1 Friends of the Orange County Public Library Hillsborough, NC Minutes of Executive Board Meeting February 13, 2012
Approved at Board Meeting March 12, 2012
Present: Janet Flowers, Erin Shepherd, Andrea Tullos, Robin Bedingfield-Brown, Chris Holaday, Kate Tozzolina, Penny Van De Water, Lori Graham, Bill Barrows and Sandy Gerstner
Co-Chair, Erin Shepherd, called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
Minutes
Robin moved and Janet seconded the motion to accept the minutes, as written, from the previous Board meeting – Election of Officers [January 2012]. The minutes were accepted. Chris moved and Robin seconded the motion to accept the minutes, as written, from the previous regular Board Meeting [January 2012]. The minutes were accepted.
Financial
Treasurer’s Report – A quick review of the monthly financial report prepared by Sandy was made. Andrea indicated that she now has the final number for the hotel rooms for the PLA attendees – it will be $1,520.64 and she will email Sandy with the details. Penny made a motion to approve the report and Bill seconded. The report was approved by the Board. Total checking balance = $15,292.09.
Signatures on Checks – Sandy noted that the Board needs to determine who will sign the checks for this year, and that decision needs to be reflected in the official Minutes. Presently, those who can write checks are: Sandy, Janet and Ann Burton. Penny moved and Bill seconded the motion to remove Ann Burton from and add Erin Shepherd to check-signing privileges for FOCPL, with Sandy, Janet and Erin agreeing to go to the bank with the Minutes to make the change. The motion was approved.
Financial Review – Sandy informed the Board that she spoke with Paul Parker recently, and he thought it was unnecessary to do a full review of the books, since our funds are limited. However, he indicated he would gladly look at them if the Board truly wanted that. Andrea weighed in on her experience with another organization that was in line with his recommendation. Since Janet is 2 still trying to get the Finance Committee staffed up, Chris made a motion to appoint three (3) Board members to do a one-time financial review in 2012 [Robin, Erin and Kate appointed] and Janet seconded the motion. They will go to Sandy’s house for the review and submit a report to the Board. The motion was approved. [ACTION: Sandy will follow-up with Paul Parker to inform him of the Board’s decision.]
Funding Request – Janet indicated that we now have the answers to the questions we had raised regarding the Garden Club’s $182.56 request. As the work will start soon, it was suggested to contact The News of Orange to publicize our contribution. Penny moved and Chris seconded that we give the Garden Club $182.56 for their request, which includes topsoil, pavers and mondo grass. The motion was approved. [ACTION: Janet will contact the Garden Club to relay the Board’s approval.]
Membership
2012 Dues – Robin noted that a vote on the dues for 2012 was not done at the last meeting. She recommended that any potential changes wait to begin until 2013, with a suggestion to decide in mid-2012 of any possible increase, so that by the fall book sale we would be able to communicate any changes. Robin moved to retain the dues for 2012 at the same level as 2011. Janet seconded. The motion was approved. [ACTION: At the September 2012 Board meeting, the Board will address any potential increase in dues for 2013.]
Membership Brochure Update – Robin provided a sample brochure for consideration. Andrea requested that the brochure include an option to receive the library’s e-newsletters, possibly printed under the FOCPL email. [ACTION: Andrea will check on wording (i.e., monthly children’s e- newsletter) and let Robin know.] General discussion included: the need for a communication method to get the information to/from Jess, Louise and Mary Lewis; that the brochure itself was colorful, eye-catching and not cluttered. Robin moved to approve the draft brochure with the changes to text as updated with the library monthly newsletter text to be determined. Penny seconded. All approved the motion.
Other – Robin made a few suggestions, as follows: (1) that sustaining members get a handwritten Thank You note from the Membership Chair; (2) obtain nice cardstock paper for those notecards; (3) we order return address labels with our P.O. Box printed on it; and (4) add our new logo to the notecards and labels. [ACTION: Robin will look into those purchases.] She had sent over 100 email reminders and plans to send a few dozen mail reminders to those without email. Currently, we have 56 paid members, plus 3 several received that night from Sandy. It is expected that we will have over 200 members for the year.
Updates
February Program – Janet noted that the “Having our Say” program is ready for this Saturday and will include small containers of popcorn. She expects approximately 40 people to attend. The $34.95 DVD expense was incurred, but that will be donated to the library after the event.
