The Seaside Library Board on Tuesday confirmed a $6,000 commitment to library programming for 2026 and discussed the prospect of seeking a larger budget increase to keep pace with rising costs.

The assistant director told board members, “we have committed, $6,000 to the library for programs for 2026,” and described that amount as a floor rather than the total possible support. The assistant director said the board will share a public spreadsheet of program spending at the next meeting so members can see line-item needs.

Why it matters: board members said performer fees and the cost of books have climbed, pushing program budgets higher. The assistant director described summer-reading expenses as including performers, snacks, prizes and advertising and said those costs have increased materially.

The assistant director said summer reading will continue to be funded primarily through the Friends/Foundation and a state Ready to Read grant. “Summer reading is funded through…our friends in foundation, but we do get a grant, a Ready to Read grant through the state,” she said.

Board members pressed for clarity on the overall program request. In the transcript the assistant director quoted a larger program request as “close to $1,111,000” and later discussed figures in the low tens of thousands, creating inconsistent numeric references in the record; staff acknowledged the transcript’s numbers and committed to circulating the detailed spreadsheet at the next meeting to resolve the discrepancy.

Staff framed two ways to handle performer payments: routing invoices through the Friends/Foundation so checks are available when entertainers arrive, or absorbing smaller supply costs in the city budget, which is easier to process. The assistant director said the Friends/Foundation invoicing process prevents last-minute payment delays for performers.

Next steps: staff will continue reviewing costs and, if warranted, prepare a budget request for the city’s finance office by the Dec. 28 deadline. The board asked staff to present the program budget spreadsheet at the next meeting to make spending and any additional request transparent.