on-one, free tech sessions remain in demand, as well as instruction in using new tech devices and accessing online collections.

The Library’s Green Team, which was formed in late 2018, is looking to achieve a Green Library Certification through the New York Library Association, which presents the certification program in cooperation with the Green Business Partnership of Westchester. 

For the trustee election vote, there is only one candidate on the ballot. John Rossini has been a trustee for the past two years, having been appointed to fill a vacancy. Rossini has been a resident of the Comsewogue School District for the past 19 years and said in a statement that serving as a trustee has been an extraordinary experience. 

Budget/trustee election vote will be April 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Comsewogue Public Library, 170 Terryville Road. 

If you are unable to vote in person, you can apply for an absentee ballot by calling 631-928-1212, ext. 123 or by visiting the library’s website. 

The Port Jefferson Free Library is at the corner of Thompson and East Main streets. File photo

Port Jefferson Free Library

For the 2019-20 year the library has a proposed $4,481,063 budget total, an increase of $62,000 from the previous year. Salaries will increase slightly by $20,000.

For building operations and maintenance, the library is proposing a budget of $276,000. That will cover the cost of equipment to maintain the library buildings. 

An important issue in the community is the status of the library cottage. The library board said it is working with the mayor, the historical society, the Friends of the Library and the village in the process of solidifying a design and weighing cost-benefit analysis.

To make library resources readily available to residents, they have designed a more streamlined website. The library’s “digital portal” has almost 1 million items cataloged, databases of information, discounted travel opportunities, free museum passes as well as access to web streaming services including Flipster, Kanopy and Hoopla. 

This year the library has a 2 percent tax cap, and the proposed tax amounts will come out to an estimated total monthly increase of less than $2.50 per month for the average household. The tax rate will increase 66 cents from $12.91 to $13.57. 

Voting for the proposed budget will be on April 2 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. library is located at 100 Thompson St. If you are unable to come in, absentee ballots are available through April 1 by calling 631-473-0022.