FY24 Annual Report - Howe Library Corporation

Page 1


Annual Report

FY24 | HOWE LIBRARY CORPORATION

BOARD CHAIR’S REPORT

Vital Community Space

I have raised my family at the library. For the past eleven years, the Howe has been an extension of our living room: a comfortable, welcoming space to gather, connect and enjoy. Above all, it is a place where we—and anyone—can simply be. Climate-controlled and without admission fees or time limits, the library is a rare public space where all are welcome.

Results of our recent survey suggest that the community agrees: the Howe received high satisfaction ratings for its free meeting rooms, study spaces and public restrooms. As we engage in space planning over the next year, we will explore options that continue to make the library comfortable, flexible and accessible.

This past year, highlights of the Board’s work include finalizing a strategic plan that will guide the library’s work through 2026, working with the Town of Hanover to assess and address building needs, and engaging Corporation Members through events and communication.

This work, combined with the Howe’s collections and programs (funded entirely by gifts to the Howe Annual Fund), has me in awe of our community’s collective power. Thank you for investing in this shared community space.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Find. Learn. Connect.

As our previous strategic plan came to an end, the Howe was eager to initiate a new strategic planning process. Recognizing the significant changes in our community's needs, desires, and interactions post COVID, the staff and board’s aim was to steer the library towards making the most impactful contributions. Through the strategic planning process, our goal has been to harness our staff’s strengths and elevate the quality of our work to serve our community at the highest level.

Throughout this process, we listened to your feedback. You clearly expressed what you loved, what you wanted to maintain, and where improvements could be made. It became evident that our collections, programming, space, and staff are key priorities. These elements will shape our strategic direction, emphasizing community engagement and core services to ensure our library remains a welcoming hub for everyone. We are committed to recognizing and prioritizing our staff’s strengths in this endeavor.

With our new strategic plan, Howe staff is ready to expand community connections, create responsive and innovative services, make the most of library spaces, and prioritize organizational growth.

Howe Library anchors our vibrant community, providing diverse resources, welcoming spaces, and opportunities for lifelong learning.

Rubi

COMMUNITY SPONSORS

We are so grateful for the support of local businesses and organizations. Their generosity helps us serve the community with the highest-quality library services.

CLASSICS — $2,500

BESTSELLERS — $1,000

Baker Orthodontics

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust

The BaySon Company

Bio X Cell

Commonwealth Financial Network

Estes & Gallup Construction

Granite Value Capital, LLC

Johnson Audiology

Ledyard National Bank

Peraza Dermatology Group

Pilon Decker Lipinski Dental

Snyder, Cahoon & Co., PLLC

Umpleby’s Bakery & Café

Von Bargen’s Jewelry

IN-KIND GIFTS

Blake Hill Preserves

Melanie and Peter Golder

Hanover Inn

Hanover Scoops

Harpoon Brewery

River Valley Club

SILO Distillery

Spelman Creative

Stave Puzzles

Thank You

FOR YOUR ONGOING & GENEROUS SUPPORT

The Howe Library Corporation is grateful for the gifts received from many individuals, local businesses, and organizations. All donations to the Howe Annual Fund help provide for library collections, programs, and other operating activities.

$2,500+

Andy Borowitz and Olivia Gentile

C & S Wholesale Grocers, LLC

Susan N. Cohen *

Michael DeMichele and Elizabeth Shelburne

Mrs. Pamela L. Doenges

Posey Fowler *

David Fullagar

The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation

Nancy and Steve Marion *

Jane Kitchel McLaughlin and Peter J. McLaughlin

Ruth Sylvester *

Debra Williamson

Genevieve Williamson *

$1,000-$2,499

Judson and Carol Burnham

John and Nancy Collier

Ann and Edward Craxton

Bryant and Marilyn Denk

Carol and Karen Du Bois

Emily Landecker Foundation, Inc.

Michael and Margaret Galbraith

Head Light Fund of NHCF

Carey Heckman

Help Is Passed On Fund

Martha Hennessey

Rebecca J. Hooper

Ellen Ives and Colleen Johnson

The Lichtenstein Family

Mrs. Mado Macdonald

Amy B. Mucha + Lynne Naughton

Vicki J. Scheidt and P. Jack Hoopes

Barbara Spaid and Virgil Miedema

Jim and Cindy Varnum

Larry Young and Toni LaMonica

$500-$999

The Ames Family

Lisa Baldez and John Carey

Yolanda Baumgartner

Kate and Brian Bulthuis

Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Inc.

