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Newsletter Issue 122 December 1998 Annual General Meeting Formal Notice The Annual General Meeting of The Friends of the West Vancouver Memorial Library will be held on Wednesday, January 27, 1999, at 7 pm in the Library's Peter J. Peters Meeting Room. At the Annual General Meeting, reports will be given by the Society's 1998 Officers and Activity & Event Coordinators. The election of the Society's Directors for 1999 will be held. All Members are welcome and encouraged to attend. There will not be regular monthly meetings in December, or January, the next regular meeting being on February 24. Please note the dates mentioned in this newsletter as the next issue will not be published until February 1999. Christmas Closing The library will be closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays from December 24 to January 1, inclusive. Remember to stock up with holiday reading on or before Wednesday, December 23 as the library will not be open again until Saturday, January 2. However, work and shelf restocking goes on behind the locked doors, and early in the new year is a good time to visit as the shelves are fairly groaning with returns! Language Learning Laboratory All Members are invited to the official opening of the new Language Learning Laboratory. This was purchased with the money raised by the Friends at the casino event last December: Day: Thursday Date: January 14, 1999 Time: 3 pm. Join us for tea in the Elizabeth Musto Room after the ribbon cutting. Presentation of Library's Budget The library's annual operating budget was submitted to Council on November 30. Board Chairman Jack McConville and Chief Librarian Ann Goodhart will make a presentation of the budget's highlights on Monday, December 14. This Council Meeting will be taped and broadcast on Rogers Community TV (channel 4) the following day, Tuesday, December 15, commencing at 9pm. It is not possible to predict the exact time of the Library's presentation. The presentation will include a request that an increase be granted for the restoration of Monday morning opening. It will also draw attention to the fact that the purchasing power of the book-buying budget, which was cut in 1997, is being eroded by the weakness of our dollar. About 80% of the library's books are purchased from Britain or from the United States. In addition, it is estimated that Canadian book prices will increase by some 8% next year. The Library's capital budget, whose main component is the new computerisation, is also being discussed with Council.