Cook Memorial library's budget steady

Despite the construction of a new library and the expansion of an existing building, the new annual budget for the Cook Memorial Public Library District is only slightly greater than the last spending plan.

The Libertyville-based library board approved the estimated $7.8 million budget for the 2011 fiscal year, which begins July 1, on Tuesday. It's only about $100,000 greater than the current year's budget.

"Everyone is looking at it as a way to hold the line and be good stewards of the taxpayers' money in this depressed economy," board member Ann E. Oakley said.

And despite that economy and the state-funding woes plaguing libraries across Illinois, Cook Memorial's revenues are expected to remain fairly steady over the next year. The budget predicts the district will collect about $7.5 million in taxes, fines, grants and other income, down slightly from $7.7 million.

Acting Director Mary Ellen Stembal is particularly pleased the budget is remaining steady even though a new library will open in July in Vernon Hills and an expanded facility in Libertyville will reopen in October or November.

The budget for salaries is increasing a mere 1.4 percent despite the additional facility, Stembal said. Instead of hiring a new staff for the new library, existing employees are being shifted to handle different responsibilities, she said.

"While we have some new hires, there are some positions that we're not filling exactly as they were," Stembal said. "We're moving people around."

A 20,000-square-foot, $7 million library is nearing completion on Aspen Drive south of Route 60 in Vernon Hills.

It will replace a small library in the basement of Vernon Hills' village hall that was designed to be temporary when it opened several years ago.

To the north, the main library in Libertyville's Cook Park is being renovated and expanded, also at an estimated cost of $7 million. A temporary storefront facility has operated on Milwaukee Avenue during the construction.

Officials have set aside money in the annual budgets to pay for the projects, which didn't require tax-rate increases.