The start of a New Year is always a good time for reflection, looking back over the previous 12 months to assess what one has accomplished. It is also a good time to set goals for the next 365 days. 2002 has been a busy year for the N.H. State Library. A contract was signed with epixtech for a new web-based N.H. Union Catalog. With the help of a stakeholders' committee, we examined a number of systems and chose epixtech, not because it was the least expensive, but because it best served the needs of the New Hampshire library community. Once the system was chosen, the Network Services Section of the State Library worked to make the system fulfill its promise of a new, more powerful tool to assist libraries to serve the needs of their patrons. Launched in November 2002, this system is helping libraries do their work better, all of the problems are not worked out yet, but each day things improve.

A year ago the State Library mounted a very successful exhibit of World War Two posters to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. The sixty posters chosen form a collection of over two hundred that show the unity of the country during the war. Although the exhibit was planned before the 9/11 tragedy, the posters added meaning to generations that did not live through the war. We were very pleased to have so many World War Two veterans see the exhibit. Many expressed their gratitude that we used our collections to honor them. The exhibit also served as a backdrop for a kick off campaign to refurbish and expand the veteran's cemetery in Boscawen, N.H.

In the summer of 2002, new furniture was installed in the lobby of the State Library to improve the appearance of the public area of the building. The replacement of lighting and new carpeting were the start of a general move to improve the environment of the building. Two big moves to improve the building as a storage facility for paper collections of valuable material came this year as well. The installation of a sprinkler system and the expansion of the archives room to protect our rarest items.

The New Year also brings a new Governor to Concord. Governor Craig Benson was inaugurated on January 9, 2003. In his address to the joint session of the New Hampshire legislation, he spoke of looking for new ways to serve the citizens of New Hampshire. The State Library is anxious to use the new technology to provide the citizens of the state with the information they need. A detailed annual report for the State Library will be posted to the State Library website soon.

-Michael York, State Librarian