Ongoing Book Sale – Erin relayed that we have received over $200 so far, and again thanked Roberta and her daughter for the very helpful organization of the room, which makes it much easier. A new volunteer, Marcia Cameron, will be available to help starting next week. Penny asked about transferring books from the ongoing sale to the book sales, which led to a brief discussion that perhaps the weeding process as is naturally meets that goal every 2 months. Chris also mentioned that the books will go for higher prices separate from the book sales.
Newsletter – Janet informed us that the newsletter is on schedule to be out early March, with copies available at the March book sale. She thanked Chris and the library staff for their article submissions.
Book Sale – Chris provided a sample flyer for the March book sale. He has listed the sale on bookfinder.com. Janet thought that the year should be on the flyer. Andrea would like several to post in the library. A sign-up sheet for volunteering was passed around, so that one board member can be present for each shift. Andrea indicated that the tables are set, and the fiber company will pick up the unsold books for recycling. The books from UNC will be delivered on Monday, March 26th, with unpacking on Wednesday. The books will be moved from the Friends room to the meeting room on Tuesday.
New Goals for 2012 – o Staff inclusion and appreciation – Erin noted that $200 was budgeted this year, and suggested that since April is National Library Week and April 10th is National Library Worker’s Day, it might be a good opportunity to focus on doing something that particular day. Some ideas included: breakfast, a raffle, an ice cream social. In addition, it would be a great way for all of the Friends’ members and Board to attend as well and be introduced to the library staff. Andrea will try to have all permanent employees attend. She will also provide us with a roster of permanent and temporary employees. Penny also asked about name tags for staff so that we would know their names. Andrea 4 believed that the staff would very much appreciate a breakfast, perhaps at 9:00 a.m. and a raffle, if possible. Robin suggested a gift bag. A show of hands indicated that most of the Board would in fact be able to attend. Penny moved to spend the budgeted money in the form of a breakfast on April 10th to show our appreciation to the library staff. Chris seconded. All approved. Erin will lead, with Janet, Robin and Penny helping in the planning. o Carrboro Friends – Janet suggested that we develop the relationship with the Carrboro Friends, as we have not previously worked with their organization. Possibly have the two Boards exchange information of what they’re each working on, even though each is focused on different things (e.g., they are focused on the new library). Andrea believed it was a good idea, that they would likely be interested, and it was a way for each Board to help advocate for each other. [ACTION: Look at a possible summer meeting.] o Expanding Volunteer Opportunities for the General Membership – Erin noted that since much of our housekeeping/organizational work is in a good place, we should engage the general membership more. Andrea noted that she was not sure how to go about directing volunteers in the library to the Friends group. Robin indicated that she would be the point of contact for potential members. Erin further indicated that volunteer opportunities need to be in place and defined. Robin’s intent is to try to get data from the membership form for volunteers and bring that to the next meeting – then can start getting the contacts made by the Chair of the respective Committees. Hopefully by fall, the committees will be formed and volunteers engaged. Janet suggested we use the April 10th event as an opportunity for us to get members to attend and get more participation. Janet mentioned that we need a list of current committee chairs, with an urgent need for a Program Committee chair. [ACTION: Janet will prepare a list of committees and the current membership before March meeting.] o Posting Pertinent Board Documents to the Files Section of the Yahoogroups – Erin noted that the Yahoogroups has virtual storage capability in which we can place pdf versions of all of our policies, processes, etc. for easy access by all members. Janet did indicate that the file cabinets are indeed filled. This item will be explored at a later time. o Celebrating National Friends of Library Week – October 21-27: There are several ways that we might celebrate this week. For example, Janet thought perhaps the County Commissioners could recognize the Friends groups (the American Library website has sample proclamations). 5 o Inclusion of SILS Student in our work – Janet mentioned that a UNC student will be helping us out. She might possibly coordinate the Oct. 21-27 recognition event, and she might attend our Board meetings.
Library News
Misc: Circulation is up 77% - significant increase in activity. The staff has had two recent trainings, with a third next week. The display of acquisitions information has started (on order will be visual on-line catalog). Timekeeping system has been implemented for the County. Budget requests have started now through mid-June. OverDrive will be implemented next Wednesday after a final test (mass publicity will come out once it is given the go-ahead, hopefully Wednesday morning). Will be involved in the Strategic Planning grant, with Dr. Anthony Chow onboard as a consultant. If the grant is approved, July/August is the timeframe.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, March 12, 2012.
Janet moved to adjourn the meeting. Robin seconded. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.
Lori Graham Secretary
