Hoag Library elects 2 trustees, reports uptick in circulation
Photo by Tom Rivers: Hoag Library director Betty Sue Miller, back left, and assistant director Elizabeth Haibach meet with the board of trustees following the annual meeting at the library on Monday evening.
ALBION – Hoag Library experienced an increase in circulation for books, non-book materials, eBooks and audiobooks in 2023, a year when the library also added a music series.
Betty Sue Miller, director of the library, went over highlights of the year during the library’s annual meeting on Monday. Total circulation for books and non-books was 42,898 with 32,323 books and 10,575 non-books. (That compares to 40,082 in 2022, with 28,927 from books being checked out and 11,025 non-books including laptops and hot spots for internet access.)
The circulation was up 2,816 or by 7.0 percent for books and non-books. The eBook circulation was up by 1,741 or 25.9 percent from 6,727 to 8,468, according to the annual report.
Total items checked out – books, non-books and digital materials – added up to 51,366, up by 9.7 percent from 46,809 in 2022.
Hoag was used in other ways in 2023:
- 4,757 items loaned out through inter-library loan
- 5,666 items borrowed through inter-library loan
- 619 programs with 5,365 attendees
- 446 notarized documents
- 1,174 meeting room bookings
- 27,883 WiFi sessions
- 379 reference questions
- 900 Fax services
- 57 homebound deliveries
Two trustees were also elected to four-year terms during the annual election. Jim Babcock, an incumbent, received the most votes of three candidates, and was picked on 64 of 83 ballots. Carole Patterson, a former board member, is back for a new term after receiving 51 votes. Kevin Doherty, an incumbent trustee and former board president, came in third with 38 votes.
After the annual meeting, the trustees met and picked their officers and chose to keep the same leaders: Linda Weller as president, Mary Covell as vice president, Dawn Squicciarini as secretary, and Rachel Hicks as treasurer.
The library has an overall budget of $693,150 in 2024, up $10,050 from $683,150 in 2023. The library will be seeking $664,510 during the May 21 vote that also includes the school budget, the board of education candidates and other propositions for the school. Voting will be from noon to 8 p.m. at Hoag Library.
The library’s amount to be collected by the school is up $10,000 or by 1.5 percent from the $654,100 in 2023. It remains under the $754,350 in 2021, the last year Hoag was still paying on the mortgage for a new library that opened in 2012.