Carrie and Geoff Colla

Judy Csatari

Denisse and Gregory Dalle

Dartmouth Cooperative Society, Inc.

Carolyn Dever and Paul Young +

Bernard Drury

Constance and William Emerson

Global Forest Partners LP

Peter and Melanie Golder

VG and Kirthi Govindarajan

Barbara and Thomas Hall

Cynthia Hillas

Jim and Kathryn Hourdequin

Jen and Reid Hutchins

Marge and Ward Ives

Kevin and Punam Keller

Barbara and Frank Lesher

LindeMac Real Estate

Nora Lusterio and Mike McFetridge

Ellen and James Lynch

Maloney Associates Insurance

Katie and John Manchester

Eric Martin and Paloma Asensio

Barbara and Douglas McIlroy

Carolyn and Peter Mertz

Sarah Miles and Kevin McCurdy

Al and Margaret Mulley

New Hampshire Humanities

Marilyn M. Paganucci

Nina Pavcnik and Eric Edmonds

Anne Pearson +

Maryann Piotrowski

Laura Rice and Michael Wagner

Robert & Catherine Miller

Charitable Foundation

Roberts Flowers of Hanover

Colleen and Jay Rozzi

Lynn and Gary Schwartz

Anne Segal

Snyder Donegan Real Estate Group

Hal and Carol Sox

Ann Fowler Stevens

Matt and Sonya Stover

The SWP Group, Merrill Lynch

Eileen Wang and Charles Gray

Susan Weeks

Charlie and Leah Wheelan

Mark Winberry and Cindy Merchant +

$250-$499

Margaret Abbott

Liz and Clay Adams

Amer and Rima Al-Nimr

Patricia Appleton

Jim and Jean Behnke

Priscilla J. Benson

Philip and Charlotte Bernini

Sally Boyle

Jennifer and Chip Brown

Barbara and Alan Callaway +

Bill and Nancy Carter

Stan and Judi Colla

Kinson and Keri Craft

Marilyn R. Crichlow

Custom Tours & More

The DiScipio Family

David and Megan Donegan

Robert and Mary Donin

Brian and Marianne Doyle

Alison Evans and Eli Deeb +

Eric and Anne Evans

Frances Friedman

Harold Frost

David and Cynthia Glueck

Barbara Hall

Andrea and Michael Harris

Betty Heston

Grace Hope Hill

Kate Hilton

Terence Hines

Nicholas Holt and Regan Stanger

International Women’s Club of the Upper Valley

Debra Jayne

Glenn and Patricia Johnson

Kathy Jones and Don Perovich

Kapadia Family

Marcia Kelly and Barry Harwick

S. Caroline and Darcy A. Kerr

Mary Lynn and Ed Kerrigan

Diane and James Knight

Nancy and David Lagomarsino

Laura and Jim Larrick

Wayne and Kathy LoCurto

Erzo Luttmer and Ellen Meara

David and Ann Malenka

Kristine and Pat McDevitt

Jayne Mclaughlin

Patricia Min and Richard Greger

William and Margaret Montgomery

Deborah Bacon Nelson

Rob and Teresa Oden

Susan and Jay Pierson

Win and Mundy Piper

Robert B. Rettig

Jennifer Rickards and Jona Roberts

Matt and Margaret Rightmire

Les and Diane Riman

Linda and Rick Roesch

Bruce and Michele Sacerdote +

Jill and John Schiffman

Julie and Dudley Smith

Terryl and Dodd Stacy

Rob and Janice Starkey +

John S. Stebbins

Jed and Lindsay Sturman

Elaine and Richard Sullivan

Michael and Jennifer Taxman

Rob and Tracy Walsh +

Chris and Emilia Warrington

Tribute Gifts

GIFTS IN MEMORY OF

John C. Abbott

Desmond E. and Marie Canavan

Nita Choukas

Patricia W. Eckels

Christine Eickelman

Joan “Posey” Piane Fowler

Mary E. Ives

Carmen Kaesmeyer

Mike and Lois McGean

Carletta Nevers

Bob Riessen

Professor Daniel

Franklin Ross, Ph.D.

