Friends of Street Library Annual Report to 5[th] April 2021
The year began and ended with the library being ‘Locked Down’.
However, thankfully some really good things happened during this strange and unpredictable time.
In June 2020 the Partnership Agreement was fully updated and implemented to include Friends of Street Library as a full partner. Our role is to support the library with resources, publicity and most importantly, by providing volunteers. There are two types of volunteers, those who are fully trained and volunteer for duties on a regular basis to ensure that the library is properly staffed, and those who volunteer on occasions to plan and organise special events such as family craft mornings, coffee mornings, and fund raising events. Both are equally important and we hope that both will continue as lockdown comes to an end.
The building work in the Library and Parish rooms was completed in November. This was a very exciting time as all the partners came together to make it happen. We now have a library fit for purpose with many exciting opportunities ahead. At present the library is operating a ‘Click and Collect’ service but we are hopeful of further developments soon. Staff had been working from home, and keeping in touch with all stakeholders, but are now back in the building.
During December, when the building was first completed, we had a short time of the library being open for customers albeit with Covid restrictions. Volunteers were part of this service and it was working well. As volunteer coordinator I gave training to them before they started and people were pleased to be back. Sadly this did not last for long but it gave a flavour of exciting times ahead.
During this year the Trustees of FoStL have been concerned about losing members because of the lack of activity. In order to ameliorate this we have continued to meet regularly by Zoom and recently we have held monthly meetings to keep everyone up to date and share our thoughts. These meetings have been encouraging, although we are clear that there is still more to do.
We are pleased that some of the reading groups have continued using technology and we would like to thank those members involved.
In conclusion, we are looking forward to brighter days, knowing that despite the pandemic we have managed to get the groundwork in place for our new library to thrive and go from strength to strength.
Claire Axten Chair Friends of Street Library
Friends of Street Library final accounts for the year 2020 - 2021 Income and expenditurn for the period 61412020 - 51412021 In¢om• Expendltur• Cash bank (0&0020) Current alc Cash in hand Subs sinca 0110412020 Donotion8 Prep. for new bulldlng Website LX18ts Quiz FZeS 1n8uran 08104R020 Sundrios Rfrfreshfft (XJ8ts 69.04 2878 10.00 150.83 11.13 0.00 6436.13 144.12 95. Cash Ary bank (owr2021) Rgserye alc Current alc Ca8h in hand 0.00 6332.48 122.99 Total 6725.25 Total 6725.25 Signed: Peter Fry (Treasurer) Date Inde endent examiner's r ort I have examined the above accounts of the Friends of Street Library for ihe period 0610412020 until 0510412021 (the end of their nomial accounting period) and compared them with the books and records of the charity. I ¢onfirni they are in accordance therewith and with the explanations given. Julie Hillman Date ai