Annual Meeting Held on December 8

The Board of the Friends of the Hamilton Branch Library met on Monday, December 8, at Harbel Community Organization, President Derek Simmonsen presiding. New board members were introduced: Mairin Barney, Keisha Campbell, Vanessa Kelly, Brian Tetreault, and Cynthia Williams; outgoing board member and recording secretary Deborah Mason was thanked for her many contributions over the last seven years. The by-laws were amended to expand the board from a maximum of ten members to twelve. Renee Marks, Hamilton Branch manager, reported that the branch is expected to re-open in January, the date to be determined. The branch will be fully staffed, including a new children's librarian and new teen librarian.   
Written reports were presented to those in attendance:
​
Annual Narrative Report to the General Membership
8 December 2025 
The Friends have experienced significant growth this year in many ways. We collected 69%
more membership dues this year, and we closed out the fiscal year with a $2,221 balance in the
bank. This is the largest balance we’ve ever had, in good part because the closing meant our
spending was significantly lower. However, this puts us in an excellent position to support the
library when it re-opens. We also appointed a new board member, Ellen Adajian, and as a
result of a successful call for nominations, we look forward to having a full slate of board
members next year.
By far, the most significant library event of the year was the branch closure to make long-
needed HVAC updates. Unfortunately, the closure meant that we had to postpone the book
sale to a date to be determined and that opportunities to support library programs were
curtailed. However, despite this interruption, the Friends of the Hamilton Branch have been
active all year, including taking advantage of the closure to advocate successfully for a new
carpet for the library!
We promoted the library and the Friends at a variety of events, including three Thursday
markets during the summer. Additionally, volunteers distributed candy and ran a coloring
station for kids attending the Lauraville Fair in our brand-new event tent, while volunteers gave
out free books at back-to-school events held at Hamilton 236 and Garrison Heights
Elementary/Middle School. The Friends also staffed a table at Operation Warm Coat last December.
We also conducted our first targeted campaign, Youth in the Library, to support afterschool
student activities at the branch. Members contributed $764, which was used to buy snacks and
supplies for our young patrons. There is a balance of $381 remaining because of the closure.
The Friends also collaborated with Central Staff to sponsor two Writers’ Live events with local
authors Sarah Pinkser on January 26 and Susan Muaddi-Darraj on May 17, helping with
promotions and providing refreshments. During Hamilton HARTfest, we sponsored the library
meeting room as a venue and hosted a musical performance and two readings on May 3.
Finally, we continued our Banned Books Week Readaloud collaboration with Snug Books on
October 11. Board members and library staff took turns reading banned children’s books to our
youngest patrons, and the Friends raffled Snug Gift cards to encourage early membership
renewal.
In addition to these events and activities, the Board concentrated on updating its systems to
provide fast, effective, and efficient membership services and information. For example, the
Board implemented AirTable, a free relational database software, to create our own customer relations management system, helping us keep track of contributions and membership data over time.
We also have a new volunteer newsletter editor, and we switched from an outdated
publication platform to Mailchimp. As a result, the newsletter is more attractive, and, thanks to
an interface between Mailchimp and AirTable, our mailing list is automatically updated when
new members join.
Additionally, the Board developed a branding package, including a new color scheme, that gives
our communications a more attractive and coherent look. All members received new, branded
postcards during the summer when the library was closed to thank them for their continued
support.
In conclusion, the Board is confident that the Friends are ready to meet the challenges of the
new year, thanks to the support of its members and the staff.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Mason
Recording Secretary

The Annual Financial Report can be found here.