Commissioners checking out library funding options

HARTINGTON – The Cedar County Board of Commissioners is considering how much money the Hartington, Laurel and Randolph public libraries will each receive from the county for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The commissioners discussed the topic during their June 11 meeting, after previously hearing a presentation from Joan Brodersen, the president of the Hartington Public Library Board of Trustees, on May 28.

Brodersen noted the library was requesting the commissioners to consider having the county fund about 10 percent of the library’s current budget, or $18,000, which she said “is far less than the county gave 30 years ago, in current dollars.”

“We think this request is fair, overdue, and I hope you will give it your serious consideration,” Brodersen told the commissioners on May 28.

“That’s a lot of asking for this library here,” Board Chairman Dave McGregor said on June 11. “We can’t give everybody that much money.”

Commissioner Craig Bartels agreed, saying, “We can’t give everybody more and more. We just can’t do that. I can’t believe they’d even ask for that.”

McGregor described the Hartington Public Library’s request as “out of the question,” as definitely not happening.

He added Brodersen likely brought up the $18,000 request “knowing full well” that it was not going to fly with the commissioners.

“It’s definitely a big ask,” McGregor said. “If we did that with everyone that came in, that would be a lot.”

The commissioners previously approved $6,500 for each public library in the county for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years.

Neither the Laurel nor the Randolph public libraries have had representatives come in yet to talk with the commissioners on their financial requests from the county for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

“Before we make any decisions, we need to get them here,” McGregor said. “That’s only fair.”

The commissioners’ next meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. June 25, instead of the usual 8:30 a.m. start time.

Lied Randolph Public Library Director Peggy Leiting noted she was not planning to attend the commissioners’ June 25 meeting, as she intends to be busy that day with her library’s summer reading program, which is set to see about 140 children attend this year.

She added representatives of the county’s public libraries – as one group – usually talk to the commissioners each July about county support for the libraries before their budget year begins on Oct. 1.

“It’s very important to get there,” Leiting said, adding she was aware of the Hartington library’s current request for county support, but was not sure how to handle it.

Attempts by the Cedar County News to reach someone with the Laurel Community Learning Center, which houses the Laurel Public Library, were unsuccessful.

On May 28, Brodersen gave a presentation to the commissioners that included the $18,000 request in county support from the Hartington Public Library.

She said the library has always served a significant number of rural patrons, with card holders from outside of Hartington making up about 50 percent of the facility’s circulation.

“I have served on the board for over 20 years – this has always been the case during my service,” Brodersen said.

She explained although the county reinstated library funding 13 years ago, it is far behind what the county was providing historically, according to information she shared with the commissioners.

“According to my notes from 1989 to 1994, the county averaged $14,000 in library support annually,” Brodersen said. “That would equal $30,000 to $35,000 in today’s dollars.”

She said county support for its public libraries was cut off in 1994 and reinstated at a much lower level 17 years later – in 2011 at $12,500.

“Hartington received $5,000, which represented 5.4 percent of its budget of $91,620 for that year,” Brodersen said of 2011, adding county support has been increased in recent years to $6,500 per public library, “but it represents 3.6 percent of our budget of $185,000.”

She said the largest driver of the Hartington Public Library’s budget increase over the years has been health insurance.

“In 2010, our actual insurance cost was $4,258 annually, .045 percent of our budget,” Brodersen said. “In 2023-24, that cost has skyrocketed to $54,000, or 29 percent of our operating budget.”

She said the library is not asking for unusual treatment from the county.

“Neighboring counties fund their libraries with significant budgets,” Brodersen said. “For example, Plainview and Neligh get support from their city and county.”

She explained library services are difficult or impossible to charge for on a user basis.

“Many of our technology grants that have provided our computers and printers stipulate that we cannot charge our patrons for Internet access,” Brodersen said. “Free access to the Internet is also becoming a requirement for library accreditation by the state.”

She said the Hartington Public Library offers a “safe and wholesome place for all children – city and rural.”

“In addition to our summer reading program that is attended by about 150 kids each year, we offer weekly story time for 2- to 5-year-olds, monthly Library Tales for pre-K to second-graders, music Monday for babies and toddlers, Bingo for Books and ‘1,000 Books Before Kindergarten,’” Brodersen said.

“These are free and open to the public,” she said. “Because of word of mouth and social media, families are joining our programs that do not live in the city limits.”

She said charging rural patrons “is not in the interest or vision of the library.”

“Our mission is to promote lifelong learning,” Brodersen said. “We start early with programs for young minds. In addition to rural Hartington, we are serving families from Fordyce, Wynot, Coleridge and St. Helena.”

She said the Hartington Public Library’s circulation numbers speak for themselves, as the facility serves a community of about 1,500 people and the surrounding rural area.

“Last year, we circulated nearly 50,000 items,” Brodersen said. “Contrast that with the Wayne (Public) Library – that serves a community of (about) 6,000 – who circulated 57,000 items. Our librarians are busy.”

The library “enjoys widespread approval and support,” Brodersen said. “In a recent community survey, 46 percent of the respondents said they visit the library monthly or more often. Eighty percent of those who responded were satisfied or very satisfied with the hours of operation of the library.”

She said the Hartington Public Library has been designated as a Five-Star facility by the Library Journal – on its Index of Public Library Service – for several years.

“Finally, what we are asking for is reasonable and fair,” Brodersen said of the library’s $18,000 request in county support. “Fair is not always equal.”