The Whitefield Public Library ran into the towns budget buzzsaw last week

WHITEFIELD — The Whitefield Public Library ran into the town’s budget buzzsaw last week. The Select Board on Jan. 22 declined the support of the library’s full request for a 53 percent (or $34,480) funding increase, citing fiscal challenges. The board countered with a smaller 23 percent (or $15,000) funding hike, saying it was the best they could do. They explained that every municipal department had been denied its full request this year, as a way to protect taxpayers. Whitefield Public Library had wanted to increase its budget from $65,000 to $99,480. Doing so would have brought the library closer to covering its true cost of doing business, estimated at $122,000 in 2024. The bulk of the requested increase would have addressed the library’s salary line.