Page 5 - 2019 Annual Report

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

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Anticipation of the Athenaeum’s 150 Anniversary has provided a
wonderful focus for the Board of Trustees this year. When we look back on
the last 150 years, we admire the ambition of Horace Fairbanks in creating
the Athenaeum and Art Gallery. His gift to the town of St. Johnsbury remains
largely unchanged. The succession of people involved in the care of the
building and the devotion to its original purposes—which included a public
library, reading room, and lecture hall—allowed all of us to use and enjoy the
building as people did years ago. “Preserving the Past” for future generations is
part of our goal; looking ahead is the other part.
It has been fun to imagine what the Athenaeum will look like in another fifty 2019 ANNUAL REPORT GOES ONLINE
or one hundred or 150 years, and to plan for that. We have done that within It’s hard to think back to January 2020 when we began working on the 2019
our six trustee committees, in meetings with representatives from the
community, with professional strategic planners, and by doing some dreaming Annual Report. We had already chosen the cover and color scheme, and had
on our own. What we have imagined is exciting! just closed the financial books when we began to hear stories about the virus
in China. Like most of us, I wasn’t too concerned: Asia is a long way from our
Using remote solar power can make the Athenaeum a cleaner and greener wonderful Northeast Kingdom.
building. Providing a place for wet and messy projects for children, for small
summer concerts, book groups and other meetings would be possible with the Then, two months later, we shut our doors.
addition of an enclosed pavilion in back of the Athenaeum. Imagine a sound
booth where patrons could record music, listen to broadcasts, or practice their We had enjoyed a strong year fundraising, with our Annual Fund at $74,000
instruments. Improved lighting in our art gallery will greatly enhance the color and another successful Gala in May. We already had the 2020 Gala nearly sold
and details of paintings. Restoration and repair of the beautiful gold picture out in record time. And then all our plans were in limbo. We canceled the Gala
frames throughout the Athenaeum will preserve their beauty and value. The
development of a center for rare and important books will allow greater access and all of our scheduled spring events for adults and children alike.
to items that we already own but have no place to display. The outside of our When the staff returned to the Athenaeum in April—before we reopened to
building needs to have the bricks re-pointed, and the granite and slate repaired
and/or replaced. the public—the Athenaeum was strangely quiet. Had the Athenaeum been
closed for so long before? How much longer before we could admit our patrons
We imagine a greater dependency on digital formats in the future. Some and visitors?
archival materials, including many unique historical items, can be digitized for
preservation and access. Our patrons need more computers for research and In May we reopened according to Vermont safety guidelines, but attendance
use. Increased staff time is needed to provide more hours that the Athenaeum was low for awhile. Things have picked up lately as we increase our hours and
can be open to the public, and to expand our services, including more services. We’re moving carefully to ensure a safe and secure return to normal.
programming and community outreach.

And yes, we still will be buying and displaying books, providing quiet spaces We ran a fundraising drive to make up for the loss of Gala income, and our
where people can read, larger spaces for meetings or enjoyable and educational wonderful patrons gave more than $8,500. In order to reduce expenses, we
programs. We are dedicated to providing warm, cozy, familiar places for all ages moved the Annual Report to this online format. We’ve received CARES ACT
to enjoy. support, grateful help from Vermont Community Foundation, and are devoted

All of this will take time and money. A more robust endowment will help us to enhancing patron experience by putting our resources into library materials,
with our plans to “Promise the Future.” real and virtual. We hope to print the Annual Report again in the future: we
believe this is an important document for our donors and part of the history of
Whether your interests tend toward “Preserving the Past” or “Promising the the Athenaeum.
Future”, we hope that you will want to support the Athenaeum as we approach
our next milestone. Your past gifts have contributed to a successful 150 years. Thank you for your support of the Athenaeum—financially and emotionally.
We have survived and thrived with your support. Thank you.
We will survive this crisis, and will continue to serve the public as we move
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Mary Swainbank closer to our 150 Anniversary in 2021.
Board Chair
Scott Davis
Development Officer