Having battled the impacts of Covid on the community and the library, in the preceding two y ears, the committee were looking forward to a restriction free Market day on January 6th 2023. Sadly, thanks to Cyclone Hale, various severe storms and then Cyclone Gabrielle, we had to cancel first, the January 6th market, and then the January 28th replacement date. This was disappointing for stallholders and the community alike. Subsequent road closures as a result of weather events has also had an impact on the numbers of visitors to the area. We did, however, manage to proceed with the January 4th annual book sale with good results and to offset some of the financial impact of the cancelled Market Days, further sales were held at Waitangi weekend and then again on Easter Saturday. This has boosted the book sale results for the year to more than double what we usually get.
Without the group of volunteers that man the library, the library simply would not exist, so a huge thanks again to all of you. My thanks also to Head Librarian Jane Harsant for continuing to keep the library running smoothly, and ensuring that we continue to maintain a great selection of new books, together with Pat Morgan our Junior Librarian who continues to ensure our childrens section is outstanding. Thanks also to Barb Ritchie, our secretary, who is tenacious in keeping overdue books under control, and does all of our administration, Sharyn Sellers for keeping the finances on track, and the rest of the executive, who willingly give their time to the library.
The library continues to be in a sound financial position, with funding this year from TCDC, Member subscriptions & the book sales.
This year we bestowed Life Membership on Ann Harsant, who was a stalwart of the library for many years.
Market day
This was a huge disappointment, not being able to hold this years Market Day, especially as we had had a huge response and added in extra stalls to cater for the demand for spaces. As a result we decided to hold a ‘Mini Market day’ on Easter Saturday, on the Village green, in conjunction with the extra book sale in the hall. The day was sunny and it was a huge success with local stall holders asking for it to become an annual event. A huge thanks to Lorne DePape for his untiring work , first with the cancelled markets, and then setting up the mini market. We are currently holding funds in the Market Day account which are fees from this years cancelled market, which stall holders have requested be held against next years market day. The library executive continues to ensure that a conservative financial reserve is maintained, to provide a buffer in the event that a Market day cannot be held.
Community Wellbeing Donations.
As a result of having no Market Day, this year we will only be committing funds to the Hot Water Beach Surf Rescue, of $1000.
