AGENDA
#4d
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and
Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton,
Town Manager
SUBJECT: Budget Amendment
for Library to Reflect Orange County Appropriation
DATE: January 8, 2001
The attached
budget ordinance would amend the current library operating budget to include an
additional $17,931 to purchase furniture and equipment ($13,600) and collection
materials (4,331). The increase would
be funded from additional library support from Orange County for fiscal year
2000-2001.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners approved a $17,931 increase in library support in Chapel Hill for 2000-2001, from $224,140 to $242,071. We believe that this increased support will be on-going. This additional revenue was not anticipated in the library budget approved by the Council earlier in June. Past increases in Orange County library support have been used to purchase collection materials and Internet equipment for patron use.
We recommend use
of the additional appropriation as follows:
Reader/Printer
($8,100): The library’s technology
plan includes a replacement schedule for reader/printers. This equipment is frequently used by patrons
to read and print microforms of newspapers and genealogy materials. The machine to be replaced has needed
repair five times in the past twelve months.
We recommend replacement of one existing reader printer during this fiscal year to avoid additional repairs and lapses in service to patrons.
Young Adult Area
($3,500): To increase use by
young adults (ages 13-17), we plan to market library services to this age group
by designing an area to attract them.
This area would be located close to the circulation desk, audio-visual
materials and computer hook ups, and provide comfortable seating and study
furniture.
We recommend
using $3,500 to develop a Young Adult area to include shelving ($1,500),
seating ($1,000) and study tables ($1,000) to match existing furniture and
equipment.
Computer Hub
($2,000): Patrons currently use a
modem to access a text-based library screen, view their own patron record and
scan library holdings. The library’s
existing 56k digital communications line supports up to 20 simultaneous users. It does not permit use by patrons in a
computer network. Examples of patrons
in networks include students in the public schools, university students and
faculty and area businesses.
Early next year,
the library will replace the slower communication line with a T1 line that
provides up to 185 stations with access that is significantly faster than the
current system. Patrons, including
those in networks, will be able to access a library web page with a “point and
click” access to the library’s catalog, general library information (open hours, programs, available materials,
etc.) and recommended sites on the web (“links”) with reliable
information. We believe that
availability of a library web page will significantly increase patron demand
for electronic access to library information.
Therefore, we recommend
purchase of a computer hub to provide faster access to a greater number of
users.
Children’s
Reference Materials ($3,081):
The recent Library Needs Assessment Task Force report recommends that
the public library develop cooperative efforts with local schools and provide
homework support information. The
intent of this recommendation is that if a student is successful in using the
library as an after-school resource, they will develop a pattern of using the
library for life-long learning.
To ensure
successful after-school homework support, the Library seeks to provide basic
reference materials with which the student is already familiar through the
school library, as well as additional materials not available through the
school. However, school libraries
currently provide reference materials in book and other formats that the public
library does not own.
Therefore, we
recommend that $3,081 be budgeted for additional children’s reference materials
in book and other formats (CD-Rom, software, etc.) during this fiscal year.
Foreign Language
Materials ($1,250): The Library Needs
Assessment Task Force report also
recommends an increased commitment to serving the needs of a diverse
population, including providing more materials in foreign languages. This may be accomplished by purchasing
materials or by renting deposit collections from the Foreign Language Center,
which is operated through the Cumberland County Library in Fayetteville.
To identify
patrons’ specific language interests, we recommend renting 500 materials in
various foreign languages, including Spanish, Chinese, and Romance languages
($1,250) from the Foreign Language Center over six months. If this initial effort is successful in
generating demand for additional materials, we will direct funds in the
library’s materials budget to meet that demand.
That the Town
Council adopt the attached budget ordinance allocating $17,931 in additional
library funding in 2000-2001 for uses outlined in this memorandum.
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND “THE ORDINANCE CONCERNING APPROPRIATIONS AND THE
RAISING OF REVENUE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2000” (2001-01-08/O-1)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel
Hill that the Budget Ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Concerning Appropriations
and the Raising of Revenue for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2000” as duly
adopted on June 26, 2000, be and the same is hereby amended as follows:
ARTICLE I
Current Revised
APPROPRIATIONS Budget Increase Decrease Budget
GENERAL FUND
Library 1,793,185 17,931 1,811,116
Current Revised
REVENUES Budget Increase Decrease Budget
GENERAL FUND
Grants 536,941 17,931 544,872
This the 8th day of January, 2001