CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by President Sue Reinke. Also attending were Dan Berndt, Ken Brown, Jane Callahan, John Hunziker, Phil Karsell, Mike McNeill, Mark Neville, and Joanne Swenson.
Others present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Carrie Farrow, Director of Communications; and Kathy Shimek Olson, Administrative Assistant.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion by Joanne Swenson, seconded by Ken Brown to approve the meeting minutes from January 25, 2006. Motion approved.
LIBRARY BOARD AND DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Audrey reported that at their last meeting the Library Board reviewed the Strategic Plan and the progress that has been made against the Action Plan. We set some benchmarks in 2005 that will be used to measure progress as we go forward.
The architect studying the building is making progress. The Board will receive a preliminary report in March. The purpose of the study is to look at some of the things that have been issues in this building such as the entrance, noise, etc. Based on the results of the study, the Board will have to make some decisions on what action to take. One outcome may be that we don't do anything about the problems until such time in the future as the building is expanded. The Board has grappled with concept of a branch. There is not much impetus for a branch because it is still easy to get downtown, there has been a lot of talk about downtown redevelopment, and there is not a lot of political capital to move traffic/people out of downtown. The community survey did not show a lot of support from general public for a branch. There was support for maintaining existing services. The Board has looked at whether there is way to put an automated return someplace in the community so people could pick up and return materials at a remote location. There is a vendor working on such a system, but it is not ready yet. Most communities our size have branches.
The DVD self-check will hopefully be tested next week. One unit will be placed by the Fiction, Movies & Music desk and another in Children's. Each unit holds approximately 350 DVDs. RPL will be the first library to install this particular unit and we have worked extensively with the vendor to make sure it meets our expectations. We will send out a press release once we know it is working well.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Advocacy: has not met.
Finance: met to review allocation of Wit, Wisdom & Wine proceeds. The net proceeds are approximately $13,000. The Committee recommends that $2,500 be allocated to the Library Discretionary Fund. This fund is used for items that the Library deems appropriate but does not have funding for. Last year this fund paid for an ad listing National Library Week programming and additional copies of the newest Harry Potter book to help meet demand for reserves. The Committee also recommends that $5,000 be allocated to Foundation operating expenses, and the remaining funds, approximately $5,500 be allocated to the Endowment Fund.
The Finance Committee moved, Ken Brown seconded, to allocate Wit, Wisdom & Wine proceeds as follows: $2,500 to the Library Discretionary Fund, $5,000 to Foundation operating expenses, and the remaining proceeds to the Endowment Fund. Motion carried.
Development: has met and reviewed the fundraising plan for 2006, the centerpiece of which is the Library Tours with Audrey. It is hoped that this will be a way to get people interested in the library and in building a relationship. The main thing we are asking of Board members is to invite people to attend the tours. The Committee has set a goal of each Board member asking two people a month to attend a tour. As time goes by and relationships are built, we will not need to rely as heavily on the Board inviting people to attend tours.
Audrey and Carrie have already given several tours. About a week after the tours, Carrie does a follow-up call to thank the attendee for going on the tour and see if they have any questions. If the person seems amenable, she asks if there is any way they can see becoming involved or further involved with the Foundation. Several people have already expressed interest in becoming volunteers.
The Board reviewed the handouts for the tours. There was some disagreement on the Development Committee on whether to put dollar amounts on the wish list.
One recommendation was to put a dollar range discretely at the bottom of the back page. Donors want to know a ballpark figure so they know whether it is in the range of what they would even consider giving. Another suggestion was to have different brochures targeted toward individuals versus businesses.
It was noted that not all items indicate what the needs are or why additional funds are needed.
Dan pointed out that the items in the wish list brochure are for the library and not the Foundation. There is no mention of building the endowment. We need to point out that we are creating an endowment fund, proceeds of which will be used to assist the library with programs and services that are not funded by other sources. We are trying to get people to contribute to the endowment, not specific programs.
It was suggested that a statement be added that the Library Foundation helps support the library and your contributions to the Foundation support these types of programs and services.
Staff will draft another version and the committee will meet to review the revisions.
The Committee also talked about underwriting options such as databases, programming, etc. Further work needs to be done before it is ready for Board review.
Kathy reviewed the 2005 Annual Fund Drive summary. The focus of the annual mailing has been to raise funds for materials and programming. Just over $18,000 was raised; $870 allocated to programming and the remainder to materials. In additional $4,000 was given for Book-A-Year endowments, and almost $9,000 to the Endowment Fund.
A brochure has been created to promote the Book-A-Year Endowment program. This program has never been highly publicized and this is one attempt to get the word out. Several suggestions were made for improving the brochure.
Special Events: met today to discuss an idea for a possible summer fundraising event, a trivia night. This event would be much simpler than WWW. The committee is in the very beginning stages of discussing this.
It was pointed out that John Mayo High School has been doing this as a fundraiser for years.
NEXT MEETING DATE
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, 2006, at 4:45 p.m. The Development Committee will meet prior to that to continue discussing the fundraising details for 2006.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Swenson
Secretary