(as submitted)
Covid-19 Pandemic Meeting
Outside the Library, 1 pm
Members present: Anne, Tulli, Miriam, Koko, Lee, Silvia, Ilga Vise, Laurie
1. Call to order at 1:06 pm.
2. Minutes from March meeting approved as emailed.
3. Guest requests. Silvia’s mom was introduced — Ilga Vise..
4. Proxy/e-mail votes — Amy gave Anne her proxy vote for this meeting. No email votes were needed.
5. Correspondence — None.
6. Financial report — Laurie presented a three-months report (March-May) (see Report), which was necessitated due to Covid-19. Several deposits were made in March: $597.69 February bake sale, $550 memberships, $100 hat sales, $100 donation, $220.46 in-library book sales, and $275 additional memberships. Tulli was reimbursed for embroidery on ten new MFOL hats at the end of March. In April, Laurie deposited $71 ($36 reimbursement for Great Decisions course booklets, $15 membership, $20 hat sale). In May, deposits from a donation and a hat sale were made totalling $120. Additionally, there was an Amazon Smile donation to MFOL of $16.70 recorded on February 16. Total ending balance is $8805.66. The financial report was approved.
Laurie also presented an itemized list of MFOL donations to the library in 2019, which totaled $10,747.77, as well as an Income and Expense sheet for the same year, which showed that total income for 2019 was $6309.12, with total outlays of $11083.62. A third report accompanied these two entitled MFOL Income and Expenses 2017-2019, which showed a vast increase in donations and expenses to the library over that period of time even though income remained relatively stable (see reports for details).
7. Librarian’s report. Lee gave an oral report on the status of the library during the Covid pandemic. Operations are moving forward but all summer programming has been canceled, although a couple employees are trying to set up virtual speaker forums and a summer reading program. Lee has no idea when the library will reopen, with curbside service only at this time as mandated by the governor. He said he is consulting with an attorney to see if the library can allow some indoor access to the public in another month or so, with a severely limited number of people at any one time, and no lingering. Only four employees are at work that are not high risk, with only two people in the building working at the same time. The library is allowing patrons to check out laptops to access the online catalog if they do not have internet/laptops at home. Since the ILL courier service is currently not running, only books held by the library can be checked out at this time.
Revenue loss of about $10,000 must be borne due to cancellation of the Half Marathon, but some of this may be offset with higher property taxes coming due. Lee talked with his marathon committee about staging a virtual marathon, but was advised against it as unproductive. However, sponsors for this year’s marathon have donated the amounts they already sent to the library, as have some runners their entry fees. Lee also announced that the gift of $100,000 to the library from the estate of Joe Arado is being finalized. With this gift and the uptick in property taxes, the library has a good reserve at present.
In other news, Gallagher is back in the spotlight, with bipartisan support to eliminate it, as it has impacted rural areas far more than urban areas.
8. Old business
Jersey Jim. August 9 is our night. The system closed through May 31st due to the
coronavirus, but the rest of the year’s reservations will be honored. Full refunds are given to
those who got canceled or are not comfortable staying at present. Dana is still willing to take
care of the online auction and let others know what is needed in way of flyers, etc. Silvia and
Anne will assist Dana in this endeavor.
(Cowboy Half Marathon – Canceled)
Hats – The latest ten (minus two sold) are now in Lee’s office. Silvia suggested putting
them online to order, with payment COD at library curbside.
10. New business
Book donations during pandemic. New donations are being discouraged but will be
accepted if left on the sidewalk.
Mancos Days Book Sale — Mancos Days canceled for this year, so no book sale.
11. Adjourn at 1:50 p.m.
Next meeting: July 6, 2020, tentatively at 1 pm outside. (The July meeting was cancelled.)