REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mathews Memorial Library

Bette Dillehay, Director

July 9, 2019

This report is intended to provide the Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees with a report of activities during the period May 14 – July 9, 2019.  It is presented as the final report for FY 2018-19.

Financial Report

Current Reporting Period

The current financial report is a statement of resources and expenses for a two-month period ending June 30, 2019.  Operational expenses for the bi-monthly period totaled $12,471.27.­­­.   To date in FY2018-2019, operating expenses total $86,482.23.  In addition, invoices submitted as of July 1, 2019, which will be charged to FY18-19 total $2,177.90, bringing total operating expenses to $88,660.13.  Subtracting the pending expenses, unencumbered operating funds total $47,742.69.  Included in unencumbered operating funds is $17,481.00, the C4K Leadership Grant.   Subtracting this grant from the unencumbered amount leaves a total of $30,261.69. 

Salaries and related expenses

As of June 30, 2019, for the twelve-month period in FY 2018-19, salaries and related benefits totaled $245,660.98, averaging $20,472 per month.  The total amount budgeted for salaries and related benefits for FY 2018-2019 is $272,955 or roughly $22,746 per month.  Of the total budgeted amount, $74,129 is allocated for benefits.   

Summary

With a combined budget total (Salaries/related expenses; Operating) of $391,993 and expenses to date of $334,321, approximately 14.71% of total available funding is unencumbered.

Patrons

The number of patrons now stands at 9,739   The number of new patrons added during the report period totaled 76.

Personnel

The library elected to participate in an internship fair held at Mathews High School.  The goal was to offer an opportunity for a student to serve as a member of the staff team supporting the youth summer program.  The internship begins June 17 and ends August 2^nd.  The intern will work Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

A student, Marysol Richardson, applied and, after an interview conducted by the youth staff, was offered the internship position for the coming summer season.   

Collection Update

The adult fiction weeding project begun in May is 75% complete.  To date approximately 449 titles have been reviewed and found not to have been checked out in the previous five years nor part of a series   As previously stated, we anticipate that 200 to 250 titles will be removed.  Before the weeding project began, the fiction collection numbered approximately 14,000 titles.  The total print collection is lightly under 80,000.    

Programs

A very busy season of programs has begun at the library which is expected to continue through August into early September.

On Friday, June 14^th, sixty-three youngsters gathered at the Piankatank Ruritan Center to engage in a celebration of the annual Highland Games.  This year’s event. marked the 15^th annual sponsorship which began as part of the library’s summer program in 2005.  It featured age appropriate Highland games and a Scottish pipe band from Richmond.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Library, a donation of $100 was also received the day of the event.

The annual summer program will begin on Tuesday, July 9^th.   This year’s Lemonade Lectures will bring presenters from Jamestown, Richmond and the Pamunkey Reservation.  An additional highlight is the planned appearance of an Algonquin native, Daniel Firehawk Abbott.   The goal is to provide young participants with an accurate and realistic view of our early Virginia history.  To date,76 registrations have been received. 

Two additional programs are planned as part of Summer Soothin’ Sounds – Plunky and Oneness, a jazz performer on July 11^th and Cora Armstrong, queen of gospel music, on August 15^th.  On August 21^st, a family concert featuring a Virginia Symphony group will be held at 4 pm and, in addition, on September 5^th, the very popular Ambrosia Quartet will appear in concert.  Of the 4 remaining concerts, two are funded by grants, one from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the other from the Virginia Symphony grant program for young people.