Faced with a changing media landscape, the Williamsburg Regional Library is requesting additional local funds for its upcoming budget.
Library Director Genevieve Owens presented the Williamsburg City Council with a nearly $6.3 million budget for the library for fiscal year 2016, which begins July 1. The proposed budget is 1.28 percent higher than the budget for the current year.
The library is administered by a regional contract between James City and York counties and the City of Williamsburg, and receives funding from each locality. The amount of funding contributed from each locality is tied to library usage by its residents.
As the primary user of library services, the proposed budget asks James City County for about $4.4 million, or 70.2 percent of its operating funds. Williamsburg would contribute $838,320, or 13.4 percent, and York County would supply $581,520, or 4.7 percent. The remaining funding would come from the state and dollars generated by the library.
The FY 2016 proposed budget comes in at $79,430 higher than the current budget.
Owens said $20,225 of that increase was due to higher expenses for necessary operating expenses. Another $20,000 would go toward the library’s collection budget to acquire multiple copies of popular materials.
The budget does not include a merit increase for library employees, most of whom are classified as James City County employees and subject to its pay scale.
Owens said the budget covered a time of change for the library, as use of its services was increasing. Owens pointed to a 30 percent increase in the use of the library’s meeting rooms as a sign of the library’s vitality, but also its need to grow.
Owens said the completion of the Stryker Center, which will be used by both the City Council and the library, will add additional meeting and exhibit space for the library’s programs.
The growing popularity of ebooks will also have an effect on the library’s offerings, Owens said.
“If I knew exactly where ebooks were going, I’d be working on Wall Street and making a killing,” she said.
The rise of ebooks has had one consequence for the library – reducing its revenue from overdue fees. Ebooks checked out from the library automatically become inaccessible after a matter of days, making it impossible for them to be overdue.
“It’s a real 21st-century problem,” Owens said.
Due to the status of library staff as James City County employees, the figures for compensation in the library budget could be subject to change as the county finalizes its own budget.
The library board of trustees is scheduled to approve the budget June 24, after all three municipalities are scheduled to finalize their budgets.
