CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by President Jane Callahan. Also attending were Chris Colby, Phil Henoch, John Hunziker, Ed Hruska, Farhan Hussein, Phil Karsell, Mike McNeil, Brian Murphy, and Joyce Wenz.
Also attending were Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Carrie Farrow, Director of Communications; and Kathy Olson, Administrative Assistant.
MINUTES
Motion by John Hunziker, seconded by Joyce Wenz, to approve the December 6, 2006, meeting minutes as submitted. Motion carried.
TREASURER'S REPORT
Kathy Olson reviewed the 4th Quarter Treasurer's Report. Major revenue included over $18,000 was received in donations for materials, the Endowment Fund, and the Book-A-Year Endowment. $500 was received for Wit, Wisdom & Wine underwriting, $2,500 for Rochester Reads underwriting, $2,500 in underwriting for the donor recognition event, and $2,000 for programming.
Major expenses included almost $10,000 in reimbursement to the library for Kathy's hours on Foundation matters during 2006, $1,500 for the fall newsletter mailing, $670 for the fall donor appeal for the Endowment Fund, and almost $1,000 in expenses for Wit, Wisdom & Wine 2007.
The balance in the Endowment Fund as of December 31, 2006, was over $830,000.
Motion by Phil Henoch, seconded by Chris Colby to accept the 4th Quarter Treasurer's Report as submitted. Motion carried.
LIBRARY BOARD/DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Audrey Betcher noted that at their December meeting, the Library Board approved allocation of the 2006 Endowment Fund proceeds of $39,971. The projects to be funded meet the Foundation's five funding priority areas:
The merchandising project is key to the Library's 2007 Action Plans. It includes moving periodicals to the Rotunda area, marketplace concepts in all areas, moving computers in the Children's area, putting slatwall to do face out shelving etc. The Advertising/Marketing funds will focus on electronic resources.
In 2006, over $150,000 worth of materials were donated to the library from the community, sorted by the Friends and added to the library collection. In addition, in January the Friends presented the Library Board with a check for $45,000 in proceeds from the bookstore.
Over 13,500 volunteer hours were logged in 2006. This equates to over 6.5 full-time equivalents in staff.
INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS
Jane welcomed Phil Henoch back to the Board. She also welcomed new members Ed Hruska, Farhan Hussein, and Brian Murphy.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Advocacy: The committee met in December and members agreed to form a joint committee between the Library Board and Foundation Board.
The committee spent quite a bit of time discussing the regional library system structures throughout the state. They discussed weaknesses of the system, and discussed possible ways to improve it.
The Minnesota Library Association will be lobbying for an increase in regional basic library system support (RLBSS) partly to offset increased costs from the successful new statewide resource sharing program MnLINK. Because much of the added resources and staff needed to execute this system are at the individual library level, many independent library systems including Rochester Public Library are passing local resolutions requesting that, if additional dollars are provided, 75% of the new funds in federated regions would be distributed through the regions directly to the public libraries. The City of Rochester and Olmsted County have approved this resolution.
Randy Demmer endorsed creating a plan that would allow Rochester to leave SELCO without losing current benefits and without ill effecting funding for small SELCO libraries.
The Library Board will continue to monitor these issues.
Rochester on Tour is next week. It provides a chance to voice input to legislators in an informal setting. Associated Bank is sponsoring a library booth again this year.
Finance: The Finance Committee recommends approval of the 2007 budget.
Motion by Mike McNeil, seconded by Chris Colby, that the $32,000 in 2005 revenue be deleted since this was just a transfer of funds from closing the Book-A-Year money market fund. Motion carried.
The 2007 budget was approved as amended.
Development: Kathy will be scheduling more Library Tours. Board members are asked to invite 2-3 people per month that might be interested in supporting the library to attend these tours. Many people are unaware of the many programs and services offered at the Library and the tours excite people about getting involved.
Volunteer hours and sponsorships have increased due to previous tours.
Contact information can be sent to Carrie and she will set up the tour.
Events: Kathy reviewed the financial recap from Wit, Wisdom & Wine held on January 13th. Over $15,000 was raised from this event. New this year was the raffle with airline tickets from AirTran Airways.
We have received several suggestions for improving the event next year. One suggestion was to move the food and silent auction to the second floor. We will continue to explore this option.
The Board suggested closing the library early on the afternoon of the event so we wouldn't have to rush so much to get the public areas set up in just over an hour.
Rochester Magazine will be doing a photo layout of the event in their March issue.
The committee is gearing up for a new summer fundraising event. This scavenger hunt, activity race will be based on the reality show, "Amazing Race". Teams work together to solve clues to reach destinations or legs. At each leg, teams receive clues for the next leg; some legs involve completing a task or a cooperative challenge. We would try to get sponsors for the various legs of the race.
One question we are grappling with is whether to target businesses or individuals. After discussion, the consensus was to market it as a family event.
Board members will need to take a leadership role in getting sponsorships for the event.
The committee will continue to meet to refine details.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Committee assignments will be the same as last year. If anyone wants to serve on a different committee, please contact Kathy or Carrie.
OTHER ITEMS
The next meeting is March 28, 2007, at 4:45 p.m. In the interim committees will meet.
The Friends Annual meeting is Monday, January 29th. It is a nice chance to thank them for their contributions to the Library.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Shimek Olson
Secretary Pro Tem