5584-R1_NewGloucester_2017AnnualReport_Web

ANNUAL REPORT Library

We wish to thank the town, our patrons, our staff, and our volunteers for their help in continuing to make the library a significant resource. We are honored to be recognized by many as being at the center of our community. The library recognizes the importance of community and strives to ensure that we offer services and events to enrich everyone. As always, the trustees would like to start this report by making special mention of our volunteers. Our volunteers, which include both young adults and adults, donated approximately 520 hours of their time this past year. Having volunteers of all ages helps the library recognize the needs and stay connected with all of the different generations in New Gloucester. The library is a better place for people of all ages because of the time and effort all our volunteers expend. The trustees are pleased to let the town know that theMaineState Library estimates the library provided $237,073 of services to the citizens of New Gloucester on its $93,631 budget. Some of the services included in that figure are: • 5319 Adult books borrowed • 8209 Children’s books borrowed • 203 Audiobooks borrowed from the shelves • 1163 eBooks/Audiobooks downloaded • 2316 Movies borrowed • People who signed up to use the computers/internet (does not include people Another effort to keep costs down is successful because of your donations of books, and movies. This year 891 books and movies that were donated by patrons were placed on the shelves. This added about $22,275 to the library collection without having to ask the town for additional funding. This makes a huge difference in what we are able to offer our patrons because the value of the donations equals nearly double our annual book and audio visual budget of $7050. Another effort to keep costs down was rewarded when the library received a grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation last fiscal year. The leftover funds after the roof repairs have been used to make environmental and safety improvements in the basement. who bring their own devices to use the internet) • $840 the amount of library passes used this year,

24