Minutes of the Friends of the Mission Hills-Hillcrest Branch Library
February 1, 2018
The meeting was held at the Mission Hills Branch Library. The meeting was called to order at 6:28 P.M. by Phyllis Marion, President. In attendance were Phyllis Marion, Alan Sparks, Frances Schroeder, Elaine Kalin, Don Rudesill, Lee and Jean Dresser, Leanna Selleck, Michele Pieters, Marian Day, Christine Workman, Mary Rose Mueller, Steve Wheeler and Pat Littell.
Minutes: The minutes of the November2, 2017, meeting were approved as submitted.
Financials: Don Rudesill presented the financial report through January, 2018. The main event was our contribution to the Foundation for fundraising activities as agreed earlier in 2017. The total of that was $200,016.28. This leaves us with a balance in all accounts of $155,578.63.
The total Amazon sales for January were $1,113.53, book cart sales $559.00, and the book sale brought in $289.00. Amazon shipping cost us $83.72, bottled water $131.39 and a gift to Programs was made in the amount of $71.68.
Membership: No report.
Programs: Christine Workman said that Ona Russell, author of “Rule of Capture” was well received last week. Steve Wheeler added that the program on aging and the brain had 29 attendees, and 31 attended the genealogy presentation.
There will be a Lion Dance in the parking lot on February 10th for Chinese New Year. The same day, there will be a workshop in the branch on autism.
On February 24th, Oasis will present a program on vegetable gardening.
Steve said that the Lion Dance may need money for insurance if the endorsement is not completed by that date. We voted to provide up to $300.00 if needed.
Website: Al Hoefer said he has been posting pictures of the new branch progress. Send any pictures to him in JPEG format.
Phyllis said that Corporate Friends are working on a website and will link ours and others to theirs.
Corporate Meeting: Phyllis said that the January meeting was mainly spent revising the model bylaws for chapters. We can compare ours to the model when it is finished.
Fundraising/Book sales: Michele Pieters said the rain slowed sales last month. She has a cashier for the next four months.
She told us that she had been able to ship a book we posted on Amazon to Germany. The customer paid the extra shipping and was pleased to receive the book. Overseas shipping has been a problem in the past due to the cost of shipping exceeding the set rate.
Librarian’s report: Steve received a call from the LGBTQ committed head at Logan Heights. They had received a $1,000 that they could not use. They are thinking of giving it to our Friends for the Pride Parade and other local things.
Steve also said that the Foundation received a million dollar donation from Deborah Szekely for the children’s area of our new branch.
Our new assistant at the branch will be Albert Escamilla, but Destiny was promoted to OB. We should be getting a new clerk to replace her.
San Ysidro had a groundbreaking for their new branch.
Steve added that at today’s managers’ meeting, they learned that matching funds will be matched by the city, but only half of the match goes to the home branch, ten percent to a pool, and the rest distributed among other branches. This does not include donations to our fundraising campaign.
The floating books program is expanding slowly. Two year old materials and older will start floating Monday.
A program to end overdue fines is supposed to start in July. Books will be automatically renewed as long as possible, accounts will be blocked if materials are not returned.
President’s report:
Old business: None.
New business: Phyllis confirmed that the one million dollar donation is for the children’s section of the new branch. There is one more large gift expected.
The plans have been reconfigured to include a space for a knowledge lab which includes things such as 3D printers, laser cutters and other desired, but expensive items. The estimated cost is $250,000 to $300,000.
Phyllis wants to meet to discuss the Friends store at the new branch. Everything has to be ready before the opening. We need to have a committee operating. Phyllis will contact those who are working on sales now. Contact Phyllis if you are interested. The Assistance League is also interested in helping with the store.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:23 P.M.
The next meeting is scheduled for March 1st.