Director explains state funding rules as trustees review library budget outlook

Trustees heard financial details for September and a director briefing on state funding rules that set minimum municipal appropriations for libraries.

Corey, the library treasurer, reported the library’s investment account began September with $682,903.28, had income of $1,620.91, a market change of $17,088.97, and an ending balance of $701,613.16. "Had a very good month in September," Corey said.

Director Noel explained the state’s municipal appropriation requirement (referred to in the meeting as the MAR): the state looks at recent fiscal years’ appropriations, averages them, and applies a 2.5 percent multiplier to set a minimum appropriation. Noel said the calculation uses the total appropriated municipal income figure (referred to in the meeting as TAMMI/TAMI) and that for the current year the library’s MAR-target figure was about $1,631,696, while the town appropriated $1,657,878.

Noel also told trustees the state requires public libraries to meet several compliance elements: be open to all state residents, employ trained library personnel (the director should have a master’s in library science or participate in available certification training), meet a minimum weekly-hours threshold tied to population, and spend a reasonable portion of the budget on materials. "For library materials, 100% compliance for us is to spend 13% of our total budget," Noel said, and that figure for the past year equated to $210,789.28. She said the library had budgeted $220,000 for materials and that upcoming salary increases negotiated by the town’s union would raise personnel costs in FY27, making it more likely she will request a higher materials allocation when the FY27 budget is discussed.

Trustees asked clarifying questions about which residents count for state compliance (Noel said the requirement is "residents of Massachusetts") and about staff training incentives; trustees noted the board’s scholarship program can help staff pursue library education.

There were no formal budget votes at the meeting; trustees were briefed on the current figures and the director said she would raise material-budget requests during the town budget process for FY27.