1 Friends of the Orange County Public Library Hillsborough, NC Minutes of Executive Board Meeting April 9, 2012
Approved at Board Meeting May 14, 2012
Present: Janet Flowers, Erin Shepherd, Robin Bedingfield-Brown, Kate Tozzolina, Lori Graham, Bill Barrows and Sandy Gerstner
Co-Chair, Erin Shepherd, called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.
Minutes
Janet moved and Bill seconded the motion to accept the minutes, as written, from the previous regular Board Meeting [March 2012]. The minutes were accepted. The Board also went over the outstanding action items list.
Financial
Financial Report – A quick review of the monthly financial report submitted by Sandy was made. Total checking balance = $11,168.66; the Idol account was closed; the savings account balance is $54.24, with a current balance in all accounts being $51,222.90. At the end of April, the $5,000 STC will be rolled over. We have not yet received any report from Triangle Community Foundation. Sandy submitted a report by e-mail of the March Book Sale totals (a copy of which is attached), indicating total proceeds of $1,810.65. In addition, we did really well on memberships ($615), with 15 new individual memberships and 5 new family memberships, plus the following renewals (11 individual, 2 family and 1 donor). Finally, Sandy reported that she has received and installed the QuickBooks software onto her computer. Bill moved and Kate seconded to accept the report. All approved. Financial Review – Robin submitted the Financial Examination Task Force Report for 2011, from their meeting on March 16, 2012 (a copy of which is attached). The group looked at three (3) months of randomly chosen records and found Sandy to be very organized, with no discrepancies found. UPDATE/Amendment to Report: Since Sandy has installed the QuickBooks software onto her computer and confirmed that it will, in fact, transfer to another computer, the language in the report’s Recommendation section referring to the example can be struck. Janet moved to accept and Robin seconded the motion to accept the report with the amendment indicated above. Janet mentioned how happy she is that this is done and that the report is excellent. The Board further discussed the recommendation related to purchasing a laptop for the Treasurer’s use to be used primarily for the Friends’ financial records. Kate made a motion to authorize the purchase of a laptop, based on the advice from someone familiar with the technology. Janet seconded the motion. 2 All approved, and the motion passed. [ACTION: Erin/Janet will consult with Ed Flowers on a laptop purchase]
Updates
Membership - Robin indicated we are doing very well at this point, with approximately 100-102 memberships, and will have a full report at the next meeting. She has sent repeated reminders for renewals to existing members. A few suggestions to increase membership were: a table at the Last Fridays and perhaps put the library on the Merchants Tour at Halloween. Janet noted that she has done similar outreach on Ladies Night Out and also hopes to have additional information/suggestions from the upcoming workshop she, Erin, and Robin will be attending. Ongoing Book Sale – Erin reported that she, Marcia, Sandy, and Bill have been working on this, having culled several books from January for the recent book sale. Laura Simmons (a Friends member) has also expressed some interest in volunteering – Erin will contact her. Newsletter – Janet passed around the Carrboro Friends’ Newsletter, pointing out a few items in there (community dinner, Southwest library update, Carrboro Day & Farmer’s Market, art committee report). Our newsletter will have several topics: book sale, pictures of the Library Staff Appreciation Breakfast, FONCPL workshop, the $10,000 gift, summer programs, and Board and staff biographies. The new schedule proposed is for March, June, September and December, with Sarah Levinson being the point of contact while Janet is out. Janet again mentioned that this committee needs a chair. March Book Sale Recap – Kate provided a summary of the book sale’s success: $1,810.65 plus $615 in memberships (a significant increase). Everyone was very helpful and enthusiastic, and the volunteers were so gracious – she really enjoyed meeting them. Janet noted that having the newsletter to give out was good. The refreshments were great and the membership table was another positive. The Board very much appreciated Kate’s help and how “smooth, fun and successful it was.” Kate asked the group to give her any ideas for future improvements. She will gather those with the other feedback she’s received and incorporate them all into the manual (which she said was very helpful to have). Staff also thought it was the “smoothest sale they’ve ever seen.” May Program and Program Co-Sponsorship Opportunity – Janet relayed that Margaret has completed the Program Chair manual, which will go to the new chair once one is identified. Janet has asked someone to serve but is still waiting to hear back. The Program Chair will have the manual to use, programs set for the rest of the year already. The next program is in May on E-Books, and Janet will send it to the UNC Listserv and publicity for that event will be worked on next. The Friends will co-sponsor a program with the library on June 23rd at 2:00 pm (Art Fettig: You’re Andy Griffith, Aren’t You?). Staff Appreciation Breakfast – Erin gave a special thank-you to Robin, Sandy, Kate and Janet for their help. The staff is very excited, and it should be a great event. The News of Orange printed Erin & Janet’s letter to the editor on April 4th related to 3 National Library Workers Day. Erin has drafted a press release, invited the News of Orange staff to attend and interview library staff. Pictures will be submitted to local papers. Everything seems to be ready to go. Next year’s ideas will be passed along to an Events Committee to handle. [ACTION: Erin and Janet will write charge and set up Events Committee in the fall.]
Library News
The following email dated 4/3/12 was submitted by Lucinda Munger as an update from the Library, since she was unable to attend the meeting:
Update from the Library: Budget – we are beginning our budget process and have already met with the County Manager. Our big ticket item will be a new Automated Library System to replace our current one. Depending upon who we choose as a vendor, we may be able to include RFID and 2 self-checkout stations.
Siting Criteria for the SW Branch – we have formally received a reply from the Board of Alderman in Carrboro. Staff is currently reviewing their suggested changes and will make our recommendation to the Manager and the BOCC sometime in June.
PLA 2012 – I would like to echo Mary and Brandie’s thanks to the Friends for allowing us the opportunity to go to the conference. We all listened to some wonderful presentations from some of the best public libraries in the country. I can tell you that they were both exhausted at the end of every day – going to a conference is a lot of work – especially brain and foot power – to go from 8:30 to 5:00 every day. The 3 of us will be doing a presentation at our Staff Education Day on the most memorable sessions and how we feel that those programs/services can benefit our customers.
Hyconeechee Regional Library – the Board will be holding its last ever meeting on Wednesday, April 11. We have been working with the Caswell and Person County library directors for the transition, which will formally begin on July 1, 2012. From that point on we will be formally recognized by the State Library as the Orange County Public Library!!
Misc: Janet submitted thank-you letters from FOCPL recent contributions: (1) Andrea Lewis, Co-President of the Hillsborough Garden Club and (2) Libby Richards, Nonprofit and Community Engagement Officer of the Triangle Community Foundation ($10,000 gift). Both letters are attached.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, May 14, 2012.
The meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm - Lori Graham, Secretary
