Bethlehem Public Library has a proposed a $4.7 million tax levy, which is 2.61% higher than last year. This budget, like all past library budgets, comes within the limit specified by New York State.
The 2025-26 budget balances smart investment strategies with some savings in operational expenses to offset contractual cost increases in salaries, health insurance and retirement contributions.
Bethlehem Central School District residents will vote on the budget
Tuesday, May 20, from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. at Bethlehem Central High School.
- Click here for the library’s 2025-26 budget (pdf).
- There are two trustee seats on the ballot. A Meet the Candidates event will be held Tuesday, April 30, at 6 p.m.
- The Board of Trustees will hold a public budget review at their Monday, May 12, meeting, which begins at 6 p.m.
A letter from the Bethlehem Public Library Board of Trustees:
A library for the community
IN THE COMING FISCAL YEAR, the library is looking to continue the highest level of service to our community while investing in the building and resources that allow us to do so. The 2025-26 budget balances smart investment strategies with some savings in operational expenses to offset contractual cost increases in salaries, health insurance and retirement contributions.
WE REMAIN COMMITTED to planning for the future of the library by addressing urgent structural needs. We’re starting with the library’s aging boiler, which will be replaced using library reserves. We are currently evaluating how to tackle additional projects down the road, even as we navigate the state-mandated procedures and expenses that are required of a government entity. We’ve also been staying on top of favorable investment rates to bring in hundreds of thousands in income over the past couple of years and an expected $121,500 in 2025-26 alone.
IN ADDITION, a significant portion of the reserves – approximately $1.4 million – is set aside every year to pay for operational expenses between the end of the library’s fiscal year in June until tax money is received in the fall.
LOOKING AHEAD, we will continue to invest in the materials that are popular with our borrowers, and the 2025-26 budget includes money to expand our collection and support the recent addition of online access to the New York Times and Times Union newspapers. We also keep a close eye on borrowing trends to add additional copies of in-demand materials to reduce wait times. Our robust collection is supplement by our Library of Things, which includes a seed library, museum passes and free WiFi and technology for people who do not otherwise have access to it.
THE 2025-26 BUDGET also supports a variety of in-house programs, as well as bigger collaborations with the Town of Bethlehem, such as a Disco Party for seniors and the Thursdays in the Park summer concert series. These are the types of programs that bring together people and enhance the general welfare and quality of life in the community, which gets to the very heart of our mission statement.
On the ballot this year is an ask of $4.7 million, which is 2.61% higher than last year. This budget, like all past library budgets, comes within the limit specified by New York State.
— Bethlehem Public Library Board of Trustees