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March 25 Newsletter

March 25 Newsletter

HPL Newsletter Mar 25

March 03, 2025

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What’s new at the library?

Cooking with Caleigh

Upcoming Programs

Calendar of Events

Hamilton Community Book Club picks

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Recommend a Book

Read a really good book recently that you think other people should read as well? Let us know and we’ll share it in a future newsletter!

Request a Recommendation

Want a personalized recommendation? Fill out the form to let us know what kind of book you’re looking for!

Suggest an Item for purchase

Want to read, watch, or listen to something the library doesn’t own? Let us know and we will consider purchasing it for our collection.

New Books

From the Director

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to thank the voters of the Hamilton Central School District for supporting the library’s tax levy increase in previous years. The library first sought to supplement our budget in 2010 by asking for direct support from the School District in a separate tax levy, and since then, voters have supported the library every year! Not only that, but you voted to increase our funding with an approval rate of around 80%, regardless of the turnout, and regardless of the proposed increase.

Supporting us in this way shows that you feel, as we do, that equitable access to information and services is important to our community and paramount to our democracy. Libraries are a safe space, where you do not have to hold any political or religious belief to enter. Even if you just use our bathroom, we don’t ask for anything in return. We provide a warm space in the cold months and a cool place in warm ones.

But I digress. What I really want to talk about today is funding, percentages, increases, and new initiatives associated with next year’s budget, should this tax levy increase get approved. First, let’s take a look at our proposed budget. This year, we are increasing our budget by about 11%, from $331,164.73 to $368,088.72. While an 11% increase is certainly a higher increase than in the last few years, since 2020 we have seen an average increase of about 5%. Most years, our budget went up because of rising costs associated with minimum wage and inflation. Without these increases, we would have had to cut services and hours.

This seems like as good a time as any to look at a pie chart of our revenues:

As you can see, half of our funding comes directly from that School District Tax Levy I’ve been referencing. The other half comes from a variety of sources, including the Village of Hamilton, townships of Hamilton, Madison, Lebanon, and Brookfield, Madison County, NY State, private donations, the Friends of the Library, and various account transfers from bequests and previous years’ fund balances.

This year is no different when it comes to dealing with the rising costs of minimum wage and inflation, but we’re also seeking to convert our part-time Program Coordinator position to full-time status. To borrow a library term, this move is long “overdue.” Since I started here in 2018, we have had trouble retaining someone in this position for more than a year. Offering benefits and more hours will enable us to keep someone for the long haul, which will help us develop our programs not only in quantity, but in quality. There will be consistency among all programs, all year long. Already, the person in this position is stretched thin between programs and their other duties, which include managing our social media accounts and room reservations. More hours (11 more a week, to be exact) would mean more time spent doing what’s in their job title.

I hope that you support us with your vote at the Hamilton Central School on May 20, as we support you year-round to bring you the best services, materials, and programs that your tax dollars can buy.

Thank you for reading, voting, and using the Library.