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Cheery Friday Greetings,
The Board of Trustees met this morning to work through a packed agenda, including approval of the 2026–2027 budget.
Under the financial section of state law governing reference and research library resources systems (SCRLC), §90.6(a)(7), an annual budget must be approved at least 30 days prior to the start of the ensuing fiscal year. At some point—usually mid-year—the Board passes a budget amendment, but this year it may need to be considered earlier than usual.
The challenge today, of course, is that the Board had to approve the budget without knowing the 2026–2027 state aid figures. We had all hoped the state budget would be finalized earlier this week, but instead the 13th budget extender (lucky 13?) was passed. Needless to say, this budget that the Board approved is a fairly austere one, based on the current year’s figures.
That uncertainty also meant we had to approach digitization grants conservatively. There will be information sent out soon regarding the grant outcomes.
In much happier news, the Board approved an affiliate membership for the Southeast Steuben County Library — welcome! As a small personal aside, this is the library where I worked as a page while in high school and college. We look forward to their contributions to New York Heritage and New York State Historic Newspapers—they have a wonderful local history collection.
The Board also approved several policies, both new and revised. One new policy addresses sustainability and is an important step in our work toward certification through the Sustainable Libraries Initiative. The policy will be posted under Council Documents--Policies. If your organization is developing a similar policy, feel free to borrow from ours—we certainly built upon the work of other SLI libraries and systems.
In addition, the Board updated the Statement on Procurement Standards to include a sustainability clause.
The Board also approved a Nepotism Policy, which was needed for the Library Services and Technology Act grant application we recently submitted. We applied for $20,000 to support a variety of learning opportunities in several formats. Even if we are not awarded the grant, the planning process has given us a useful roadmap for the kinds of sessions members are interested in when funding becomes available. Everything was driven by identified user need.
Have a peaceful and lovely Memorial Day weekend.
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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