Is it really May already? Six weeks since the AGM! 

The AGM was held on March 15 and that was after the deadline date for the April Horizon so this is the first time I can report on that event. You’ll see the 2013 Board ‘mugshots’ on page 7. The AGM was lively and those that attended the meeting will already know that the ‘Table Discussion’ was postponed due to lack of time. I promised a separate meeting to enable that discussion to take place. The date for the proposed members’ meeting is June 13. More details to follow next month.

We had some difficult business to get through and further information about this is on page 7. The meeting was minuted by Rebecca Shaw who joined the Board at the end of March. Both Tania Lowery and I are pleased to have someone in this role and it is nice to have someone to take a bit of the pressure off.

A makeover for the small meeting room

The small meeting room, where the conversation groups meet, is currently undergoing a makeover and is already much less cluttered. The plan is to replace the existing two tables with four more versatile folding tables. The space can then be used more flexibly. The Board would like the small meeting room to be used by groups that prefer not to be disturbed. When open the library is open, anyone who wants to look at the books can access it and it is not for exclusive use by any groups. This does cause tension from time to time, as library users feel unable to peruse the books, particularly when the door is closed and some groups don’t like being disturbed.

Pruning books for the book sale

You might have noticed that there is some space on the library shelves. The Library Team have been busy taking books that have never been borrowed off the shelves to make space for new ones. In part this is because Centrepoint will be holding a book sale on the evening of May 2 and during the day on May 3. Don’t miss it. For avid book readers or those who can’t make this sale, a further opportunity to buy books will be on June 7 and June 8 at the Joint Book sale. The venue is Basel West Library and we need volunteers to help set up, clear up and run the event. Can you spare 2 hours during the actual sale or on the evening of June 6? Sign up at jointbooksale{at}centrepoint.ch

We still need a Treasurer!

The hunt for a Treasurer continues and in the meantime payments are continuing to be made on time and income is being monitored. As the 2013 Budget is tight, monitoring expenditure and the income against budget is seen as a priority. To this end, identifying a treasurer is urgent and whilst the budget monitoring will be done other aspects of the centre’s work may suffer as the smaller Board and Officer’s Group still has to do everything else too. Being one officer short is a 33% gap, however the statistics are presented!

Opening hours at Centrepoint

At the last Board meeting there was some reflection on Front Desk volunteer opening hours. This discussion in part started as a friend had recently told me she can never volunteer to cover the desk as she has to be home for 12:00 for her daughter. I assume most parents with school aged children will have this same challenge. About the same time, a desk volunteer commented that conversation classes start before the centre officially opens and she often arrives to find the door open, leaving the centre vulnerable to intruders. We agreed this is not ideal.

Centrepoint opening hours have been the same for some time. I’m all for the adage: ‘don’t fix it if it’s not broken’. However, membership needs do change over time so I need to ask: how can the opening hours change to meet membership’s needs? Feedback about changing opening hours is most welcome.

And finally...

I was at Centrepoint earlier today and was talking to someone who has seen many changes over her 14 years of membership. I was pleased to hear her reflect that the atmosphere at the Lohnhof is "once more” positive and she enjoys her time working at the Front Desk. Interestingly, she also said that in the past many more people seemed to call in to use the library regularly. We both wondered why that has changed.