2011 Annual Report

In June, 2010, the town of Orange voted by a large margin to pass a 2 ½ % tax override which allowed the Orange Libraries to stay open (rather than close completely) for fiscal year 2011. Library patrons and library lovers and folks who couldn’t imagine a town without a library worked hard to publicize the library’s plight and to get out the vote. As soon as the 2012 budget process began, however, the library was soon on the chopping block once again. At the June Town Meeting the library budget was reduced from $263,255 to $239,062; at the October Town Meeting it was reduced still further to $203,392, which amounts to a 23.7% reduction. Granted that all town departments took significant cuts (averaging 14%), the library’s budget cuts were the deepest to any department.

In order to maximize our services to the town, the Board of Trustees decided to release $60,000 from our private trust funds to prevent the drastic cuts to library hours and services that would otherwise have been necessary. This was a one-time only sacrifice which we will not be able to repeat in future years!! The Wheeler Library was forced to close the four hours the library had traditionally been open on Saturdays but is open its usual weekday hours Monday through Thursday. Moore-Leland Library continues to be open from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays, but weekday hours were reduced by one hour. Despite all this, circulation of books, audio books, and videos has increased! A bank of computers continues to be heavily used by youth and adults, not only for pleasure but also for doing research and job hunting and applications. Children’s programming continued as well, facilitated by a $7500 “Mother Goose on the Loose” grant aimed at our youngest children, and an ambitious summer reading program for young people of all ages. Children's programming involved 4,646 attendees with 220 unique programs offered at the library. The Friends of the Library offered several fundraising projects, including a summer book sale. The library website also continues to expand its offerings.

While the Library Trustees continue to be concerned over the lack of accessibility of the Wheeler Library, planning for an expansion which would ensure accessibility as well as a number of additional repairs and improvements, were mostly put on hold due to the financial constraints we are experiencing.

We are most grateful for the continuing support of the Friends organization and our friends in the community at large. Wheeler Library has been in existence in this town since at least 1859 through all sorts of crises and hard times. We hope that you will lend your voices to ours strongly in the next (FY2013) budget process to avoid further decimation or even closure of the library’s services to the town of Orange. And we encourage those who haven’t as yet used its many and varied services to come and see what these libraries have to offer.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Library Trustees.

Rev. Dr. Jean Crist Thompson, Chair