(As submitted)

Library Conference Room, 4 pm

Members present: Anne Benson, Ann Coker, Cathy Seibert, Miriam Dunbar, Peggy Littlejohn, Tulli Kerstetter, Ilga Vise
1. Call to order at 4 pm

2. Minutes from October meeting as emailed – Peggy moved to accept the minutes, and Cathy seconded.    All approved

3. Guest requests– none

4. Proxy/e-mail votes – Laurie gave her proxy to Anne for the vote on a new slate of officers (see below).

5. Correspondence – none

6. Financial report –    In Laurie’s absence, Anne summarized the report as follows:    $4226.13 in savings, with 53 cents interest;   $8738.51 in checking; sale on  Amazon of one book at $43.10;  print sold for $125, one hat sold for $20, in-library book sales of $23. Total balance at the end of October was $12,964.64.    Ann moved to accept the financial report and Cathy seconded.    All approved.

7. Library Director’s report –    In Jared’s absence, Anne summarized his report for
the record as follows:   exterior lights are currently being replaced with LEDs; a request from Jared for Friends to cover the cost of the year-end annual appeal; Linda McDarby has joined the library staff as a new sub and Friday program supervisor;    Cowboy Half Marathon had 200 participants and raised $10,878 for the library;   Friday programs have been well received with a cap of 20 per program; Cidery Halloween event with 80 in attendance a success; a new printer ordered to replace one of the two patron printers;  Cybrarian security software outfit has been difficult to work with so Jared is trying out Librarica as a replacement; and staff computers will be replaced half this year and half next year.
Board members commented on the pre-Halloween chili feed for trick/treaters, stating there were 70 attendees for the feed at the library. Discussion before the motion to fund the annual appeal letter centered on the number of patrons which may be included this year and the additional charge for postage. Last year’s appeal cost Friends around $2500. The exact amount required for the appeal will not be known until December, but Miriam moved to provide up to $3000 for the appeal, and Peggy seconded. All approved. Anne will modify last year’s Friends letter for the appeal fund to reflect the donations made to the library in 2022.

8. Book Maven report – Miriam reported that she is now caught up on all donations    and had contacted the Cortez Jail about providing books.    Two boxes of paperbacks have now been gathered for the inmates.

9. Old business
Half Marathon de-brief – Per discussion Tulli had with Cathy, some changes need to be made in the food items provided, namely more salty snacks and cookies, 4-5 bags of ice instead of 6, 2 watermelons instead of 3, the same number of oranges, and 4-5 packages of grapes.    Anne could not find the new banner but thinks it may be hidden among the items in the shed.    The library silent auction was not a smashing success, having sold only about $300 worth of items.    A suggestion was made to have fewer high-priced items and more items geared towards runners    Thank you notes have gone out to P&D, Zuma, and ABC for their food contributions (thank you, Ann).    Anne will ask Walmart a month or two in advance for a discount on salty packaged items for next year.    Cathy commented that there should be some ingredient information on the cookies from ABC for those with food allergies.   Tulli reported that the “blue box” toolkit is ready for next year and she will re-do the To-Do list for the Friends food contribution to the Half Marathon runners (see attachment).

Holiday Book Sale – Miriam’s suggestions for a successful mini book sale in the library: move couch, have table at old position, do sales by weight only with sale to be on the 2nd and 3rd or 9th and 10th from 12-5 Friday and 1-3 Saturday. She is volunteering to be in charge of the sale but would need one other person to help her.    Need kids books, cookbooks, fiction, nonfiction.   Anne will talk to Cathy Epps of the craft fair at the school to coordinate with them.   Ilga has some children’s books that she will donate for the sale. Miriam has an arrangement with Mancos Thrift Store to obtain the children’s books donated there.

10. New business
Election of Officers – All of the current officers stated they were willing to serve for one more year as follows:
Anne – President
Ann — 1st Vice President
Cathy — 2nd Vice President
Tulli – Secretary, but willing to step down if a replacement can be found
Laurie as Treasurer was not up for nomination or replacement this year.
Miriam moved to accept the above slate of officers, and Ilga seconded.    All approved.

