Board of Trustees

Dedicated to sound fiscal stewardship, the library board has not raised its mill since 2017.

One of the side effects of maintaining a flat mill rate has been a continued struggle to pay library employees a fair and competitive wage.

The library recently retained a consultant to conduct a year-long compensation study to determine how library employees compared to folks who work for the City of Lawrence and learned that Lawrence Public Library (LPL) employees were considerably underpaid in comparison. Library administration knew they had to remedy this situation.

In 2023, the library will achieve pay equity for its employees. To do so will take significant financial resources. Paying its excellent, dedicated staff is the sole reason why the library board has proposed a 14% increase in local tax revenue necessary to fund the library, going from $5,022,000 this year to $5,725,000 in 2023.

In the past decade, the library’s mill has increased by a conservative .25 mills. With the current .077 mill increase, the new library mill levy will be 4.119.

Per City Charter Ordinance 16, adopted in 1981, the library board has the authority to levy a mill up to 4.5. At the proposed 2023 mill rate, the library will still only levy approximately 90% of its authorized mill rate.

In an effort to lessen the burden on taxpayers, the Trustees voted to apply $50,000 from the library’s reserve fund to reduce the new taxpayer funds needed for staff raises in 2023.

Lawrence Public Library (LPL) believes in paying a fair wage. The library has chronically underpaid its staff for decades. The increase will allow the library to implement a compensation plan that achieves fair and equitable pay for library employees.

This necessary one-time course correction also puts the library in a more stable financial position for years to come.

To put the property tax increase in perspective, the owner of a $250,000 house whose property value increased to $280,000 will pay an additional $16.50 per year for Lawrence Public Library (LPL) services.

In 2021, the Lawrence Public Library (LPL) hired McGrath Human Resources Group to analyze library staff pay vs. equivalent jobs at the City of Lawrence. The resulting data showed that LPL employees’ pay was considerably lower than City workers for equivalent jobs.

The biggest beneficiaries are the people you see everyday who work at Lawrence Public Library (LPL): custodians, security officers, technology assistants, and other public service employees.

Residents of Lawrence benefit, too. Paying a competitive wage allows LPL to attract, hire, and retain the exceptional staff that our community expects and depends on to make our library first class.

Private donations to the LPL Friends & Foundation (LPLFF) have provided significant savings to taxpayers for library services.

In the past five years, the LPLFF have given a total of $1.6 million to the library. These funds support programs like Summer Reading and Read Across Lawrence. They fund the digital library (eBooks, eAudiobooks, streaming films, etc.) and technology upgrades. These additional dollars are not reflected in the library’s operating budget.

Incredibly, the LPLFF also fully funded Dottie, the library’s new outreach vehicle that will make its debut this fall.

Yes. According to the 2020 Kansas Public Library Services Annual Survey (the most recent data available) average per capita local tax spending among the 10 largest public libraries in Kansas is $56.04.

Lawrence Public Library’s (LPL's) per capita level is well below that average at $48.70, giving it a rank of #7 among these larger Kansas libraries.

Lawrence Public Library (LPL) is the best deal in town and provides a great return on the public’s investment. This just scratches the surface, but for starters, look at all of the things LPL offers to our community:

• Think of the books you won’t have to buy for you and your kids
• Imagine all the audiobooks you can listen to on road trips or your commute
• Take home blockbuster movies, and stream indie films at no charge on Kanopy
• Get free notary service at the library
• Stream music from your favorite local bands
• Can’t find a book? The library’s Interlibrary Loan Service tracks it down for you from libraries throughout the country.
• Need a computer? Need free wifi? The library will provide that to you, along with friendly, patient staff who you can make an appointment with to guide you through your questions.
• Attend unlimited educational programs and entertaining events for kids, teens, adults, and seniors
• Get 3 months of free summertime entertainment for kids and teens
• Read unlimited Washington Post and NY Times articles online with a library card
• Access the Lawrence Journal-World from the library’s wi-fi
• A–Z databases for small businesses, grant applications, family history, and more!
• Reserve the library’s tech-ready spaces to study, work, and meet
• Record a song or your own podcast in the SOUND+VISION Studio
• Digitize slides, VHS tapes, and photos with LPL’s audio-visual equipment.

Lawrence Public Library (LPL) and the City of Lawrence welcome your comments regarding the library’s 2023 budget request. Here are some ways for you to share your thoughts: 

Contact the Library Board

Contact the Library Director

Contact Lawrence City Commissioners