Mérida English Library 2022 Annual Report
After nearly two years of restrictions on MEL activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mérida English Library emerged in 2022 - larger, stronger, and more vibrant than ever.
With increased numbers of visitors and residents - both foreign and local - returning to or discovering MEL for the first time, our new member enrollment more than doubled from 246 to 534!
For the first time in our history, we have implemented dedicated funding for book purchases and were able to add an additional 206 books to our collection in 2022 with these funds. We still appreciate and NEED book donations, but these dedicated funds allow us to add specific book titles that our members would like available to them at the Library. Our current collection of books, DVDS and puzzles now numbers more than 17,000.
We are also proud of the services we were able to provide to the community in 2022:
With a grant from the U.S. Consulate, we developed an English Language Mentorship workshop for university students that has become a UADY elective course. We resumed our Monday night Conversaciones con Amigos, Wednesday evening MEL Talks, Saturday Children’s Storytime, and Monthly MEL social nights. We hosted the Mérida Writers Group, Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon groups, and poetry & fiction writing workshops; and we organized a posada, a donations drive for Refettorio and Evolución, a two-week summer camp for children and six bazaars supporting local artists.
Our calendar of regular programs and events that fund Library operations, such as the MEL Wine Tastings, the Original House & Garden Tour, and the Santa Ana Gallery Tour are back in full swing; and we offered many new events in 2022: pilates, yoga and painting classes, a song writing workshop, language courses, an ostrich farm tour, and an Oktoberfest beer tasting. Thank you to everyone who helped to organize the events and who participated in them - your hard work and ticket purchases keep our Library running!
All this activity allowed the Merida English Library to have a good year financially in 2022. We normally lose money during the slow summer season, but due to the fantastic work of our staff and volunteers, we did not have to dig into savings to pay bills during that period. This allowed us to use the savings that we were holding to improve MEL’s facilities. We added a roof cover and fans to the upstairs patio, new bookshelves, a lighted sign and sandwich board for the front of the building, and upgraded the electronics for MEL talks and events. We also brought website management in-house which improved the product and reduced the cost. And we purchased 53,000 pesos worth of new books for the Library collection.
We did have to raise a few prices. The inflation rate in Mexico and Merida was 10% last year and the two previous years.
The 2022 budget surplus is now in a savings account to protect us in case of a low season or a reoccurrence of Covid.
We will continue to improve our facilities so that members and visitors can continue to enjoy their experience at the Library. Our priorities for 2023 are
Purchasing folding tables for use at events
Purchasing new chairs to replace some of the older, worn-out chairs
Constructing a storage area on the rooftop terrace,
We will also continue to expand our range of activities and events, so that more people in our community may benefit from the work we do.
Click on the button below to check the MEL 2022 Annual Financial Report.
