The James Prendergast Library Board of Trustees has honored its former president.
In March during an online meeting, the board presented a plaque and a gift to Joni Blackman, Prendergast trustee, for the three years she served as president of the board from 2018 to 2020. During her tenure as president, the library faced many challenges like finding an annual sustainable funding source, the COVID-19 pandemic and expanding the number of current trustees.
“Thank you so much for everything you did,” said Dan Hickman, Prendergast board president. “You really shepherd the library though several rough years in a row and we are very grateful for all of your hard work.”
dphillips@post-journal.com
At one point during 2020, the James Prendergast Library Board of Trustees had concerns about its endowment fund with the large downturns in the stock market during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, according to board treasurer, Michael Corey, the library’s endowment fund increased last year. Corey shared the good news with the rest of the board during its board meeting last week.
Corey said at the start of 2020 the endowment fund had $6.5 million and ended the year with more than $7.4 million, an increase of more than $900,000. He said during the first quarter of the year when the library had to shutdown because of the pandemic, the board withdrew an additional $94,000 from the endowment fund to assist in paying for facility operations. However, when the stock market stopped its free fall and started to improve, the board didn’t withdraw any additional funding during the second, third and fourth financial quarters.