Fees for non-resident library cards at Warsaw Community Public Library will increase about 7.5 percent, and Library Director Ann Zydek’s salary for 2018 will top $100,000.

On Monday afternoon, the library board approved changes to the library card issuance policy and Zydek’s salary.

On the non-resident cards, Assistant Director Joni Brookins said, “I’ve got bad news on that one. We have to raise our prices.”

The annual non-resident individual fee will increase from $80 to $86, while annual part-time individual fee (three-month card) will change from $20 to $21.50. The annual family card, which is 2.5 times a single card, will increase from $200 to $215.

“Every year we have to look at the public library statistics that the state puts out, and we are, by law, required to charge for a non-resident card what our library operating expenditure per-capita is. And last couple of years, I think, it’s been right around $80. So that’s what we charged,” Brookins said. “This year, when I looked at the 2016 statistics, we spent more per capita, so $86 is what we’re required to charge.”

She said changes in the cost usually happens every year around this time.

After the board approved those fee increases, Board President Chris Merrill moved on to the 2018 library director’s salary and compensation.

“We have put together a resolution that Ann should continue with receiving the normal 3 percent as the rest of the staff, and we also propose a one-time stipend for this coming year for $2,000. It gives us the opportunity to award you merit for the last few years being that it’s been very rough and you’ve done a really good job of leading us through that; but that also gives us flexibility that if we run into hard financial times in the future that we don’t have to pare down the salary,” Merrill explained.

In 2017, Zydek will earn $98,633. The 3 percent increase for 2018 will increase her salary to $101,592, and the stipend will boost the total compensation to $103,592. The stipend will be paid “in a lump sum after the first distribution the library receives” from the state, Merrill said.

Shown in the chart at right are 2016 Indiana Public Library statistics from www.in.gov, including annual salaries of directors and the number of paid staff.

Zydek has served as library director for almost four decades.

In another matter, the board approved an annual resolution to join the Indiana State Library Consortium for public library internet access for funding from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019.

“This is something we do every year. We have to do it if we want to be a part of the state’s e-rate bidding for our internet and get the discounted pricing for our internet. And believe me, we want to do that,” Brookins said.

Every year, she said the library board has to approve a resolution to join. The resolution is for 2018.

One last item before the board was an appointment to the Warsaw Parks Board. Former library board member Rick Paczkowski had served on the Parks Board, but resigned from it when he resigned from the library board. Warsaw Community Schools declined to name a representative to the board, and no one on the library board volunteered to serve on the park board, so they also declined.

The next park board meeting is at 5:15 p.m. today.