Library board discusses 2022 budget proposal

The Putnam County Public Library Board presented its budget for next year at its regular meeting Wednesday evening.

The more notable items set out in the budget are those set for full-time and part-time assistants, group insurance, furniture and equipment and the Rainy Day Fund.

Compared to $504,700 for 2021, the 2022 budget for assistant salaries is set at $543,989. The board recently approved a revamped wage schedule, in which part-time hourly wages was increased by a dollar-plus and full-time a uniform increase of $2,000. Meanwhile, group insurance will rise from $85,000 for 2021 to $109,558 for 2022.

On the other hand, the furniture and equipment budget is set at $53,992 compared to $82,421 for 2021. Director Matt McClelland provided that the decrease was due to the 2021 total not being used up. Meanwhile, the Rainy Day Fund would be set at $50,000 compared to $65,000 for this year.

Overall, the 2022 budget is set at $1,168,931. This is over $65,000 more compared to the 2021 budget, which was established at $1,103,680.

The board is set to adopt the budget at its regular meeting next month.

In other business:

• Cloverdale Schools Corporation Nurse Tiffany Shields was introduced as the board’s newest member. She is replacing Tona Gardner and is appointed by leadership from the four county school corporations.

• The board passed a resolution approving a pay increase of four percent for Technical Services Director Danielle Featherston. She recently earned her bachelor’s degree and the increase is meant to reflect this.

• The board passed a resolution for the library to join the Indiana State Library Consortium. The move entails PCPL being able to receive e-rate discounts for providing public internet access services.

• McClelland announced that PCPL was awarded a $26,000 grant funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. He said it was planned toward several updates, including a wireless printing setup, video conferencing software for the Kiwanis Room, a new DVD repair machine and improved filtering software for library devices.

• The board established the library’s administrative committees:

— Finance and Budget Committee: Assistant Director Jane Hazelton and board members Jamie Nees and Kristin McClellan;

— Building and Grounds Committee: Secretary Shannon Greene and board members Alan Zerkel and Barbara Boese;

— Policy Committee: Greene, McClellan and Zerkel;

— Strategic Planning Committee: Boese, Hazelton and Shields, as well as two library staff members.

Nees was the only official listed above absent at the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Library Board is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. in the Kiwanis Room at the library.