Minutes of the 38th Annual General Meeting
held by Zoom on Wednesday 12th May 2021 at 8.00pm

21 people attended the meeting.

1. Apologies were received from: Judy Brook, Sir Alan Haselhurst, and Diana Hoy.

2. Minutes of the previous Meeting: Minutes of the 2020 AGM had been posted on the website and were shared on-screen. They were taken as read and were accepted as a true record.
Proposed: John Oswin Smith           Seconded: Sarah Kirkpatrick.           Unanimously agreed.
There were no matters arising.

3. Chairman's Report: Martyn Everett's (ME) report had been posted on the website and was shared on-screen. ME added: (i) He thanked John Ready for his work on the new ground floor office for ECC staff which had released the first floor office for GL use. (ii) He thanked Peter Walker (PW) for his expert handling of our Zoom account and for hosting our Zoom meetings. (iii) He thanked Gillian Williamson (GW), Secretary, and all the committee, especially Kelly Cole who had been instrumental in our successful grant applications.
The report was taken as read and accepted:
Proposed: Gillian Williamson.           Seconded: Martin Rose.           Unanimously agreed.

4. Treasurer's Report: The report and accounts for 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2021 had been posted on the website and were shared on-screen. PW drew particular attention to the following:
(i) Membership numbers were down due to the lack of face-to-face meetings which had reduced cash payments. Gift Aid was in respect of the previous accounting year.
(ii) The £500 binding payments had not been made yet as we are still in discussions with ECC about problems in the Trust Fund accounts.
(iii) The year showed a larger surplus of £1,500, largely due to the absence of rebranding costs. There is no need to increase the membership subscription rate.
The accounts had been examined and confirmed by the Independent Examiner, John Osmin Smith, who was thanked, and were accepted.
Proposed: Kelly Cole.           Seconded: Kathryn Fiddock.          Unanimously agreed.

5. Librarian's Report: The report, prepared by Julia Trew, ECC, had been posted on the website and was shared on-screen. It was taken as read and there were no comments.
The report was accepted:
Proposed: John Ready.          Seconded: Charles Reese.           Unanimously agreed.

6. Election of Officers and Committee of the Society:

Election of President: BM had confirmed his willingness to cntinue in the post. In his absence he sent a message via ME praising the committee for the renaming and rebranding project and November 2019 launch, especially KC, PW and GW.
Nominated: Martyn Everett.           Seconded: Barbara Hughes.           Unanimously agreed.

i) Election of Chairman: In BM's absence, GW took the Chair for the election of the Chairman, ME having confirmed his willingness to continue in the post. She thanked him for his work for the GL during the year.
Nominated: Gillian Williamson.           Seconded: Kelly Cole.           Unanimously agreed.

ii) Election of Treasurer: ME resumed the Chair. Peter Walker confirmed his willingness to continue in the post.
Nominated: Charles Reese.           Seconded: Barbara Hughes. .          Unanimously agreed.

iii) Election of Secretary: Gillian Williamson confirmed her willingness to continue in the post.
Nominated: Zofia Everett.           Seconded: Kathryn Fiddock.           Unanimously agreed.

iv) Election of current committee members: John Ready was standing down from the committee. ME thanked him for his major contribution to the Society.
The remaining committee members confirmed their willingness to continue in their posts and were re-elected en bloc: Kelly Cole, Ben Cowell, Barbara Hughes, Howard Newman, Charles Reese and Bruce Tice.
Nominated: Zofia Everett. Seconded: John Oswin Smith. Unanimously agreed.

v) Independent Examiner: John Oswin Smith confirmed his willingness to continue in the post.
Proposed: Martyn Everett.          Seconded: Ben Cowell .          Unanimously agreed.

7. Any Other Business:
i) No matters for consideration had been submitted to the Secretary.

ii) ME noted that the pandemic had meant that the past year was a very difficult one, with little or no access permitted to the library building. He thanked GLS members for supporting the Library's programme of Zoom talks and attending the AGM. He could not say when the Reading Room could reopen for researchers and undertook that a priority of the committee in the coming year would be to look at new ways of working to ensure the GL's resilience in a fragile environment for public libraries.

There being no other business the meeting was closed at 8.20 pm.


Return to the AGM 2022 page.



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