PRESIDENT'S REPORT, JANUARY 2008

I am happy to report that the Corfu Free Library Association has had a very successful year and that the goals the board set itself last January have been met in full. There were three things we wished to accomplish. Firstly, we wanted to become full members of the Nioga library system by automating our library. This entailed bar-coding our entire collection, installing a new computer system to check-in and check-out items, and retraining our staff. Secondly, we wanted to continue our strong tradition of community programming, particularly our summer reading program for local children. And thirdly, we wanted to strengthen our relations with the local municipalities who provide the bulk of our annual funding.

We began the year with a unanimous vote at our January board meeting to automate our library in 2007. At the time we were unsure where the funds would come from to buy the equipment we needed or whether we would be able to secure the funding increase to pay Nioga our annual maintenance fee. In the event, both fears proved to be unfounded. Thanks to work by our co-president Andrea Vogler and to lobbying on our behalf by our Genesee County legislator Annie Lawrence, we were able to fast track our application for a New York State legislative grant through the office of our state senator, Mary Lou Rath. Funding was in place by May and we were able to have all the necessary equipment installed by the start of the summer.

The process of bar-coding our collection went extremely well. Thanks particularly to our Americorps volunteer Jeannie Thompson, this task was finished in record time and was mostly complete by the end of her term in October. The final step of automating was to order and issue new library cards. This was completed early in January 2008 and the system is now live and functioning well.

Securing adequate annual funding continues to be a difficult and timeconsuming task. As a private association our annual funding depends on the goodwill and support of the local municipalities who fund us each year. Building good relationships with the local towns and villages and educating their boards about our plans and programs is an ongoing process. In 2007 I gave presentations in support of our requests to the Towns of Pembroke and Darien, and to the Village of Corfu. I also attended the budget presentation for the Pembroke School District to answer any questions relating to our funding increase. In each case the presentation was well received and I had the opportunity to answer some questions from our local patrons and press as well.

We made a very good case for our funding increase to support automation and our requests were generally well received. The Town of Pembroke and the Pembroke School District both met our request in full. The Town of Darien fulfilled our request in part, our first increase in three years. In total we received about 75% of the increase we had asked for. This, combined with some budgetary savings, has ensured that we can now meet the costs associated with automation in future years.

Co-President Andrea Vogler spent a lot of time last year lobbying the Genesee County legislature to reverse the 5% funding cut they had made in 2005. This culminated in a meeting and presentation at Richmond Library to the legislature with all the county libraries represented. Although the cuts were not reversed, we did succeed in raising awareness of local libraries with the legislature and preventing our county funding from falling any further.

We held a very successful summer reading program in 2007. Highlights included a program run by Mike Randall from WKBW-TV and a visit from the Buffalo Zoo ‘Zoomobile’. This program continues to draw in many local children. We also held a well attended ‘Stories with Santa’ program in December, organized jointly with the Corfu Grange.

We continue to have one of the most active and involved boards in the whole Nioga library system. In 2008 we will be applying for a Nioga grant that rewards board involvement over the previous year. This grant awards points for board members lobbying county and state legislators, giving presentations to local municipalities, attending library education classes, and organizing articles in local papers. We expect to score fully in all of these areas and to receive the maximum grant available.

The board continues to enjoy an excellent relationship with our director, Stacey Anderson. Stacey has been with us for nearly 18 months now and is liked and respected by patrons, staff and board members alike. Her ambition and enthusiasm for the library was a major factor in us being able to implement automation so smoothly and to contemplate some major changes ahead.

Looking ahead to 2008, we have another very busy year coming up. We have applied to the New York State Department of Education for a capital improvement grant to build a new children’s library addition to our existing building. We should hear by Easter if our application has been successful. We have high hopes that this will happen as our application has been prioritized by Nioga when forwarding it to the state. If it does happen it will be the most ambitious change made to the library in forty years. It will also allow us to provide a comfortable and quiet reading area for adults and to upgrade and expand our ‘Teens Corner’. These changes were all requested by our patrons in the community survey we organized in 2006. We will be fortunate to be able to respond to community demand in this way.

All in all, it has been a fun and successful year. Thanks to all board members and staff for their continued enthusiasm and hard work, and to our patrons and local community for their ongoing support.