Gilbert Hart Library 
Linda Reeves , Library Director
Kevin House, Library Assistant
14 South Main Street
Telephone/Fax: 446-2685
E-Mail: ghlib@comcast.net

 

Activities around the Library are focused on the 2010 budget.  If you have been reading the Wallingford News or seen the article a few weeks ago in the Rutland Herald you know that the Library is currently operating with a deficit budget.  In a Wallingford Selectboard meeting on January 5, the Selectboard voted to reduce Town funding to the Library by $2,000.  In a meeting on January 18, after the Library submitted additional budget information, the Town approved level funding in the amount of $32,000. Contributions and donations are down; cost of books, audios, and other materials are up; the Library had some unexpected repair costs last year such as repair to the roof; and investment revenues are down.  All this has led to the Library currently operating with a deficit budget of over $18,000.   

During the Board of Trustees meeting on January 12, the Board and Director took another look at the budget and made some hard decisions.  These decisions include budgetary cuts as well as proactive initiatives.  Here is a summary of those decisions:  

Budgetary Reductions:

Materials (books, periodicals, audios, videos)- $3,000

Technical Support for computers - 600

Children’s Programming - 2,000           

Projected Increases to Revenues:

Effective April 1, 2010, a $5 annual fee will be charged for all library cards.  Estimated income for 2010 based on 500 library cards: - $2,500

Patrons requesting interlibrary loans will be asked to pay postage when ordering more than one (1) book per year, i.e., $2.50 for each book: - 600

Individuals or groups using the Klock Room will be asked to make a min. donation of $1 per person: - 300

Patrons with an overdue item would be required to pay $.25 per day for each overdue item: - 600

Fire District exemption of water & sewer costs: -   700  

Estimated Savings: $10,300  

We still have a ways to go to reduce the $18,000 deficit.  We are researching grant opportunities, exploring other ways to reduce expenditures, planning fund-raising activities, and looking for other opportunities for increasing revenue.    

This is a good time to let you know what YOU can do to help YOUR community library:  

Monetary donations are ALWAYS welcome.  

Membership drive letters will be mailed in a few weeks.  PLEASE CONTRIBUTE.  

Participate in the First Read program.  Buy a book through the library; read it first; then donate it to the library.  There is also the First Listen (audios) and First View (movies) programs.  

Give a magazine gift subscription to the Library.  Call the Library for suggestions.  

Share your books, audios and movies with your neighbors by donating them to the library when you are finished with them.  If they are in good conditions, we will take them.  This will provide some relief to our materials budget.

Donate your time!  As an example, we had to cut our technology budget and could use help in troubleshooting problems and developing computer programs, e.g., fund-raising.  Call the Library for more information.

The Children’s Program budget has been cut.  We need help in planning and presenting programs.  Call Kevin at the Library for more information.

Your suggestions and ideas are always welcome.  Call us at 446-2685 and let us know what you are thinking.  

New Arrivals: 

Title                                                      Author  

Remarkable Creatures                      Tracy Chevalier
The First Rule (book and audio)       Robert Crais
Pursuit of Honor (First Read)            Vince Flynn
Knit the Season                                  Kate Jacobs
Treasure Hunt                                     John Lescroart
A Fair Maiden                                     Joyce Carol Oates
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones      Alexander McCall Smith
The Lion and the Mouse                        Jerry Pinkney (children)
How Do Dinosaurs Love their Cats        Jane Yolen (children)
Angels & Demons (DVD)
Food, Inc. (DVD)                       

Book Review:   True Tall Tales of Old Vermont by Harold Wilkinson.  Harold A. Wilkinson says he “fell in love with beautiful Vermont , especially three special seasons: winter sports, fall foliage, and summer on the lake.  But he discovered an added bonus when he met a rugged, elderly Vermonter named Fred.”  Years after Fred died, Harold is sharing his tales.  These tales are not the stories of battles, politics or romance.  Rather they are humorous and talk about real Vermonters struggling to survive and better themselves.  Good for grins and thinking back…

Kevin and David Klock will be holding a children’s program on Saturday, February 6th that starts at 10:30 a.m.  that includes music and poetry reading. 

Library Hours

M – closed

Tu, Thu, Fri – 10:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Wed – 10:00 – 6 p.m. (effective 11/25/09)

Sat – 9:00 – noon

Su – closed

 

Linda Reeves, Library Director

Kevin House, Assistant

Telephone:  446-2685 

Hart Lines by the Friends of Gilbert Hart Library  

     “In 1886 a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric Army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design.  From this irresistible beginning, The Piano Tuner launches readers into a world of seductive, vibrantly rendered characters, and enmeshes them in an unbreakable spell of storytelling.”  So describes our February book by Daniel Mason for discussion on February 17, 7 p.m., in the Klock Room at the Library.  Books are now available at the Circulation Desk.  Do come and take part in our discussion which lasts little more than an hour.  We need your perspective!

           Whist parties in February are on Friday, February 5 and Friday, February 19, starting at 7 p.m.  Carol Pratt is in charge of these parties.  Any questions, please contact Carol at 446-2843.

Rug-Braiding workshops begin on January 30, and take place on Saturdays, 9-12.  Workshops will also be held on February 20, February 27, and March 13.  The focus this year will be on braiding in the round – making chair pads, a basket, a bowl, or a tote bag.  Call Lois Johnstone at 446-2442 to register and to inquire about materials to bring.

 

Sad News:  Those of you who know Ginny Hallblom, a long-time member of the Friends and an avid booster of the Library, will be sorry to hear that she has died in California , near her children, at age 93.  Anne Miller has addresses, should you want to express your condolences.  Interment will be this summer at Saxtons River .  

         The next Friends meeting is on February 10 at 1 p.m.  We have several new members and would enjoy having more join our group.  The Congregational Church is having their Soup ‘n’ Such at noon, and there’s time to do both.

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