Gibson Library Society 21 members and 4 non-members signed the attendance book.
1. Apologies for absence Apologies were received from: Sue Bright, Judy Brook, Dominic Davey, Ben Goldsmith, Barbara Light, Kevin Sheehan, Nigel Weaver, Gillian Williamson, Carolyn Wingfield. Chair of the Society, Martyn Everett (ME) was pleased to start the annual general meeting by welcoming Juliet Pirez, the Head of Library Service in Essex. He noted that it was the first time the Society had been visited by the Head of Service since the 1990s and he thanked her and her two colleagues from ECC, Clive Armitage (CA) and Andy Jackson (AJ) for attending.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting Minutes of the 2024 AGM had been posted on the website. They were taken as read and the meeting voted to accept them as a true record. Proposed: Charles Reese Seconded: Peter Walker Unanimously agreed. There were no matters arising.
3. Chairman's Report: Martyn Everett's report has been posted on the Society website. No questions were raised from the floor. ME's report concluded with the announcement of his decision not to stand for re-election to the office of Chair for a further year. He began his address by saying that he had taken this decision after having served as Chair for many years, and that he wished to remain with the Gibson Society and continue to contribute to it as much as possible. As no nominations for the position of Chair had so far been received, he said that he would continue in the role in an ex-officio capacity for a short period while the committee looked for a replacement. ME said that over the years he had worked with a lot of people including many from the Essex Library Service. He noted that over the last few years there has been a great deal of support for the Gibson Library from Essex, and that the service has great assets in its current managers, Clive Armitage and Andy Jackson. He added that the staff at Saffron Walden have all been hugely supportive and he thanked in particular Sarah Turpin for all her work and great contribution. He announced that Pat Gregory is retiring as an elected committee member but is very pleased that she intends to continue her valuable role as a volunteer for the Gibson Library. ME then spoke of the decision taken by our President, Bruce Munro, to retire at this AGM. Bruce Munro had been involved with the Society from the 1980s and had served as its President for the past twenty years. ME stressed that as the Chair of the Society he could not have had a more helpful, well-informed and supportive President, and that everyone had always held Bruce Munro in the highest esteem. ME was sad to record the recent death of John Oswin-Smith who had been a long-standing member and who had inspected our annual accounts for many years. John was a warm and sociable person and would be sorely missed, and ME extended sincere sympathies to his wife Berenice who is also a member of the Society. ME moved on to stress the importance of thinking about the future position of the Library. Changes in local government structures will create new unitary authorities. This will have a knock-on effect on the County's library services and upon the Gibson Library because of ECC's trusteeship. The Gibson Library could potentially find itself in a difficult position and people in organisations such as ours need to think about how they would like to see the system structured. We have to be clear on our interests, consider future arrangements, lobby our representatives, and, if necessary, influence and change the minds of decision-makers to protect and preserve the Gibson Library. He concluded by saying that we are moving into a period of uncertainty and must be ready for all possible outcomes of this process. There being no questions the meeting moved to the vote to accept the report. Proposed: Gaia Shaw Seconded: Howard Newman Unanimously agreed.
4. Treasurer's Report: The report and the accounts for the year from 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 had been posted on the website. Peter Walker (PW) drew particular attention to: 1. Total membership, income, donations and gift aid refunding was fractionally below the 2023-24 level but an increase in income from the sales of the Library's photographs for Martin Turnbull's book Lost Walden combined with a reduction in expenditure had produced a large increase in our surplus. 2. The Gibson Walden Fund has been providing funds towards the work of rebinding some of our historic books, and over the past twelve months we have received invoices for work which has been carried out in recent years. This means we no longer have to carry forward accrual for payment to the following year's accounts. 3. Our largest expenditure in recent years has been on the development of the Gibson Library Book, the income from sales of which we expect to see in the coming year. 4. Overall, our finances are in a healthy state and PW concluded we do not need to increase subscription rates. 5. PW thanked Martin Gruselle for fulfilling the duties of Independent Examiner of the annual accounts, stepping in at short notice following the sudden and sad death of John Oswin Smith. There were no questions for the Treasurer and the meeting moved to the vote to accept the 2024-25 accounts. Proposed: David Pearl Seconded: Martin Turnbull Unanimously agreed. MW thanked PW for his report and his continued excellent work on the Society's accounts.
5. Librarian's Report:
ME introduced Clive Armitage, ECC Area Manager, and Andy Jackson, Team Leader covering Saffron Walden and surrounding libraries. CA said that when he had attended the 2024 AGM he had only recently been appointed to his post and he thanked ME for all his help and advice as he settled in over the past year. He sad it was a pleasure to support the Gibson Library. He was also pleased to report further investment in the public library, including £25,000 spent on the building and redecoration in the past year, establishing a wider range of activities in the library, and opening up the courtyard to add an outdoors space for public and staff use. He felt that the County had not properly supported the Gibson Library previously but this would no longer be the case, and he cited the example of twenty hours per week of support by County staff to the Gibson Library and in particular the work done by Sarah Turpin.
CA added that the library service was focusing on "all things community", working with local partnerships to offer many valuable services to the wider community, and is challenging itself to continue to work in the best interests of the public. With regard to the proposed changes to local government structures, he said that as managers they did not know anything on the matter other than what is already in the public domain. He assured the meeting that he and his colleagues would inform and involve the Gibson Library as the situation develops.
Andy Jackson addressed the meeting, saying that the events programme is the biggest matter that he and the staff are working on. In April there had been a community language event which attracted ten attendees. There will be a digital skills support service starting up with Barclays Bank, and in June an Alzheimer's support service will be introduced. There will also be a partnership with the Barnardo's Children's Charity being rolled out across Uttlesford, and a number of other activities are being planned to increase and improve engagement with local communities. In Saffron Walden Library there will be improvements made to the study areas and the facilities for students and people using the library for remote working.
Juliet Pirez, the Head of Service, said that she was pleased to be able to attend our AGM. She thanked ME for his support, and thanked CA, AJ and Sarah Turpin for all they do for the Gibson Library. She looked forward to continuing to work with the Gibson Library and maintaining the good working relations that have been established between all parties. She said that she has raised at the most senior level the issue of the status and long-term position of the Gibson Library in the context of discussions on local government restructuring and the devolution of authority powers. She assured the Society that senior policy makers were fully aware of the unique value and historic importance of the Gibson Library and would work with its best interests in mind
6. Election of Officers and Committee of the Society:
Before moving to the election of officers and committee ME thanked Bruce Munro for all his services as President. He was pleased to present him with the first copy of the new Gibson Library book, signed by its author Clare Mulley, and which was due to be publicly launched and go on sale in the week following this AGM. BM said that it was an appropriate time for him to retire. He felt that he had been an unlikely President, but it had been the greatest of pleasure to serve the Library over many years. He had initially been invited onto the committee in the 1980s by the former Chair, John Shaw-Ridler, and he has continued to serve the Society since then. Throughout this time he said that he had been entirely supported by Martyn Everett and he thanked him for all he had done. He added humorously that he hoped the Society would never succeed in finding someone to replace ME and that he would have to continue in his post. His speech was enthusiastically applauded by everyone present.
Martyn Everett thanked Bruce Munro and stated that it had been a real pleasure to have worked with him.
Election of President: BM had confirmed his willingness to cntinue in the post. 7. Any Other Business:
There being no other business the meeting was closed at 8.05 pm.
Return to the AGM 2026 page.
