Skidaway ~ The Village Library ~ Island Home About Us News & Events New Arrivals Photo Album Supporters Contacts Upcoming Events Armchair Traveling--Italy Outgoing Board Members Reading Lists on the Web ~ Newsletter ~ President's Report 2020-2021 What a year it has been! Under the leadership of a superb Board of Directors, the Village Library weathered the storm of the pandemic and even added a new online public access catalog (OPAC) to make information about the Library’s resources available to patrons no matter where they are. When the 2020-21 Board took office on May 8, 2020, the Library was completely closed. At that meeting, the Board established a principle to guide its pandemic-related decisions—to protect the physical and mental health and to assure the safety of the Library’s volunteers and patrons. Throughout the months that followed, the Board moved gradually to offer more services as circumstances allowed. First, there was “grab and go” curbside service on limited days. Then the Library opened to limited browsing on Fridays and Saturdays—finally opening for a new full-service schedule of 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday on April 6, 20211. In August, the Library migrated to a new online library system—Surpass Cloud—that included the new OPAC as well as a new, improved administrative system. The migration was coordinated by Cece Coleman working with the Board. The new system required training for all the Library’s volunteers, an effort led by Liz McAdams and Cece. The pandemic had an impact on the Library’s bottom line, as revenue dropped with the Library’s months of closure and the cancellation of the Spring Book Sale. To help offset the losses, the Board spearheaded a fundraising campaign in the early summer that resulted in a flood of generous donations. In addition, the Vice President for Community Relations Brenda Day and Book Sale Coordinator Kim Hicks working with the Book Sale Team managed a pop-up book sale in September in front of the Library followed by a successful “Bag of Books” sale in October. They also led the effort that resulted in a Spring Book Sale that netted over $3,000 for the library’s coffers. A special $10,000 bequest from long-time library supporter David Litten will be used to supplement the collection for the next five years. As always, the community has been generous with its support throughout the year, and we are grateful. This year, the Library has expanded its public information and communications activities with an increased presence in print and online. With the able efforts of Nicole Tifverman, the Library has increased its Facebook presence and added an Instagram account. This is in addition to frequent articles in the TWATL and Landings Journal. To enhance internal communication, Nicole launched a monthly online newsletter for volunteers featuring tips, articles on individual volunteers, and news about the library. As always, the Library’s loyal corps of volunteers has been essential to the year’s success. They have shown maximum flexibility, responding to the evolving services throughout the year. The new Surpass Cloud suite required that each volunteer go through a two-hour training session to learn the new system. At the May 17th Annual Meeting the Board will honor three volunteers for twenty years’ service: Sally Arman, Carol Duren, and Karen Sellick. The Board appreciates each volunteer’s ongoing contributions. Also at the Annual Meeting, the Board will bid a fond farewell to two important members who have made major contributions to the Library’s success over the years. Joy Howard has served as Treasurer for six years, and Sally Arman caps off her multiple terms on the Board and a cumulative total of fourteen years as Volunteer Coordinator (2002-2008 and 2013-2021). Last but not least, I want to pay tribute to each of the Board members. To cope with the pandemic challenges, they met for more hours in May-September 2020 than the Board meets in an average year. They endured hours on Zoom and carefully considered a range of issues and options. They have skillfully carried out their individual roles and, as a group, brought new energy and creativity to the Library’s work. Sandy Cooper, President 2020-2021 1. The new schedule gives the Library’s volunteers Monday for training and meetings.↩