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Report from the President of the Board of Trustees
Annual Meeting of the Membership
April 28, 2012
The Annual Meeting is an exciting time for our library. We look back on a remarkable year with two extended power outages and almost no winter closings. We had three fun and financially successful fundraising parties and a nice increase in usage of our services. As you will read in Carolyn's report, we are changing the way in which we service our community and the response from the community has been very positive.
Looking forward, we have the Mother's Day weekend book fair. This three-day event has something for everyone and is so much more than just books. Plan to participate in an event, eat some good food, and take home a good book or plant.
The other big project for 2012 is the purchase of a generator. We have received a matching gift that will cover about half the cost, but our fundraising committee is under the gun to come up with the rest, plus the funds needed to augment our operating budget.
Today, our Board of Trusteeds is loosing two esteemed members. Cythia Curtis has been our valued treasurer, building consultant, brochure designer, and has taken on so many other jobs that we don't have the space to list them. Lois Lippmann has guided our landscaping committee, run the Cooks' Party, and played a major role in our fundraising efforts. We will miss you both and many thanks for the countless hours you have devoted to our library.
With thanks to all our patrons, staff, and loyal supporters.
Tim Purdy, President
Board of Trustees
Report from the Director
Annual Meeting of the Membership
April 28, 2012
Public libraries have not become obsolete. Across the country, they are busier than ever. They have, rather, become more innovative in the ways they serve their communities. We continue to:
- buy the newest and best books,
- help students with homework
- provide computers and printers for those without
- subscribe to print magazines to browse here or check out
- buy DVDs and audio books, classics and current, for car trips
We also, however:
- circulate Nooks preloaded with books for all ages
- circulate museum passes
- provide free e-books and audio books to download onto your Kindle, Nook, or other device
- provide online research tools for North Salem residents
Public libraries also serve as locations where the community can gather, attend meetings and programs, get tutored, and meet neighbors. The library stayed open during the snow storms of 2011 and Hurricane Irene. While we had no power, we checked out books by hand and gave residents a place to read and work until it became too cold and dark. Our basement filled with water as our sump pumps lost power, resulting in damage to the air ducts and handler.
The library applauds the hard work and devotion of town employees during these weather crises. We want to continue to work with the town and are trying to raise money for a generator to save the basement, although more importantly, to offer a second place where residents can go in times of power loss.
Our statistics remain strong:
- There were close to 471 programs in 2011 for patrons of all ages.
- More than 50,000 items circulated in 2011.
- More than 24,000 patrons visited the library in 2011.
- Residents with library cards totaled 3,034 in 2011.
We remain committed to serve the town. Please tell us how we can help you.
Carolyn Reznick, Director
Report from the Director
Annual Meeting of the Membership
2011
The Ruth Keeler Memorial Library continued to serve North Salem as a source of information and as a community center in 2010
61,738 books, magazines and AV items were checked out
25,310 patrons visited the library
5,627 people attended library programs
3,822 came to storytime or other children's programs
2,194 hours of volunteer time were clocked at the library
130 children participated in summer reading games
75 families took advantage of our free museum passes
The library also offers free downloadable e-books and audiobooks as part of our membership in the Westchester Library System. These free downloads are compatable with most every kind of mobile device, eBook reader and audio device including the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Sony Reader, NOOK and many more. Search http://westchesterlibraries.org/digital for more information and to begin.
Twenty-five thousand people visited the library last year. Many other residents used their library cards to access our online research and learning databases from home or work searching LexisNexis, browsing the New York Times back to 1851, learning a foreign language, fine-tuning their resumes, reading book reviews, finding the latest health information and much more. Your card also entitles you to request books, music, and movies to be delivered here from among the many thousands of items in Westchester libraries. And every monthwe borrow books from across the country for our patrons.
The Keeler Library stepped up to the plate in 2010, a time of economic hardship, by offering free books, movies, computers, programs, museum passes and a friendly place to meet friends, work, learn and relax. Almost twenty town organizations used the library for their meetings in 2010 and the library partnered with many of these organizations to offer programs from book discussion groups to cooking. We recieved a grant from the Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation for six creative arts programs for seniors in 2010. Our library and the NS Middle and High School were given the county School Library Cooperation Award for 2010. As director, I received the NS Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year Award for the role of the library in the community. We are very Proud of our place in the community and we welcome suggestions as to how we can better serve you and your family.
