CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by President Jane Callahan. Board members attending were: Dan Berndt, Randy Demmer, Phil Henoch, Ed Hruska, Mike McNeil, Mark Neville, Sue Reinke, Elizabeth Ritman, Harry Swedlund, and Matt Wohlers.
Staff Present: John Hunziker; Library Communications Manager; Kathy Olson, Administrative Assistant.
Jane turned the meeting over to incoming President Mike McNeil.
MINUTES
Motion by Phil Henoch, seconded by Sue Reinke, to approve the meetings minutes from December 5, 2007, as submitted. Motion carried.
4th QUARTER TREASURER'S REPORT
Kathy Olson reviewed the report. We have received the final payout on the Karen Moxness estate of just over $85,000.
Phil Henoch asked about how memorial funds are handled. Kathy responded that generally memorial funds are used for the purchase of materials and the total is disbursed to the library in the first quarter of the following year. Occasionally the family has special requests such as with the Jerry Balm memorial. Some of the funds received were used for a Book-A-Year Endowment and some were to be used as a scholarship fund for staff to attend the Public Library Association Conference in 2008 since it is being held in Minneapolis.
Ed Hruska asked about investing with Windsor Financial versus keeping the funds locally. At some point in the future, he would like to reconsider keeping the funds locally. Kathy responded that a number of firms were interviewed at the time the Endowment Fund was set up, all of them local except for Windsor. At that time Windsor was the unanimous choice of the interviewing committee. The funds are invested with Schwab, which did have a local office at that time, and managed by Windsor Financial.
The Board recommended that the Finance Committee review whether to go out for an Request for Proposal (RFP) again.
We will be sending out an RFP for audit services since we met the State-mandated amount in 2007 requiring an audit. It is unlikely that we will meet this threshold every year.
Motion by Ed Hruska, seconded by Phil Henoch, to approve the 4th Quarter Treasurer's Report as submitted. Motion approved.
LIBRARY BOARD AND DIRECTOR'S REPORT
John reviewed SELCO matters, although there is nothing new to report.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Advocacy: nothing to report.
Finance: The proposed 2008 budget was submitted in December for review.
Motion by Jane Callahan, seconded by Randy Demmer, to approve the 2008 budget. Motion carried.
Development: nothing to report. Jane will call a meeting for February 27, 4:45 pm, to discuss the 2008 agenda, possible request to Mayo, etc.
Special Events: Kathy reviewed the financial recap from Wit, Wisdom & Wine. Once all sponsorships are received, we should clear over $22,000.
Phil congratulated everyone involved. He suggested that we might have gotten more participation in the raffle if the wine had been divided into 2-3 segments. Jane responded that we will try for a travel raffle again next year, but if we can't get airline tickets we will consider Phil's suggestion. We could possibly develop a sub-theme next year of local wines. The Salem Glen winery owner is willing to be a speaker. If anyone has ideas throughout the year on speakers, please contact John or Kathy.
There has been a lot of talk about the article in the Post Bulletin.
The Board discussed the date for Wit, Wisdom & Wine 2009. There are a lot of activities on Martin Luther King weekend. It was decided to set the date for January 10, 2009.
The committee has just started planning for the second annual Amuzing Race, which will be held on June 21st. If anyone has ideas for sponsors, please contact John. Sponsorships include $2,500 for event co-sponsors or $500 for leg sponsors. We are also looking for donations for prizes.
OTHER ITEMS
Generally the Rochester Reads author is paid a fee for his appearance. This year's author, Greg Mortenson, has declined a fee and instead would like the money to be donated to the Central Asia Institute. Generally speaker payments are run through the library's bill process, but since the City cannot make a donation to a non-profit organization, they have requested that the Foundation write the check since the funds flow through the Foundation.
Motion by Jane Callahan, seconded by Mark Neville, to make a $500 donation to the Central Asia Institute as honorarium for Greg Mortenson's speaker fee for Rochester Reads. Motion carried.
Elizabeth Ritman distributed brochures on the Friends organization. They currently have 196 members and contribute over 6,000 volunteer hours to the library. The Friends Winterfest Booksale will be February 7th in the Auditorium. The Friends Annual Meeting is Monday, January 28, and the featured speaker will be author William Kent Krueger. Foundation Board members are encouraged to attend.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at 4:45 p.m. in Meeting Room B at the Library.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Shimek Olson
Secretary Pro Tem