The Sidney Public Library ended the 2019-2020 fiscal year 11.8 percent under the $494,811 budget, as presented by Head Librarian Richard Sandstrom.

Sandstrom said the impact on the budget is mostly due to employee changes that impacted salaries and benefits.

The Sidney Public Library serves a population of 8,910. Of those, 1,005 have active library cards.

During the fiscal year, 21,159 people visited the library, including 2,235 who visited the bookmobile. The number of patrons has decline, Sandstrom said, due to COVID-19 health restrictions. Impact of the COVID virus is expected to impact...