Message From the President of the Board of Trustees
Annual Meeting of the Membership
2011
I am humbled by the response we have recieved from the generous and committed library supporters. Take a look at our list of donors and volunteers and feel proud to have helped us through a difficult time.
I have confidence that we will overcome tough budgeting problems, grow, prosper, and continue to serve our community.
Our Board of Trustees has been more than generous with their time, expertise and finances. Our staff has been friendly, diligent and hard working while minimally compensated. Our volunteers have made it possible to increase services in a tough budgeting environment.
Our Visiting Committee has given important guidance for long range planning and made suggestions regarding how we can better serve our community. Our Friends Group has enabled us to offer programs and services that fall outside our normal budget.
Our Town Board held budgetary cuts to a minimum. to all, I can't say thank you enough for another successful year.
Report from the Director
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library Association
Annual Meeting of the Membership
2010
By any measure, the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library expanded its services to the North Salem community this past year:
Items checked grew by 14%
Patron visits grew by 23%
The number of childrens programs grew by 70%
Adult program attendance grew by 63%
Voulnteered hours grew by 115%
We are very proud of the last statistic. Local residents voulnteered more than 2600 hours in 2009 working at the front desk, re-shelving books, helping with the book sale and with programs. Many North Salem students elect to do their community service at the library. We love having them here and particularly value their computer skills. this number of voulnteer hours equals a cost savings of more than one and a half staff positions.
The library offered a wide variety of programs this year many of which were given by local residents. They delighted children with live music, cartooning, knitting, juggling, origami, crafts, Lego, duct tape and live animals. Other North Salem residents gave programs on Google Earth, E-Bay, job researching, Christmas trees, Tibetan Bells, local history, archaeology, writing, gardening, gardening, photography, baseball, the greening of American business, the economic downturn and more. Authors talked about their books and musicians played in the library. We recieved our second grant from the New York Council for the Humanities resulting in a four-part discussion series on the history of immigration led by John Steele Gordon. Many of the library's programs were co-sponsored with other North Salem organizations.
The library added a computer for the public and completely revised its webpage. We are in the middle of a project to update and improve our non-fiction collections for all ages. As a part of this, we are working with the middle and high school librarian to ensure that we have materials for curriculul needs.
Report from the Trustees
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library Association
Annual Meeting of the Membership
April 17, 2009
The Board is happy to report that the financial condition of the Library is sound. Despite the economic environment, our Annual Appeal was very successful, raising just under $50,000, a record. In difficult times like this, use of libraries and demand for their services increase, so we are particularly grateful to all of those who supported us so generously.
The Town, as you know, is the major contributor of our operating funds, providing about 70% of our annual expenses. I am very pleased, as are all the Trustees, that the success of our fund-raising efforts demonstrates not only that we are doing our part, but that the townspeople from the elderly to our young families care deeply about their Library and are anxious to support it..
Carolyn Reznick recently completed her first full year as Director, and we are blessed to have her. She and her crew are doing a marvelous job. Virtually every indicatorpatron visits, circulation figures on books and materials, children's programs, adult programs, volunteer hours, plus other categoriesall showed strong gains last year, and we have an expanding calendar of events for 2009.
The Board, once again, wants to acknowledge our excellent collaboration with the Friends, who sponsor programs and help us in so many ways during the year. [hank you, Friends.
Although we are happy about the increasing vitality and expanding services we are providing to our patrons, we are aware that the world is changing rapidlya major cause, of course, being the digital revolution. We want to stay ahead of the curve and ensure that we are taking the steps necessary to meet that goal. We have initiated a Long Range Planning effort under the chairmanship of Tim Purdy, and during the coming year his committee and the Board generally will be taking a fresh look at the Library from top to bottom. We are involving others from the community in this discussion, and we invite your comments and suggestions. We expect to complete the planning exercise by the end of the year.
Edward L. Burlingame
President, Board of Trustees
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