Growth is planned over the next 12 months for the Springfield-Greene County Library District, as it plans to expand services in Republic and hire more staff members.
The district’s Board of Trustees approved the library district's budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
According to the budget, the library will have an equal amount of expenditures and revenues. Both are listed at $18,534,044.
The expenditures include an 8% increase in employee salaries for the 247 full-time and part-time employees of the system, according to a provision trustees approved during Tuesday’s meeting. It also covers the hiring of several new positions, including a teen librarian at the Library Station, located at 2535 N. Kansas Expressway.
Personnel costs account for $10,436,359 of the expenditures, up from more than $9.8 million from the previous year. The district will spend $2,472,825 on materials such as books, digital books, DVDs, CDs and audiobooks — an amount up from last year’s allocation of more than $2.2 million.
The upcoming budget also makes plans for the initial phases of a Republic expansion. A feasibility study, to be presented during the board’s July regular meeting, is hoped to show a clear advantage for one of two different sites. Executive Regina Greer Cooper said during the meeting. that the library has had talks with Republic School District officials about possibilities.
Money from the American Rescue Plan Act, passed in 2021, will be used for building projects in the next year.
The bulk of the library’s revenues, budgeted at $16,740,276, will be raised from taxes paid. Sources of non-tax revenue, including state aid, out-of-county fees, fines and interest income, is budgeted to raise more than $1.7 million.
The Springfield-Greene County Library offers 10 branches, two 24-hour kiosks, a bookmobile and a small fleet of service vehicles, according to a press release.
Update on state rule compliance
Director Regina Greer Cooper updated board members on the library’s compliance with a new rule from Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office regarding age-appropriate materials. Cooper said the library was largely in line with the changes.
“After working with current staff and talking to the secretary of state himself, our policies appear to be in compliance,” Cooper said.
One new feature, called for in the rule, will be in place starting on Aug. 1. Library officials will be required to display the results of material reconsideration. Those results will be displayed on its website with the name and applicant of the request redacted.
While those requests have always been public records, they have not been posted online before, spokesperson Kathleen O’Dell said. Since 2019, the library has reported 20 such requests.
Update about Pridefest involvement
Cooper also gave an update about the district’s involvement in Pridefest, clarifying that the library participated in the event held on June 10, but was not a paying sponsor. She said the library was mistakenly identified as such in materials from the GLO Center.
“Because of funding limitations, we don’t usually sponsor events,” Cooper said during the meeting. “They agreed to take us off, because it was not correct.”
Cooper said that the library had received emails and phone calls concerned about the mistaken idea of the library being a paying sponsor. The library set up a booth outside of its Park Central Branch Library with LGBTQ-related books for all ages and a ribbon craft.
She also said during the meeting that some media reports mistakenly identifying the library as a paying sponsor were corrected.
