June 2024 Newsletter

Dear Friends of the Libby!

Welcome Summer!

It has been a while since we communicated about the goings on with Friends of the Libby Museum, Inc. (“the Friends”) and folks are rightly curious about what we have been up to. To borrow Mark Twain’s quip “The reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated"! So, herewithin, our update.

It’s been 15 months since the vote on approving a warrant for partial Town of Wolfeboro funding to restore The Libby Museum went down to defeat, falling just 12 votes shy of the 60% required for passage (Note: A 57% majority of voters voted in favor of the warrant!). Prior to the vote, the Friends raised $2.2 million in donations specifically restricted by donors to be dedicated to a Restoration Fund established by the Friends. Following the vote, the Friends were required by law to notify every one of those donors of the failed warrant and offer to return their donation. This was a significant and time consuming effort.

All those who pledged donations were released from their commitment. Everyone who made an actual donation was contacted and asked if they would like their donations refunded or whether they would prefer the funds stay with the Friends as part of our operating reserves. Those who wished their money be returned were refunded in full as the Restoration Fund was held in trust.

While we’ve heard back from most of our donors, there are still some donations for which we have not received donor directions. For these donations, we were required to defer to the Charitable Trust Division (CTD) of the NH Attorney General’s Office. In turn, we were instructed by the CTD to petition the NH Courts for final directions on how, and if, these funds should be reallocated. We are currently working with an attorney on these court filings.

Since the failure of the warrant vote, responsibility for the state of The Libby reverted squarely back onto the Town Board of Selectmen who are the legal fiduciary Trustees of The Libby Museum, and they are working to solicit engineering advice to prioritize the needed repairs to the museum building and how best to allocate the capital reserve earmarked for The Libby Museum in the coming years. To date, the Town has not identified or secured a firm to provide this advice.

We, the Friends, remain fully committed to our mission of providing support to The Libby Museum and its collection. But we also have an obligation to ensure that our donors’ funds will be used effectively in support of this mission. Therefore, the board of the Friends is preparing a strategic plan for supporting The Libby, predicated on the Town Selectmen/Libby Trustees delivering and approving a plan to address the myriad issues that currently weigh on the museum and the collection. The Friends look forward to resuming vigorous support for the programming at the museum as well as contributing to the future improvement of the collection once we and the Town Selectmen/Libby Trustees complete our respective planning tasks. We hope you will join us by becoming, or renewing, your membership in the Friends.

Respectfully,

Tom Goodwin, Chair, on Behalf of the Friends of the Libby Museum, Inc. Board