Groby Community Library Group
Chairperson’s Report, May 2024
On behalf of Groby Community Library Trustees, I’d like to welcome you to another Annual General Meeting. In the year since May 2023 it has been business as usual at the library and Time Out Café. That means that a good number of the local residents have been able to access a good selection of books and great cakes and hot drinks. An average of 208 people per month actively borrowed books, compared to 220 last year. They took out 5542 adult books compared to 5409 last year and 9259 children’s books, compared to 9247, so, very similar! As usual we compared well with other community libraries in Leicestershire. I’m afraid I don’t have the figures for the number of cups of tea consumed at the café, but it was considerable! The café’s purpose in life is, of course, to support the running of the library, so that we can open, heat, light and generally run the building, which it achieves amazingly well.
We have the same groups as last year, generally well-supported: Wriggly Readers meet on Thursdays, led by Hilary Sanders for pre-school children and their carers (Hilary is also leading on this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, with Roz); Cuppa and Company is a free coffee morning on alternate Fridays for anyone who would like to meet the group for a chat; Construction Club is on Wednesdays for any budding engineers who want to share our boxes of Lego to create architectural masterpieces; and Knit and Natter do both on alternate Friday afternoons. We did attempt a group for mothers and babies which didn’t really get going but we’re very receptive if anyone would like it to start again. We weren’t able to start up formally as a warm space last winter but Cuppa and Company filled that
gap fortnightly with drinks paid for by Leicestershire and Rutland Community funding.
As well as these regular meetings we had special events throughout the year. Using material from Smartsy of Ratby , we held four glass fusion workshops throughout the year, after which those attending could take home their creations. Mel Oswin continued organise fabulous children’s events: Brilliant Bugs, Winter Wonderland, Easter Crafts, Creepy Crafts and a Summer Sensory Session for babies, and Santa Claus descended on the library with his elfin helpers before Christmas. A cake and book sale in September raised a few hundred pounds to keep us running smoothly. And a reminder that if you want to use the library for your own group meetings, the hire is very reasonable. We just have one regular booking at the moment. We also had visits from the Leicestershire and Rutland Rural Community Council, giving advice sessions, the local Community Police, and Groby Sings AND local author Jojo Stewart brought a small crab along for a day of crafts and readings from her book, Tigby Tried.
We continue to enjoy our relationship with Leicestershire County Libraries, whose network we are still part of. They purchase all our stock including a recent collection of books highlighting living with dementia from many aspects. They also look after the exterior of the library building, which we have been very grateful for on a number of occasions this year, and next year we look forward to receiving our bit of the county -wide stock management system to replace our existing one. Other improvements this year have been a new freezer, chiller and coffee machine for the cafe. Two of our public computers were withdrawn as they aren’t used as much as they used to be.
Our volunteers continue to do sterling work, with many of them clocking up yet another full year of public service for the satisfaction of knowing they’re doing a good job for their community - which they are! This year we’ve lost a few, but gained Jill, Mark and Praneeta, not to mention café volunteers (Lisa knows their names), so welcome to them!
And finally, our trusty band of trustees: Jane Clarke, Lisa Clarke, John Martin, Roz Smith, Sue Yates and yours truly. People of Groby, you have NO Idea what they get up to to keep your library available to you! Sue Yates is a
financial genius, not only counting the income and expenditure but also getting value for money in power, insurance, every little item of equipment we have to buy and then spelling it all out to the less savvy members of the committee. Lisa sourcing exceedingly fine cakes and drinks, whilst trying to make inroads into the library space for more tables. John. Where to start? Blocked drains, blocked toilets, weeds on the roof, replacing lights, locks, putting little bits of paper under café tables to stop them rocking and numerous things that I have no knowledge of. And Jane and Roz, who have stuck with us while fending off considerable health issues this year. They all keep the library running and the building standing. And we are looking at succession – we will need more trustees as time passes.
The Next Twelve Months
Over the next year we will endeavour to maintain a high standard of library service to the people of Groby. One of the potential issues that is on our minds is the proposed café being opened at the Stamford Inn. Whilst it will be a good thing to have a café open throughout the week, the library relies almost entirely on our own café to meet our expenses. We have to trust that our regular users will stick with us as we maintain our high standard of food, drink and service. And we will almost certainly be cheaper! Not too far away, Ibstock Community Library has had to close because of the multiple problems involved in running a voluntary community library, which is not a result that the trustees want to envisage here.
We will also continue to look at the problem of succession in the trustees group. I don’t think anyone is planning to move on, but nobody lives forever so we will need to find new faces who are prepared to develop a deep understanding of aspects of providing the service in the future, preferably alongside the existing incumbents.
Groby Community Library Statement of Income & Expenditure Year Ending 31st January 2024
INCOME EXPENDITURE
| Leidestershire & Rutland | |
|---|---|
| Community Funding 2023 | 1500.00 |
| Donations | |
| Smile.Amazon | 26.53 |
| Give as You Live | 65.68 |
| Wickes Donation | 144.00 |
| Bradgate Rotary Club | 87.50 |
| Regular Income | |
| Café Income | 11804.40 |
| Library Income | 1235.92 |
| Interest on Zettle A/C | 61.95 |
| Sale of Calendars | 286.00 |
| Glass Fusion Workshops | 929.00 |
| Childrens Events | 481.88 |
| Cake Sale | 348.80 |
TOTAL INCOME
16971.66
FUNDS HELD BY GCLG
Balance Bank Account 31/01/2024 9539.09 Card Reader Instant Access A/C 10008.45 Total Funds 19547.54 End of Year total as at 31/01/2023 17310.98 Increase in funds 2236.56
| Utilities | |
|---|---|
| Energy (Gas/Electricity) |
3096.74 |
| Water | 385.10 |
| Insurance (Public Liability) | 378.59 |
| Premises | |
| Cleaning Contract | 1035.50 |
| Window Cleaning | 25.00 |
| LCC Waste Collection | 212.51 |
| LCC Security Charges | 235.57 |
| ADT Alarm & Maintenance | 1329.50 |
| Fire Extinguisher Service | 55.44 |
| Electrical Lighting | 270.00 |
| Front Door Maintenance | 330.00 |
| Boiler Service | 138.00 |
| Drain Clearance | 126.00 |
| Patio Slabs | 250.00 |
| Library Expenditure | |
| Bradgate Rotary Calendars | 175.00 |
| Email Host Website | 61.84 |
| Library Signage | 46.94 |
| Library Equipment/Admin | 59.60 |
| Volunteer Catering | 212.34 |
| Café Expenditure | |
| Cakes/Biscuits | 2200.33 |
| Café Consumables | 2851.09 |
| Café Furniture/Equipment | 423.65 |
| Workshops & Events | 836.36 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | 14735.10 |
These accounts have been accepted as a true and accurate statement of Groby Community Library Group finances for year ending 31 January 2024
SignÈd