Officials from Rogers Free Library are asking the town for more than twice the amount of money they received last year to fund salaries, maintenance and other expenses at the expanded and renovated Hope Street library.
Last fiscal year, the Town of Bristol funded the library to the tune of $265,761. This year, though, director Joan Prescott has requested $558,426 — a 110 percent spending increase. A large percentage of that increase will go toward increased salary costs, she said.
"You need to have extra people there to provide adequate coverage," she said. "We're going to need two people on every service point, every hour we're open."
Ms. Prescott submitted her budget request to Bristol Town Administrator Diane C. Mederos several weeks ago, and initially Ms. Mederos reduced the requested budget to $471,322. But during a budget workshop before the town council last week, councilors agreed to revisit the budget, and Ms. Prescott's request, after she asked that Ms. Mederos' cuts be reconsidered.
"It was obvious that her processing of my budget request went akimbo," she said. "Something misfired; we're going to go back to the drawing board and re-present the (funding) application."
Salaries account for the largest jump in the library's operating budget. Under the proposal, Ms. Prescott asked the town to fund a new technology tech/librarian at 20 hours per week, a reference associate at 16 hours a week, four circulation assistants at 24 hours a week and a page at 10 hours a week. All told, those new positions would cost the town an additional $96,544.
Despite the cost, the library needs the additional help, said Ms. Prescott, as it will be drastically larger than it was in the past and new services and features will require more help.
Other requested increases include an additional $4,900 for operating funds, $22,000 more than last year for building repair and maintenance, $40,000 extra — a 400 percent increase — to cover increased utility costs, and $5,000 more for books.
Even if the requested increases are granted, the Rogers Free Library will still be dwarfed by its neighbor two towns to the north, the Barrington Public Library.
That library, the state's fourth busiest, has a $1.1 million annual budget, loans out approximately 400,000 books per year, and employs approximately 30 full and part-time staff members.
Increased costs
Where would the Rogers Free Library's 110 percent budget increase go? Following is a breakdown of increases requested by the library:
Salaries: $428,426, about $220,000 more than last year. That amount includes $96,500 for new positions, with the bulk going to raises for the library's 18 existing employees. Several of those employees will see dramatic pay increases, including maintenance man Kevin Amaral, whose salary would jump from $4,464 to $27,300.
Operating funds: This line would jump from $10,100 to $15,000.
Repair/maintenance: Costs associated with this line would jump from $3,000 to $25,000.
Utilities: The larger library, coupled with rising utilities costs, would need $50,000, not the $10,000 approved last year, library director Joan C. Prescott wrote.
Books: The purchase account would increase from $35,000 to $40,000.
Training/education: This is the only budget item that would drop under Ms. Prescott's plan. Last year, the town funded it to the tune of $4,000; there is no provision for it in this year's budget.
By Ted Hayes
thayes@eastbaynewspapers.com