The budget for FY 2024-2025 proposes an increase in both expenditures and income for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-2025.  

FY 2023-2024 BUDGET REVIEW

In December 2023 and January 2024 the Trustees approved a series of internal budget adjustments in addition to a supplemental $5,000 from reserves from emergency supplies, bringing the total budget from $397,900, as adopted at the start of the fiscal year to $402,900. 

Income 

The quarterly disbursements from the Carmel Public Library Foundation and the annual disbursement from the Friends of the Library have been as expected. Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) interest rates continued to increase this year, resulting in additional $22,000 unanticipated revenue. Income from Library Operations is lower than anticipated due to fewer donations directly to the library and lower public printing volume.  

Expenditures

Administration is on track to be slightly under budget and staff are working on finishing up equipment and furniture purchases. Hard copy materials spending is on track to expend all of the funds before the end of the fiscal year, as is Technical Services. Most databases and other services that span spending areas and that are billed annually have been received and paid, with a few that have not yet been submitted for payment. eMaterial spending is projected to be over budget by approximately $7,000, which will be offset by unanticipated interest income. In March 2024 the Trustees elected to put a cap on the cost per item to keep Hoopla costs from continuing to escalate. 

FY 2024-2025 PROPOSED BUDGET

Income 

The library has 4 sources of income: 1. Interest Income; 2. Library Operations; 3. The Friends of the Library; and 4. The Carmel Public Library Foundation. 

Interest Income

Interest income from the LAIF funds continues to increase (as does inflation) with the apportionment rate rising from 3.15% in June 2023 to 4.3% in the first quarter of 2024 - the highest since the 2008 recession. 

Due to inflation, interest rates have continued to rise, which resulted in additional and unanticipated income for FY 2023-2024. While the Fed has been discussing lowering interest rates for some time this has not yet happened. The FY 2023-2024 budget conservatively estimated $22,900 in interest income - however, the library is currently at $32,650 in interest income. Based upon this staff is estimating $33,500 in interest income for FY 2024-2025. 

Library Operations

Library Operations funds include monies taken in by library staff and include: small donations, printing/copying fees, lost/damaged book replacements. Based on this past year’s income, in a year that most closely resembles pre-pandemic levels of library activities, staff is estimating $7,000 in library operations income for next fiscal year. 

Friends of the Library

Last year the Friends of the Library held their 50th and last annual large book sale. Since the completion of the final book sale, the Friends have continued their ongoing sales at the Farmers’ Market and Park Branch lobby and have revamped the book room to do book sales three days a week. All three have been incredibly successful and staff is anticipating $22,000 in income from the Friends. 

Carmel Public Library Foundation (CPLF)

After working with the Treasurer to develop the draft budget and understanding inflation impacting costs, staff submitted a formal request to the CPLF, which was approved, for an increase in the annual disbursement in the amount of $25,000 bringing the total new disbursement amount to $366,000 for FY 2024-2025.

Expenditures

Because of inflation and increases in library use, activities and programs, staff is proposing an increase in expenditures, in particular for programs and hard copy materials. 

Administration, Equipment, and IT

No substantive changes are proposed for Administration, which encompasses Finance, Library Promotions, Supplies, and Organizational Development. 

For the Equipment budget, staff are still waiting for some cost estimates to do some reconfiguring in the staff workroom at the Park Branch, but staff are not anticipating a large increase in furniture and equipment spending over last year. 

The proposed budget for IT has been decreased significantly as compared with last year. Staff budgeted funds in FY 23-24 for potential contract help to solve issues with the public computers and printing. This is poised to be solved in-house in the next two weeks. Citywide computer replacements are on the horizon in the next couple of years and as such,  IT does not recommend budgeting for computer replacements this year. 

Programs

The Kids’ Library now has weekly story times and Friday nights at the Library featuring movies, games, Legos, and crafts. This was the second year staff worked with the River School and Tularcitos Elementary to do an author visit from a children’s author, illustrator Raul III. Building this program has been a great way to strengthen our relationship with the school district and this is a program that we would like to continue to hold annually going forward. In addition, staff has an excellent slate of performers lined-up for Summer Reading. 

Teen programming continues to build, with the addition of a Dungeons & Dragons club, crochet club and crafting. In addition, as part of the Summer Reading program there will be a teen book club and yarn bombing. 

The monthly music program at the Harrison Library continues to be popular, as well as cardmaking, and small programs in the Gathering Place on various topics. Because of the unexpected popularity of cardmaking, staff are exploring additional crafting programs and will be doing some game afternoons during Summer Reading. 

The Local History Oral History program continues collecting interviews, both audio and video format - the video format requiring the assistance of a videographer.  The Local History Librarian has also worked on re-launching preservation programs aimed at teaching the public how to preserve family treasures, which are being held at the library and the Carmel Foundation. 

Hard Copy Materials

Circulation of hardy copy materials is inching ever closer to pre-pandemic levels. When comparing current circulation levels to the benchmark of statistics pre-pandemic, it is important to factor in the general and far reaching changes to human behavior caused by the pandemic in terms of how people interact with the larger world, including library usage. 

While Children’s hard copy circulation has been exceeding pre-pandemic levels, adult circulation has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, though it is slowly moving in that direction. Staff suspects that there are two factors affecting this: 1. During the pandemic some adult library users adapted to and are enjoying using Overdrive/Libby, Hoopla, and Kanopy; and 2. The lack of Saturday hours, which are an obstacle to access for those who work during the week, which staff is continuing to work to restore. 

Overall, hard copy circulation is 52% of circulation between hard copy and eResources and is proposed to make up 77% of spending for FY 2024-2025. Staff proposes to increase hard copy spending to offset lingering inflation and general incremental increases in ordering and processing costs. 

eMaterial

eMaterial usage has continued to increase, in particular for Hoopla and Kanopy, which are on-demand pay-per-use services. Staff and the Trustees have been having an ongoing conversation for the past few years with regards to eMaterial usage, spending, and impacts on in-person library use. At the March meeting the Trustees voted to place a cap on Hoopla spending for the remainder of FY 23-24. At the May regular meeting the Trustees also voted to sunset Hoopla by September 30. Funds that would have put towards Hoopla are being channeled to ebooks for Overdrive/Libby and Palace, and Kanopy.