05/30/2024
Friends,
If you watch local government meetings, you may know that we will be asking voters at the Annual Town Meeting to help fund our salary budget this year.
Many years ago, the town assisted us by helping to fund salaries, but that was stopped. As our board members age and regulations surrounding fundraising become more and more strict, it has grown increasingly difficult to raise money on our own, though we continue to try to find new and innovative ways to supplement our budget.
At a recent meeting of the Select Board, there was some misinformation shared about the library that could mislead voters. Unfortunately, that misinformation landed on the front page of the local paper and in a YouTube video of the board's meeting.
Hardwick's Town Administrator told Select Board members and the public that the Gilbertville Public Library does not circulate books and materials to other libraries. This is untrue. We loan and borrow books from other libraries on a weekly basis. If we did not do inter-library loans the Hardwick libraries would not be state certified. We have been state certified for the 18 years that Linda Payne has been our Director.
The Town Administrator also indicated that our library does not submit financial statements. That is also false. The town accountant and treasurer have our financials. Linda Payne summits our financial expenses to the town every two weeks to be put on the warrant which the Select Board members sign. The accountant sends us a spread sheet showing our expenditures. The state reports have been submitted to the Town Administrator.
The Hardwick and Gilbertville Libraries are linked in that state funding is contingent on both libraries meeting certain criteria and we are careful to be sure we are always in compliance.
The Annual Town Meeting is at 9 a.m., June 8 at the Hardwick Elementary School. There are 17 articles on the warrant and the meeting isn't expected to be lengthy.
If you are able to be there to support the library, we would greatly appreciate it and we are happy to answer any questions here, if you have them.