Joan Perry Snell

Howard Squires

Barbara Van Voorhees

GIFTS IN HONOR OF Andy Borowitz

Courtney Farrell

Jean Keene

Jennifer Miller and Udi Greenberg

Jennifer Rickards

Katherine Wilkerson

Doris Yates

Arthur and Jeanne Young

$100-$249

William and Linda Abdu

Mary Allen

Ginia Allison

Patty Armstrong and Fred Perkins

Kerry Artman

Dwight and Gayle Aspinwall

Bruce and Patricia Atwood

Alice Baertschiger

Ken Baker and Judy Reeve

Martha and Jim Beattie

Judith and James Bernat

Michael and Ellen Bettmann

Charles and Gillian Billo

Carolyn S. Bird

Marilyn Blight + Tom Blinkhorn

Colleen Boggs

William and Susan Boyle

Ms. Frances Brokaw

Gary Brooks

Linda Brown

Richard and Lin Brown +

Ellen and Tom Brydges

Mary Ann and Len Cadwallader

Audrey and Michael Calderwood

Michael and Jennifer Casey

Steve Chapman and Cathy Shubkin

Mike Choukas Jr.

Kathy and Peter Christie

William and Elizabeth Clendenning

Marcus and Lindsay Coe

Frances Cohen

Dan and Joan Collison

Board of Trustees, Front row: Stan Colla, Tracy Walsh, Laura Larrick, Carolyn Dever, Janice Starkey, Debra Williamson; Back row: Lawrence Walters, Barbara Spaid, Charlie Wheelan, Andy Borowitz; Missing from photo: Catherine Rieke, Irasema Saucedo, Joanna Whitcomb

