REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Mathews Memorial Library
Bette Dillehay, Director
April 14, 2015

This report is intended to provide the Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees with a report of activities during the period March 10 – April 14, 2015.

Financial Report
Operational expenses for the report period totaled $12,083.82. Included in current expenses is an adjustment of $2,332.53 to line item 5230 (Telephone), made necessary to reflect land line costs which are charged directly to County. Other expenses not routinely recorded include a payment to Melos, furnishing and equipment supplier, for filing cabinet and shelving to house art collection. Current year-to-date expenses total $74,329.10. Unencumbered funds (Not including salaries and related benefits) total $41,344.28. For the first 9 months of the current fiscal year, operational expenses averaged $8,259 per month but are expected to run higher for the remaining months of the fiscal year.
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Through March, 2015, salaries and related benefits totaled $165,873.97 or 65% of the budgeted amount for FY 2014-2015 ($255,556.00). Monthly salary expenses average $15,657 with $89,682 remaining unencumbered for FY 2015.

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
In 2006, the Mathews Memorial Library received an award of $10,000 for excellence in library service. This award was made by the White House as recommended and funded through IMLS. More importantly, the library continues to benefit from the funding made available from IMLS through the Library of Virginia. IMLS administers federal funding support for more than 123,000 libraries. Many of the database resources and other forms of State Aid are possible due to these resources. Thus, it is a concern to learn that the US House Budget Committee proposes to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Patron Update
The current number of patrons is 10,980. The number of patrons and/or visitors to the library during the report period totaled 6,785. The daily patron count showed an increase of 62.7% over March 2014. This significant increase continues a trend observed for 2015.

Personnel Update
Effective April 24th, Amy Hudgins will resign her position as staff member overseeing the activities in the Teen Territory. She has accepted a full-time position which she previously held. Action will be taken immediately to advertise the full-time position of Head, Adult/Teen Services.

 
Programs
Adult Programs
Perhaps the most significant activity provided to adults at the library recently has been hosting the AARP tax preparation service. This requires a significant amount of time and effort on the part of the library staff in ensuring that the facility is properly set up each Friday for the service, which runs for 11 weeks.

Two programs are due to occur in April. The first is the rescheduled appearance of Larry Chowning on Thursday, April 23rd at 7 p.m. Larry is a popular author and journalist. He plans to talk about his interviews with Mathews fishermen over the years and what he has learned from them. The second event is a trip to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond to view their most recent exhibit, “The Art of the Flower.” The day will include lunch, a lecture and a guided tour of the exhibit. We are especially pleased that 9 high school art students, along with instructor, Karen Podd, have accepted our invitation to participate in this event.

Youth Programs
Both the young set and the teens had library experiences during March/April that were both fun and creative. March brought Dr. Seuss Day and Youth Art Month. We are particularly pleased at the outcome of the art initiative in Teen Territory. With the assistance of artist, Karen Podd, three teams designed window paintings depicting ways in which they believed the world could be made a better place. These designs were placed on the Main Street windows where they will remain through June, 2015.

The library offered its 10th annual fantasy trip to young people 6-14, this year travelling to Peru on April 8th.