Library's Positive Start

Haddenham Community Library, no longer provided as a direct service by Bucks County Council, began operating as a company limited by guarantee (effectively a not-for-profit company) in November 2012. To meet the relevant company and charity commission rules, HCL was required to hold its first AGM before the end of August, and this requirement was duly met on Friday evening, 30th August 2013.

A full house of attendees included many local residents and keen users of the Library, as well as some of the volunteer helpers, representatives of the Parish Council and other donor organisations, and Trustees.

Two of those Trustees (Steve Sharp, Chairman, and Tim Mozely, Treasurer) and Simon Vickers (HCL President) were joined by Emma Barrett, manager of Haddenham Community Library, to offer an overview of the achievements to date.

Simon Vickers explained why he had felt it a privilege to support the Library as one of the founding donor organisations (Rectory Homes), and Steve Sharp detailed the journey that took the Library from a County Council service to an independently managed and operated company. He extended special thanks for the help and support of the volunteers, who assist in running the Library alongside the two salaried staff members.

Tim Mozely presented a very encouraging set of accounts, with HCL showing a positive balance of approximately £26,000. However, he was keen to emphasise that this represented considerable donor income and that the Library had only just begun to bear its ongoing costs — hence, the future financial health and viability of Haddenham's Library would be utterly dependent on continuing to generate significant income from donor organisations and through fundraising.

Emma Barrett described the wide range of activities and services offered by HCL, and thanked her professional colleague, David Morgan, for the skills and commitment he had brought to his role. David was now leaving Haddenham to manage another independently operated library in Winslow, and was presented with a parting gift by Steve Sharp.

You can download each of the reports (President, Chairman and Manager's presentations) by clicking on the PDF files located below the images.

A full description of all the Library's services and activities is available from the Reception desk, and special events are listed here on the community website.

The HCL website can be found here.