Friends of the Mission Hills/Hillcrest Knox Library
February 25, 2023
The meeting was held in conference rooms at the Mission Hills/Hillcrest Harley and Bessie Knox Library. The meeting was called to order at 10:05 A.M. by Anne Box, President. An attendance list is at the end of the minutes.
Minutes: The minutes of the January 28, 2023, meeting were approved as submitted.
Financials: Don Rudesill presented January 1-31, 2023, financial results. Bookstore cash sales were $1,045.91, Square credit card sales were $494.64, Amazon sales were $535.23. Book cart sales and donations were $90.19 and ABE book sales were $298.42. Total sales were $2.464.39. We also received a $250.00 lifetime membership and a $5.00 membership.
Expenses for the month included an annual website expense of $498.88, and gifts to programs of $219.84.
The total in all accounts was $162,443.78 at the end of January.
Librarian’s report: Steve Wheeler provided Special Fund balances. Materials has $7,506.55, Equipment and Supplies $8,923.46, Performers and Contracts $7,301.71. The Trust Fund, which is currently unmatched, has a balance of $10,466.93.
Steve said that expenses were for programs and an equipment purchase for new wheels for carts.
Steve requested money for a Saint Patrick’s Day event for children and for a Dinosaur Tea party for a total of $250.00. The request was approved.
Programs: Upcoming programs include: February 28, Tuesday, a noon performance of Flavia Pisco and Jose Rodriguez on violin and guitar. This is a Via Musica event.
March 4 Saturday, at 2:30 P.M. Introduction to South Indian Classical Music
March 13, Monday at 6:30 P.M. Ancient Egyptian Art. This is an Oasis program.
March 20, Monday at 6:30 P.M. Degenerate Art. This is also an Oasis program.
March 27, Monday at 6:30 P.M. Alexander Hamilton-The Man, Not the Musical.
The movies will be on the first Friday, March 10, “Almost Famous” and on the third Friday, March 24, “Beauty and the Beast.”
Jean Stein explained that April is Poetry Month and our events will include a poetry reading by local poets on the last Saturday, April 29. Curran Jeffrey organizes this event.
On April 3, Monday, Jason Perez, our Poet Laureate, will read poetry.
Steve showed us the flyers that give credit to the Friends for events we are sponsoring. This was an earlier request by Corporate Friends.
The week of April 10 through 14 we will sponsor Blackout Poetry. Last year was the first year for this event which involves using printed pages, blacking out everything except words and phrases that make up the poem. It was a fun and successful event. The prize for the winner will be a $50.00 gift card from the Central bookstore. We will provide materials and will explain the process in the lobby of the branch during the dates of the contest. We need more volunteers! Send your availability to Jean Stein.
Sue Eubanks will make poster to display showing poems from last year’s winners.
Bookstore: Jean said that all is well on scheduling. All shifts are covered. Any new volunteers will work with another volunteer who is working alone.
We discussed the need for a coordinator for the bookstore after our manager Michele Pieters moved away. Pat Littell volunteered for the position. Pat will try to take care of issues in the store by finding the current person in charge of it, or she will take care of it herself. She will not take care of scheduling or finding substitutes.
Steve said that the branch is getting walkie talkies to contact the guards. We agreed to keep one in the bookstore as well. This will be the first step to reach the guard, but we can also use the phones as back up.
Holly Murten said that the large sale on ABE books was for a set of books. In answer to a question, Holly said that we keep listings on Amazon for as long as three to four years, but she and Susan Chenven check everything every few months and remove items that are dropping in price as necessary.
Holly also said that we now have over 100 items on ABE books.
Sue Eubanks said that she will post a log in sheet for supplies so that whomever receives them in the bookstore can sign them in and add the date.
Website: Al Hoefer said that all is well with the website and that all events are posted. In answer to a query, he said that we do not have a need to use Venmo. We all agreed that Square takes care of all non-cash purchases.
Membership: No report. Chuck Leib was not in attendance.
Roundtable: Pat brought up the 2013 loan to the Central Library shop. To date, we have received only $540.00 of the $3,000.00 loaned. That payment was in February of 2016. At the time of the loan, the store planned to repay branches that needed the money first. The Pandemic caused closure of all libraries and branches, but since the reopening, we have not had an update on repayments. Anne agreed to bring the issue up at a Corporate meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 A.M. The next meeting has not been scheduled. It will be March 25 depending on whether Steve can attend.
Attendance: Anne Box, Steve Wheeler, Sue Eubanks, Jean Stein, Holly Murten, Don Rudesill, Al Hoefer, Armin Kuhlman and Pat Littell