2023-2024

Board of Trustees

Laura Larrick

Chair

Carolyn Dever

Vice Chair

Debra Williamson

Secretary

Janice Starkey

Treasurer

Andy Borowitz

Stan Colla

Meg Colton

Marjorie Cook

Sylvia L. Cook

Glenn and Margaret Cooper

Susan and Jonathan Crane

Larry and Debby Cromwell

Drs. Lawrence and Linda Dacey

Jane Darrach

Dartmouth Class of 1959

Julie and John Dolan

Elizabeth Dollhopf-Brown and Joshua Brown

Brian and Susan Edwards

Dale F. Eickelman

Heidi Eldred

Richard and Linda Ely

Cliff and Felixa Eskey

Trevor Fairbrother and John Kirk

George and Patricia Fowler

Nancy Fullam

Lisa Furmanski and Peter Solberg

Ros Garcia

James and Karen Geiling

Bill and Kathy Geraghty

Roger and Betty Lameyer Gilmore

Pat Glowa and Donald Kollisch

Leah Goat

Laura-Beth Goodman

Mariruth Graham +

John and Alice Harrison

Jill and Bill Hatch

Elaine K. Hawthorne

Mrs. Fiona Heaney

Pete and Ann Henderson

Frances Herbert

John W. and Nancy Canavan Heslop

Helene Hickey

Sandra Hoeh *

Romer and Deming Holleran

Gray and Rich Horan

Darrell Hotchkiss

Stephen and Nancy Hoverman

Nicholas and Judith Jacobs

Stuart Johnson

The Kazal Family

Bob Keene

Ron and Carol Keenhold

Pattrawadi and Francis Kennedy

Dave Kinney

Gail Kuhl and Wayne Gersen +

Maggie Kundtz and Rich Joseph

Jane Lancaster

Fred and Ruth Lappin

Bryarly Lehmann

Renee and David Lent

Dianne Levine

Michael Liu

Frank A. Logan

Matthew Lotterhand and Sarah Slater +

Anne Low

Lubrano Family Charitable Foundation

Ellen and Dan Lynch

MA+KE Architects

Martha MacDonald

The Madonia Family

Lu Martin

Martha McDaniel and Stephen Plume

Linda and Roger McWilliams

Carrie Michelson and Leah Gitajn

Marie Miller

Chris and Kim Milliman

Randy and Bridget Mudge

Jim and Wendy Murphy

Ardis Olson

Miguel Picanço +

Frank and Betty Pizzuti

Melanie Podolec +

Francie Prosser-Riessen

Sukie Punjasthitkul

Matthew and Cornelia Purcell

Athos Rassias

The Richards Group

Catherine Rieke and Jason Pettus

Dennis and Louise Robison

Daniel and Ellen Rockmore

Herb and Lois Roland

Dena Romero

Karen and Marc Seltzer

Stephen and Susan Shadford

Eric and Susan Shirley

Rob Shumsky

Iain and Caroline Sim

Mrs. Barbara Smith

Gerri and Geoffrey Smith

The Squires Family

Sara and Trent Staats

Doug and Beth Staiger

Karen Tenney and Tom Loring

Vijay Thadani and Onita Connington

Paul and Suzanne Thompson

William and Rita Tingle

Elizabeth Tobiasson

Paula Tsai

Andy Tuthill and Susan Frankenstein

Universal Tool Company

Renee and Greg Ursitti

Doug and Aricca Van Citters

Tim Wagg

Daniel Warner

Robert Weatherill

David Webb

Carol Westberg

Huntley and Lynne Whitacre

Tom and Joan Wilson

Jane Womack

Susan Wright

Jimmy and Marjorie Wu

Julia Wybourne

William and Sarah Young

Kim Youngren

UP TO $99

Rosemarie Adams

Deborah Albert

Jeanne and Perry Ball

Ingrid Barrett

Lindy Bean

Peter and Chrysanthi Bien

James and Georgia Brackett

Margaret Bragg

William and Jean Brown

Elizabeth Bulasko

Kenneth and Marion Burchard

Dave and Ann Cioffi

Christopher Connor

Julie and Mike Cryans

Joseph and Elizabeth DeSimone

Vicky and Reid Drucker *

Woody and Emily Eckels

Catherine Rieke

Irasema Saucedo

Barbara Spaid

Tracy Walsh

Lawrence Walters

Charlie Wheelan

Joanna Whitcomb

Select Board Representative

Rubi Simon

Library Director

Don and Beth Esinhart

Paul and Fran Gardent

Iris Gerofsky

W. Charles Gibson

David Goudy

Jooyeon Ha and Kwangdo Yi

Ralph Hammock

Cristina and Bill Hammond

Hanover Garden Club

Caitlin and Michael Herrick

Deb and David Hoffer

Michael and Avery Hoppa

Robert and Beverly Houghton

Ted and Kathy Jastrzembski

Chris Kawashima and Laine Seaton

Thomas Kearney and Rebecca Pschirner

Philip and Sarah-Jane Kerr

Eugene Kohn

Richard and Kelley Lemay

Jim and Elizabeth Lustenader

Max Mahaffee

Jane McCarthy

Phebe McCosker

Betsy McGean and Blinkhorn Family

Finetta Mellish

Marcia Moon

Joanna Petty

Sarah Quinn

Yvonne Ransel

John and Lise Richardson

Deb Wick Robarge

Alan A. Rozycki

Priscilla Runstadler

Molly Scheu

Jessie Young Shepard

Liese Shewmaker

Lindley Shutz and Michael Lynch

John Snell

Thomas Tetreault

Olga Vandycheva and Boris Makarov

Elizabeth Lynn Vesley-Gross + Noelle Vitt

Sharon and John Weaver

Rebecca Weissman

Jason Zettervall

Emily’s Legacy Society

Formed in 1912 with a gift from Emily Howe, these generous individuals have named the Howe Library Corporation in their wills or estate plans with a simple bequest or as a beneficiary of their life insurance, retirement plan, or IRA.

BEQUEST GIFTS

In fiscal year 2024, we received four gifts from Emily’s Legacy Society members. Join us in honoring their lives and generosity to the Howe Library.

Susan N. Cohen

Joan “Posey” Piane Fowler

Ruth E. Sylvester

Genevieve Williamson

Howe Sustainers Circle

Join the Howe’s monthly giving program! Recurring donors provide steady support throughout the year—helping the library achieve its mission.

For more information on each program, visit www.thehowe.org/donate

Promising Growth

OPERATING REVENUES

Howe Library Corporation (HLC) finances were healthy during fiscal year 2024 (FY24) thanks to generous donors and the performance of our endowment. The Howe Annual Fund, supplemented by a small drawdown from our endowment, supports our book collections, public programs, development expenses, professional fees, technology costs, administrative costs, and building enhancements. Additionally, we received restricteduse donations for new shelving in the children’s space and for the continuation of the Check This Out! series.

OPERATING EXPENSES

Expenses related to collections and programming comprised 54% of total operating expenses. During FY24, HLC hired Fast Forward Libraries to assist us with a Board retreat and staff planning session to address our strategic plan. We also contracted with a legal team and a human resources consultant to support building enhancement needs and development strategies. After personnel expenses, our largest development expense was the Spring Soirée—the Howe’s signature event that raises funds for core library services.

ENDOWMENT

The financial markets were strong in FY24: our investment portfolio was valued at approximately $5.9 million as of June 30th, an increase of approximately 10.7% for the year. We withdrew $85,000 or 1.4% of the investment portfolio, which is less than the 3% annual spending policy.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

The Finance Committee has the fiduciary obligation to manage our investment portfolio and treasury operations in the best interests

of the HLC. During FY24, the committee ensured our investments were managed in compliance with our Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and evaluated our short-term and long-term cash management policies.

We’re grateful for your unwavering support.

Emily Howe photo courtesy of Rauner

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.