11. Adjourn at 4:45 pm.

Next meeting: December 6, 2022 – Library Conference Room

Attachment: To-Do List for Half Marathon

(As submitted)

Library Conference Room, 4 pm

Members present: Ann Coker, Anne Benson, Tulli Kerstetter, Cathy Seibert, Jared Boudreaux, Amy Welden, Earlene Swann, Ilga Vise, Peggy Littlejohn

1. Call to order 4 pm

2. Minutes from September meeting as emailed – Cathy moved to accept the minutes and Ilga seconded. All approved

3. Guest requests – None

4. Proxy/e-mail votes –None

5. Correspondence – None

6. Financial report – In Laurie’s absence, Anne read the report. There is $4225.60 still in savings. A few deposits were made to checking, two rather large ones of $1102 and $2500 from Becktel Charitable Trust. Other income came from $43.15 in donation box and in-library book sales, for a total in checking of $8677.41. Total balance: $12,903.01. Ann moved to accept the financial report and Cathy seconded. All approved.

7. Library Director’s report – (See report for further details). Jared reported that the library is looking for a substitute employee to help with the Friday Children’s program. The library staff is now prepping for the Half Marathon, which is on track to raise about $11,000 for the library, similar to last year. Attendance for children’s programs is steady, maxing out Friday programs, with 40 plus at Trivia Night at the Brewery, and 36 for Author Talk. The camera system is up and running and has already proven useful. Children’s computers are in the process of whitelisting approved websites. Cybrarian will soon become the primary computer software for all the library’s computers. The HVAC system, in need of replacement, necessitates seeking bids from approved operators, but there currently is a severe backlog for these companies before work can begin on the system at the library. The upgrade may force the library to close for a few days. There will be no annual fee for new wifi systems, resulting in an annual savings of $700. The library is also replacing firewall equipment.
Jared made a request for funds to support the Halloween Werewolf Game & Costume Contest, held at Fenceline from 5 to 9 p.m.. Coasters with the library and Fenceline logos cost about $170 and cookies for the attendees another $100. Cathy and Peggy volunteered to bake four dozen cookies each to help reduce the cost of buying cookies. Anne suggested $150 out of Friends’ finances for this event. Tulli made the motion to approve $150 for the Halloween Werewolf Game & Costume Contest, and Peggy seconded. All approved.

8. Book Maven report – In Miriam’s absence, Anne has been sorting the influx of books and reported that the Zircon is getting full again. Jared stated that there should be more books for sale coming out of the library’s mystery books collection, which the library is culling in order to make room on the shelves for other mystery authors and titles.

9. Old business

Half Marathon plans – October 15. Anne passed around the volunteer sheet she has posted at the circulation desk. She has talked with Melissa Blaine at ABC about providing trays of cookies. Amy suggested signs for gluten free or nut free items. Friends are assuming that Josh would be taking care of the drinks as usual (Jared will confirm) and help with canopy setup. Peggy will bring buckets to fill with stones for securing canopy legs. Tulli and Anne agreed to obtaining food items for the runners per the To-Do List from last year. Cathy will again supply her aluminum bowls for snacks and coolers for the cold drinks. Setup will begin at 7 a.m. There will be a vendor for food but Jared was unsure if the Chuckwagon will still be the vendor. Tulli updated the Friends’ To-do List for setup by adding the Friends banner (which Anne cannot find at present) and zip ties.

Holiday Book Sale? Anne is not sure about this because the Christmas venues are to be held when the library is closed (see minutes of prior meeting for details). This item was then tabled to the November meeting. Jared may have some ideas about having a spot set aside for the sale by that time.

10. New business – Election of officers was to have been held at September’s meeting but since it is past September, Ann postponed the election to November.

11. Adjourn at 5 p.m.

Next meeting: November 1, 2022 – Library Conference Room