(as submitted)

Members present: Cathy Seibert, Tulli Kerstetter, Anne Benson, Miriam Dunbar, Koko Smith, Laurie Webster on Zoom, Amy Welden on Zoom, Lee Hallberg, Ilga Vise

1. Call to order 4:03 pm

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

3. Guest requests – none

4. Proxy/e-mail votes – none

5. Correspondence – none

6. Financial report – Laurie reported that it cost Friends $1.89 to cancel the Englehart prints order through Paypal. Other transactions included a deposit of $62.25 for card sales, in-library book sales, and donation box. Ending balance for the month is $4224.02 in savings and $5638.57 in checking, for a total of $9862.59. Deposit last month for $275 for a Pima Indian basket was the result some time ago of a silent auction. The bids for the basket did not fetch the minimum bid so the basket was donated to Friends. Laurie has had the item for several years before a friend of hers, Linda Martin, bought the basket. Tulli moved to approve the financial report and Koko seconded. All approved.

7. Library Director’s report — oral presentation. Lee thanked Friends for their continued and enthusiastic support over the years he has been library director and outlined his intentions to remain involved with the library on a part-time basis after his resignation becomes effective November 12. He then made two requests for funds as follows:
A. The new shed for machinery needs shelving and brackets for hanging items, which will cost about $300. Ryan will do the installation. Motion to approve $300 for shelving was made by Koko and seconded by Tulli. All approved.
B. Chairs on the front porch need to be replaced. Lee sourced the Adirondack style similar to what is already there, but sturdier, out of Manitou Springs. A set of four for $2000 is currently on sale and are hand made with used skis. Total cost with shipping is priced at $2345.80 Tulli thought there was a store in Durango that may have the same chairs and would negate the cost of shipping, and Lee agreed to check that out. Motion to approve the purchase of four chairs for under $2400 (in case shipping is required) was made by Miriam and seconded by Koko. All approved. The old chairs are probably not salvageable. Lee advised Laurie to pay the company in Manitou directly.

Lee’s departure! Lee described how a hiring committee for his job will function. There is to be one Library Board member (Miriam) plus a Friends member on the committee, with Zoom interviews initially with all candidates starting within the next couple of weeks. The committee will then Invite 2-4 candidates for full interviews with the entire Library Board, a meet and greet with staff and Friends officers, and a community event. It was decided that Anne will represent Friends on the hiring committee.

8. Old business

Half Marathon recap – Lee reported that the library came out way ahead in terms of funds versus time spent by staff. About $11,500 was received in donations from sponsors and runners alike. Most of the runners preferred running at this later time of year when it was cooler. Thank you notes to Zuma, ABC, and P&D for their food contributions will be written by Koko. A “blue box” toolkit was made up by Tulli for the yearly event and will be stored in the zircon with the canopy. Josh enlisted the help of school kids who made chili, and Chuckwagon made coffee. Runners had tickets for beer and food. Tulli will update the MFOL contributions list. Anne will be reimbursed for food donations from Walmart.

Holiday book sale – Anne has had no feedback from the Town of Mancos, the Chamber, or the Creative District concerning any plans for holiday festivities. If there is to be no book sale, there is no reason to meet in December. Miriam suggested Anne post online that there are still in-library book sales, and anyone can contact her if they have a particular author or book in mind and she will try to find same. All agreed that there not be a holiday book sale this year.

9. New business – Tulli reminded all that we need to vote on funds for the year-end appeals letter. It was decided that approval can be done via email (ca $2500). Motion to cancel the December meeting was made by Miriam and seconded by Ilga. All approved.

10. Adjourn – 5 pm Next meeting will be Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

Next meeting: December 7, 2021 (see above)