Friends of Street Library Annual Report for the year ending 5[th] April 2023
This year has seen a return to ‘normal service’, although there is still some caution as Covid appears to be here to stay.
The library is fully up and running again and, despite all the challenges, is thriving. A recent meeting of members of the Community Library Partnership revealed that Street Library is performing particularly well amongst Somerset Community Libraries. Across the county numbers are down around 27% compared with pre-pandemic figures, Street has managed to achieve figures only 7% down. This is due to a magnificent effort by our librarians and wonderful volunteers as well as all the work carried out by the Friends.
Throughout the year the Friends have organised several very successful craft events, usually having at least one activity to coincide with each of the school holidays and major events. Thanks go to all those volunteers who gave up their time to help at these events. Prizes have also been provided for all the competitions and treasure hunts organised in the library. We finally managed a return of the Christmas bedtime story event in 2022. We used a professional performer to read the stories which provided great entertainment. We were a little disappointed with the number who failed to attend, despite having been fully booked with several on a waiting list, however those who did manage to join us had a wonderful time and we received some very positive feedback.
The Summer Reading Challenge in 2022 was very popular. Over 200 children signed up to take part in the challenge and 135 medals were handed out to those who completed before the deadline. We were very fortunate to have the services of the library outreach officer who visited all the local schools to introduce the challenge with the theme ‘Gadgeteers’. The Friends donated several books to the library to support this theme. For the launch day in July there was a display of interesting and intriguing gadgets, many of which had been donated by members of the Friends. While there was some debate on whether one or two items were technically gadgets or tools, the display stimulated a great deal of interest among visitors, with some very imaginative suggestions for what the gadgets were used for. We are now looking forward to this year’s reading challenge.
The Friends organised a number of successful author talks in the library during 2022 and we are just starting out on a new series of talks during 2023. There are also plans for some writing workshops to be held in the library, both for children and adults.
The Friends have taken part in some community events in Street, most notably the Merriman Park Fun Day in September and the Street Parish Council ‘Discover Your Community’ event in February. Many thanks again to all the volunteers who gave up their time to help man these events. We were given a great opportunity to promote the library and
all it has to offer. It was also a chance to remind everyone that the Friends still need support and are always ready to welcome new members and volunteers to work in the library.
In addition to all of these activities, The Friends have helped to provide items for the library to help with displays and storage. When Somerset Libraries decided they would no longer pay for the provision of newspapers in libraries The Friends agreed that this was a vital service in Street Library and have ensured the continued provision of a paper every day. We were successful in obtaining some generous donations from a couple of local businesses which will ensure funding for most of this year, but, with ever increasing costs, we are searching for further funding from other sources to enable us to continue to provide the newspapers long term.
Somerset Libraries organised a Community Library event in Taunton in September 2022. This was a session which involved community libraries from across Somerset being able to share ideas and information and was a very useful chance to find out how the different community libraries operate. It really highlighted how very fortunate we are in Street to have such a lovely library space, professional and enthusiastic librarians together with dedicated volunteers and the support of the Parish Council, and of course great support from all the members of the Friends.
Towards the end of 2023 The Friends of Street Library will be celebrating the 10[th] anniversary of our formation, so much has changed in that time. We have moved from supporting a County Library with craft events and fundraising activities to being a part of the Community Library Partnership; narrowly avoiding losing a library in Street altogether, moving from the old building into a very much reduced space and then into the bright, inviting new library following so much building work. We provide volunteers every afternoon to support the library staff and look forward to celebrating how much has been achieved in keeping a vibrant and much used library in Street.
Sarah Ivory
Chair
Friends of Street Library final accounts for the year 2022 - 2023 Income and expenditure for the year 61412022- 51412023 In¢omo Expenditure Cash in bank f06/04f2022) Reserve alc Current alc Cash in hand 2023-2024 subs paid early Subs since 0610412022 Donations Income from stall$ Quiz sales Items sales Refreshment sales Refunds Gift Aid Newspaper donations etc Printsng costs Hall I facility hire Stationery, postage elc Readinglwnling challenges Resources for library Website costs Quiz prizes Insurance 2710512022 Sundries Refreshment costs Newspaper money to library 66.30 0,00 80.35 381.73 286.94 28.78 40.00 15083 605.00 15.00 267.80 6688.61 87.01 70.00 800.00 64.88 80.35 302.00 70.00 132.50 584.66 Tol81 Income Tol81 Expandilu lus 2104.39 1922. 73 181.66 Cash in bank (owrd023J Reserve alc Current alc Cash In hand 0.00 6900.75 56.53 Total 8880.01 Totsl 8880.01 Signed: Peter Fry (TreasureT) Date 11 Inde endent examiner's re ort I have examined the above accounts of the Friends of Street Library for the period 0610412022 until 0510412023 (the end of their nonnal accounting period) and COTnpared them with the l)ooks and records of the charity. I confirni they are in accordance therewiih and with the explanations given. Julie Hillman Date