Minutes of the Friends of Mission Hills/Hillcrest Knox Library
September 24, 2022
The meeting was held in conference rooms at the Mission Hills/Hillcrest Harley and Bessie Knox Library. The meeting was called to order at 10 A.M. by Anne Box, President. An attendance list is at the end of the minutes.
Minutes: The minutes of the August 27th meeting were approved as submitted.
Financials: Don Rudesill was not in attendance. A full report will be available at the next meeting. Anne Box gave a summary of the August report. Income from the bookstore was $1128.00, Square credit card sales were $728.13, Amazon sales were $926.00, and donations were $37.00. The above figures may be slightly revised at the next meeting. Total income was $2,822.44. The three-month total income was $5,604.93.
Expenses totaled $1,094.97 including postage, programs, and annual dues to Corporate.
We approved a revised expenditure of $650.00 for the luncheon on September 11. The original estimate was $500.00.
Librarian’s report: Steve Wheeler said that today’s program is by a local author, Anastasia Zadeik. Future programs include Symbolism in Art on the 26th, a concert by musician Jose Rodriguez, Comedy/Open Mic on Saturday, October 1st. children’s Drag Queen Story Time, Saturday, October 15th, from 10 to 11:30 A.M., and Aging in Place on Saturday, October 22nd, and a pumpkin decorating event prior to Halloween.
Steve requested $250.00 for pumpkins and supplies, which we approved. We also approved $10,000.00 for Materials, $3,000.00 for Equipment and Supplies and $100.00 for a seed holder for the seed library.
The current balances in the various matching funds were: negative $2,725.48 in Materials, $6,357.96 In Equipment and Supplies, $1,149.71 in Performers/Contracts and $10,466.93 in the unmatched Trust Fund. The negative balance in Materials is due to an annual order of leased books.
Steve said that expenditures for the month of August totaled $644.98. This included $223.31 for supplies for the heat press machine.
Bookstore: We discussed ways to distribute overflow stock. Steve suggested free children’s books at events, which we will try. Pat Littell asked about the Monarch School for homeless children. Jean Stein said she may have a contact to reach them and will give it to Pat.
We discussed raising prices on current and previous year hardback books. We agreed to try $3.00 instead of $2.00 per book assuming the books are in good condition.
Holly Murten reported that we have listed 25 books on Abe Books. Abe is easy to use and will supplement Amazon if it is a successful trial. We want to sell at least $25.00 per month on Abe to at least cover the cost of the service. Holly pointed out that Abe books have a red tag and are filed with the Amazon books.
In answer to a question, Holly said that we cannot double list by putting books on Amazon and Abe.
The bookstore computer seems to be working for now, so we will not look to replace it now.
Website: Al Hoefer said he has added a new “widget” on the table of contents of our website. The monthly summary can now go on the left side of the page.
Any ideas for change or improvement or items to post should be sent to Al.
Steve said that he will check with employee Jamie about our having an Instagram account in addition to our facebook page.
Membership: No report. Chuck Leib was not in attendance.
Corporate Friends: Anne reported on the previous meeting. The city will match funds up to $1.2 million this year and an additional amount of $200,000.00 each year until $2,000,000 is reached.
The Library Foundation has financed the Library Master Plan group’s visits and will collect community input on what libraries need. This is the first study in 30 years.
There was also information on the ballot initiative called Libraries and Parks for All. There is Zoom training for anyone who wants to gather signatures.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 A.M. The next meeting will be on Saturday, October 22nd at 10:00 A.M.
Attendance: Anne Box, Steve Wheeler, Al Hoefer, Jean Stein, Holly Murten, Elaine Kalin, Mary Rose Mueller, Don Liddell, Pat Littell .