Tuesday Tidings

We have some expanded shelving thanks to  our friends at GOBI:  Library Services from EBSCO (formerly known as YBP Library Services, formerly known as Yankee Book Peddler, formerly know as...)  They have loaned us a new book cart, which Barb has filled up with our now over-flowing Fiction. Large Print books are now on display.

More progress every day.  We had a great staff meeting today and are brainstorming about what the library should look like when it reopens.  A lively discussion indeed.  But here in our cozy library, we have comfy chairs,  books for kids and adults, movies, audiobooks, AND a pool table...

An engineer visited the library last Thursday and took away samples of insulation throughout the building.  These will be sent to a lab to determine whether any of it has been smoke-damaged.  This Friday I will be doing a walk through with our insurance adjuster and the contractors who are interested in bidding on this project.  Then it will be off to the races.

One of the questions that has repeatedly come up since all this began is "so what's the difference between the Foundation and the Friends group, not to mention the Board of Trustees?"  The below is a brief summary of the various entities that support the work of the Hopkinton Town Library.  Each role is different and we couldn't do our work without them.  Please don't hesitate to ask me if this is clear as mud.

Hopkinton Town Library

Key Supports

Trustees, Foundation, Friends and Volunteers

1. 1)      Library Board of Trustees. A five member Board of Trustees elected by residents of the Town of Hopkinton serves as the governing body for the library.  Each serves a renewable three year term.  The Board of Trustees is the policy forming body of the Library. The Board’s duties include determining rules and regulations governing library services, supervising and directing the library director's preparation of an annual budget, and generally overseeing the Library's operation. Library financial records are included with the town report and maintained by the Board on a calendar year basis.

2)      Hopkinton Town Library Foundation.  A non-profit organization that was formed in 1987 to help further and improve the public library in our town. It was established through gifts, memorial contributions and bequests. The Foundation provided funding for several library studies, architectural plans and publicity for the building project that produced the present library.  The Foundation funds adult and children's programs, DVDs and online resources, as well as some technology upgrades. Among other things, it funds the newsletter “Library Ink,” and partially underwrites the Summer Reading Program as well as our annual “community read” program called Hopkinton READS!.   Income from the endowment fund, which is managed by an investment firm, does not support the library’s core budget and only serves to supplement, not supplant public support for the library.  All requests for funding are reviewed and recommended by the Foundation’s trustees.   

3)      Friends of the Hopkinton Town Library.  A group of dues-paying community members ($10 for individual membership) who support a variety of library activities including our museum passes, the Winter Family Series, Summer Reading Program, garden maintenance and the annual book sale.  There are over 250 paying members, with approximately thirty who play an active role. 

4)      Volunteers.  Each month over twenty individuals, including teen volunteers, come to the library to help with book shelving, covering and repair and special projects.  They put in anywhere from 80-120 hours each month and make it possible for the paid staff to undertake the more technical aspects of the library’s work.  

August 2018