2015 Annual Report
Annual Report of the Trustees for 2015
Sue Barnes stepped down as a trustee this year, but we are fortunate enough to still have her as a volunteer.
Along with Sue, we are grateful to have Mary Smith and Mary Evanofski to help staff the library Wednesday evenings. We are also grateful for all of you who support us with your donations, your volunteer efforts during our summer reading program, and your patronage of the library. Thank you, also, to Judith O’Donnell, and to Phil and MaryLou Desmarais, for their generous donations to the library.
Our new offerings this year included the opportunity to borrow eMagazines through the New Hampshire Downloadable Consortium, and a pass to the New Hampshire Farm Museum.
In June, we were able to borrow a collection of 2000+ Legos from our library consortium, which led to some imaginative and creative constructions from kids and even a couple of adults. In August, a Kids, Books, and the Arts grant from the New Hampshire State Library allowed us to have Marty Kelley and Steve Blunt as our end-of-season entertainers for our “Every Hero Has a Story” summer reading program. In October, Steve Taylor, former NH Commissioner of Agriculture, gave an interesting talk on “New Hampshire’s Long Love-Hate Relationship with its Agricultural Fairs.”
We added 44 names to our member files and removed 75, giving us a total of 565 registered users. 2,307 people visited the library, up slightly from last year. We added 574 books, audiobooks, and DVDs, and removed 837 from our still-overcrowded shelves, leaving us with a total of 10,884 materials. Our library members checked out 5,662 books, audiobooks, DVDs, museum passes, and magazines, along with 567 downloadable audiobooks and 777 ebooks. We loaned 359 materials to other libraries, and borrowed 169.
Our most popular DVD in 2015 was Big Hero 6, and the most popular book was The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins. By borrowing materials from the library, our members saved more than $87,000 over the cost of purchasing them.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Picthall-French, Chair
Leslie Collins, Secretary
Marty Bender, Treasurer