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Chief Librarian's & Board Liaison Report Faced with the need to cut additional money in order to meet the Library's budget target for 1998, the Board, at their last meeting, after much deliberation, decided to close additional hours in 1998. The decision to cut hours instead of the book budget was taken in the light of the public response to the library survey. In response to the question "which is more important to you: new books or open library hours?" 75% responded that new books were of ultimate importance. The decision the Board reached was to close for 3 hours on Monday mornings. In 1998, therefore, the Library will not open until 1:00 pm on Mondays. This was a thoroughly thought out decision and a number of options were considered. The morning hours' closure was selected because an evening closure was chosen in 1997 and it was felt that an additional evening would be an undue burden on students and people who work during the day. In addition, because of labour law and the way our shifts work, this is a three hour closure whereas an evening is a four hour closure. Several other options were considered, including a permanent Sunday closure, but again it was felt that this would be an undue burden on working families. Board Chair Barbara Cupit & Chief Librarian Ann Goodhart appeared before Council on Monday, November 24 for the televised budget hearing. They had 7 minutes to present the Library's budget and Council had 18 minutes in which to ask questions. Needless to say, in this time frame it was not an in-depth review of the budget, leaving the Board with no real idea of where the Council is in terms of approval. They have not yet heard from the Province whether there will be additional "downloading" this coming year, but they do know that some costs are going up significantly. The Board do not expect final approval from Council until next year, but believe the best possible scenario to be no additional cuts. Staff are working on the analysis of the detailed parts of the survey. When this work is completed, the results will be turned over to the consultant who will produce a draft report for Ann. Ann is hoping to have a one page report available for the public by the turn of the year. Ted Benson, Head of the Reference Section, has now ordered the Encyclopaedia of Human Biology and the Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, the purchase of which was approved at our October meeting. The Chief Librarian and the Board would like to convey their appreciation to the Friends for this generous contribution. Ann Goodhart reported that the revenue from room rentals is ahead of budget and the rooms are renting very well. She again thanked the Friends for their help in making these rooms such desirable and pleasant places. The first public training session on the internet has been held. It was so successful that it resulted in a waiting list, so that a second workshop will be repeated in early December. The audience was a mixture of old and young, but a least half of the attendees were seniors. Nominations Committee The annual term of our Executive - President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary - will end at the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday, January 28. Our President, Eileen de Bues, and our Secretary, Carmina Davila, have stated that they do not wish to be considered for re-election. A Nomination Committee has to be established, volunteers for which are urgently required. Please telephone Eileen de Bues at 922 6446 to offer your services to this vital, but short tenn committee. Separately, Pat Scrivener, chairman of our telephone committee, feels that, after over five years of dedicated and utterly reliable service, she must stand down. Those wishing to take on this essential role should telephone Eileen or Carmina Davila at 925 6717 to discuss.