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(present: Nancy Evans, Marina Fraser, Maya Kennedy, Shirley Leick, Nita Martin, Greta McElroy-White)
Library Building Fund
The State library building fund had $77 million to distribute as of Nov. 22, 2004. Maya Kennedy was to attend the upcoming two-day meeting to speak to the board, accompanied by city officials. There were 72 projects under consideration. The City of HMB would still need to provide $3 million in matching funds, likely from a bond passed by voters if the library receives the state grant.
Marina Fraser noted that there would be a competition with a police public facilities bond. The FOL could legally lobby for the library bond.
(Although the HMB library's grant proposal received the highest rating for the third and final round of grants, it was not funded at the end of November. Another $300 million library bond is to be on the state ballot in 2006. If passed by voters, half the money will be allocated to the outstanding grant requests that weren’t funded in 2004).
Finance Report - Nancy Evans, Treasurer: FOL has 72 paying members, for which Nancy provided a current list. She also said we need a new Treasurer or a Membership Drive Chair, so that she can be freed to do a newsletter for FOL members and the community, perhaps quarterly, on paper and e-mail. A Membership Chair could be more proactive with outreach to help build our membership. Jack Wallace was suggested.
Bank of America Account (benefits FOL)
Balance as of Sept. 27, 2004: $3,032.20.
Deposits: Memberships $ 215 Book Sale $5,729.24
Expenses: Book Sale Change: $250
Graphic works 97.43
Book marks 208.65
Job Skills material 164.44
Balance as of Nov. 22, 2004: $8,255.92 (some encumbered for Posada)
Wells Fargo Account (benefits new library building fund)
Balance as of Sept. 27, 2004: $7,303.89
Deposits: Sale of Coupon books: $65.00
Expenses: $ 0.00
Balance as of Nov. 22, 2004: $7,368.89
Book Sale Oct. 2-3, 2004 - This successful event grossed $5,889.24 in book sales, FOL book bags, a few Coastside Coupon books and FOL memberships.
Expenses totaled $1,212.65 (banner - $120.31, posters - $48.71, storage unit - $662.76, change - $250, tarps - $33.44, wood signs - $97.43).
Total profit from the event: $4,676.59
Itemization: Book Sales: $4,516.59
FOL Memberships: $160.00
(Deposited and reflected in Bank of America account balance for Nov.)
Reflections on the Event: Those present at the meeting felt the book sale was very successful in general, as it was of relatively short duration, compared with other, longer-term fundraising projects. We also thought that holding the sale on the day of the HMB City-wide garage sale, and getting listed on the map, worked well, as did coinciding with youth soccer practice.
Publicity: The book sale was advertised on Channel 6 of Comcast Cable and in the Events Column of the HMB Review. Although there was a nice feature article after the sale about efforts of local students to collect books to donate, the lack of significant pre-sale coverage by the Review (although two press releases were sent) resulted in many people not being aware of the fundraiser. Putting collection boxes in some of the schools helped create awareness, as did the banner, flyers and signs at the library and around town.
Organization: We didn’t anticipate the many thousands of book donations we received, so the task of sorting, pricing, organizing and setting out/breaking down the books was much larger than expected. Although we had some wonderful volunteers who gave many hours of their time over many weeks, if we do another sale we agreed we need more volunteers and better planning and equipment so that the work can be spread among more people. The Menlo Park FOL uses orange crates for sorting books, which become the tables, and is something we could consider in the future.
If there is a next time, we would also make an earlier effort to enlist students to help, in exchange for credit for community service hours they are required to do in the public schools.
Cleaning up after the sale was a big task. Cardboard boxes had to be cut into bits for BFI to remove them, which library staff did. Handling leftover books was also a major headache, as the FOL has no permanent storage space at the library or elsewhere, and has no bookstore, as other libraries in San Mateo County have, and which we would also have in a new building. We had a container full of unsold books left, containing hundreds of boxes of books.
As the task of emptying the container quickly was quite overwhelming (given the outside commitments of our small core group, such as work and other responsibilities) some advocated renting a BFI dumpster to dispose of the remaining books, and others felt we should make every effort to donate the books to other nonprofit organizations, schools or individuals.
It was difficult to find other organizations willing to pick up books, but the Salvation Army did pick up quite a few boxes, and FOL members and volunteers made many trips to Goodwill donation points to deliver loads. The Friends of the San Jose Library accepted a load for their own sale, although San Mateo County FOLs did not. Some HMB FOL members took loads home to hold for pickup by the Salvation Army at a later date, some were taken to a preschool and some were given to individuals in exchange for helping clear out the storage container.
Other Grant Applications A total of $8,800 was requested from the Edna Cox Fund of the HMB chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to support children’s theater performances at the library, the library’s summer reading program and a project to provide summer books to students in the La Honda-Pescadero School District. (We learned in December that AAUW granted the FOL $2,000 for the theater performances and the LH-Pesc. students).
A grant proposal to Wells Fargo was tabled until we knew whether we received the state grant for the new library. Maya Kennedy said library staff was waiting on approval from the Peninsula Library System to see if the HMB library may ask the FOL to write a grant for circulating laptop computers. After library staff firms up its wish list, the FOL will apply to the Longs Foundation for funding. The next deadline is in March.
Wine and Cheese Party The FOL will hold an event (subsequently set for March 18) at the Community Center for members and fundraising recognition. Local musical groups will be approached. It was noted that the Ritz Carlton had provided dessert to the Johnston Society, and might also support the FOL party. Marina Fraser said she would ask the Ritz. A planning committee meeting was set for Jan. 10 at Canada Cove.
Next FOL monthly meeting: Monday, Jan. 24, 6 p.m., Canada Cove.
(Minutes respectfully submitted by Nita Martin)