FRIENDS OF THE CORTE MADERA LIBRARY

Minutes of March 12, 2003

The meeting was called to order by President Jan Shaw at 10:05 a.m. in the library. Present: Annette Schriebman, Harry Schriebman, Jerri Ceschi, Nancy Davis, Harriet Hyams, Kay Lowney, Richard Jensen, and Jan Shaw.

Minutes of the February 12, 2003 meeting were approved as presented.

Friends Reading Garden: Annette said the outside SE corner of the garden will be changed to replace the wood frame with flat cement to prevent tripping. Annette is checking on the possibility of a backing for the donor door to make the names more visible. The poster of all the donor names has been finished, but one name was spelled incorrectly. After discussion it was decided to check with the donor and if upset by the misspelling, we would have the poster redone. (After the meeting, the donor as contacted and was unconcerned about the mistake.) The calligrapher has submitted her bill and she will be paid for the poster as written.

County Report: Nancy Brooks submitted a written report on the County Friend meeting. Super Sale is on March 22/23. The volunteer list for Corte Madera is almost complete. We are short a loader (Sunday) and an unloader (Friday). Assignment/reminder cards were distributed/mailed.

Deadline for next newsletter is June 20.

The last day the current Bookshop will be open is March 21. Lease for new location has not been signed yet, but the expected new location is on Grant Avenue in Novato. Help from the chapters will be needed for painting and setting up after April 1. Grand opening is set for April 15. Also, a reminder that the store door must be checked to be sure it is locked at the close of the day, as it was left open, the sign indicated open, although the lights were off. Customers were found in the store later.

Treasurer’s Report: Jerri reported $9,115 in the working capital and $15,000 in garden fund as of February 28, 2003. The fund for children’s services is depleted. Five renewals were received.

Membership: Richard is in the process of developing plans for increasing membership and has sent out one mailing with a 16% return. He has investigated newspaper ads and found the costs too high, however it may be possible to run ads with a subsidy from a business. He also spoke with Bonnie about using space within the library to highlight Friends. The display cabinet will be reserved for next year. He will send out a “refer a friend” letter to about 50 people in May. Richard will have the note cards (thank yous and blank ones) reprinted. The decision was made to retain the present logo.

Branch/County Library: Nancy Davis said the 2^nd week of April is National Library Week. She requested volunteers to help with set-up for the Understanding the Islamic World series to be held on March 20, 27 and April 3. Harry will help and Harriet volunteered David to also help. The price of the computer drawers (authorized last month) has been raised. The additional charges were agreed to so the total will be $750. We have been requested to write to the State Assembly and Senate protesting the elimination of the TBR (Transaction Based Reimbursement) and rejecting the idea of charging fees for Inter-Library Loans. If this was passed as the Governor’s budget proposes it would mean at least an $80,000 cut and it would be very difficult to charge the fees as suggested.

Library Legislative Day is April 30 which was the day for the staff lunch. The staff lunch was changed to our regular meeting day of May 14, so that Nancy Davis and Jan would be able to attend the Legislative Day in Sacrament.

Budget and Plans for 2003. Last year approximately $1000 was allocated for teen and children’s needs. It was agreed to allocate $600 each for the coming year and any restricted gifts received would be in addition to our allocation.

Annette suggested that we take on the project of renovating the meeting room and raise additional funds to do so. The idea of the renovation was acceptable, but the additional fundraising was not. However, the decision was made to concentrate on refurbishing the meeting room including replacing tables and chairs when our funds permit. Tables and chairs (30) are needed and Nancy will research prices and quality, and bring this information back to the committee. Kay also recommended that we keep aware of the landscaping, or lack thereof, around the new parking lot when finished as this could be also an appropriate use of our funds.

Meeting adjourned at 11:45.

Jan Shaw (retyped by Nancy Brooks)

Folmins3-12-03