SouthShore Friends 2009 Annual Meeting



Subject: SouthShore FOL Annual Meeting

Minutes, SouthShore Regional Library, Annual Meeting, January 28, 2009
President Frances Hereford called the meeting to order at 3 PM. About 40 people were in attendance.  All of the attendees introduced themselves.
      Frances thanked all of the staff that were in attendance and stressed how important it is to maintain our good working relationship with the staff.
       Frances thanked everyone for attending and reminded everyone that it is time to pay your 2009 dues.
       Volunteers: Frances especially thanked all of the volunteers and stressed how important it is to continue to work to increase the number of volunteers.
        Membership, PR and Program Promotion: Frances thanked Dee Foster for her recent effort in membership and PR; and said that the Friends will always benefit from more help and effort in this area. She thanked Diane Waronka for her effort to improve Program Advertising and Promotion.
       Grants and donations: Frances said that for 2009, there was a great opportunity to solicit grants and donations, and asked attendees to consider who may be able to help in this area.
     Website: Frances asked for a volunteer to assist Jim Duffy in 2009 to maintain the Friends website. Now that the site is completed, most of the “day to day” effort can be done from home and is quite simple.
    Minutes From the Last Meeting: The minutes of the October 29, 2009 General Membership meeting were read and approved.
   Nominating Committee: Jack Fischer, Chair of the Nominating Committee read the following names of the 2009 officers that were recommended by the nominating committee:  President, Frances Hereford   Vice President, Jim Duffy, Planning   Treasurer, Gail Daane Secretary, Roz Cruthis Mimi & Tom Rose, Volunteers Joan Shalleck, Arts Programs  Diane Waronka, Advertising & Education Programs Fred Jacobson, History & Science Programs Jack Fischer, Genealogy and Computers. Jack asked if there were any other candidates suggested by the attendees. There being none, a motion to approve the above officers was made, seconded and passed.
    2008 Income and Expense: Treasurer, Gail Daane provided the following report for year end 2008:Total Income, $38,083, the key expense items were $25,585 from book store sales and $3,390 from membership dues.Total Expense, $22,152, the key items were $16,527 for library programs and program supplies and $5,652 was for Friends operating costs. Of the $5,652, the main items were postage, printing and mailing costs, plus $1,626 for book sales tax. YE 2008 Balance, $58,260. Details of the 2008 income and expenses were distributed at the meeting.
    2009 Annual Budget: Jim Duffy presented the 2009 Annual Budget for review and approval. He said that the budget was, with minor changes, the same as reviewed at the October 2008 General Membership Meeting. The budget has been reviewed by the board. The financial operating guidelines for the SouthShore FOL is to spend about half of the year end balance over the next two years; and to adjust the budget each year based on the new year end balance. This helps to insure a reasonable stable financial position for the Friends that can be adjusted up or down over a two year horizon. 2009 Budget Total Income, $26,540; the key item is book sales of $21,040. 2009 Budget Sum Total Expense was also $26,540; with the key items being $21,000 for the library programs and supplies and the remainder for Friends overhead and operating costs. Copies of the budget were distributed at the meeting. The budget was approved by the membership.
   Library Staff: Comments from Attending Library Staff: Frances thanked Anne Ross, Eloise Hurst, Margaret Rials, Jo Combs, Suzanne Prach and Bill Harris for attending. Frances thanked the staff for all of their hard work and stressed how important it is for the Friends to maintain the positive working relations that the Friends and the staff currently enjoy.  Margret Rials said that Florida Library Days are planned for March 3 & 4 in Tallahassee. This is a fun opportunity to lobby our elected officials on the importance of supporting and funding Florida libraries. Margret also said that there will be a Florida Friends of the Library Day in Orlando on May 7, 2009. Margret said that she will be driving the county van to both of these events, and that both are fun and educational. There are modest fees involved with both events. Space is available in the van on an first come/first serve basis. Margret’s email is RialsM@hillsboroughcounty.org. Anne Ross thanked the Friends for all of their hard work. Eloise Hurst thanked the Friends and provided a briefing of 2009 programs. The following are a few highlights. Information on all of the programs available at SouthShore, and all of the other libraries in HC County, are available in the internet. Go to WWW.SouthShoreFriends.com, click on PROGRAMS, then click on Current Programs.  Children’s Programs: Children’s programs are funded by the county, but SS programs are enhanced by the additional supplies and equipment provided by the Friends.  Teen Program’s: Bill Harris discussed the Teen Advisory Board, the Teen Game Zone programs, and the College Workshop Series. These programs provide teen input to the library staff and improve the opportunity for teens to use the library. Bill thanked Dominos Pizza for providing free pizza for several of the teen programs. He also talked about the teens working with Senior Citizens on the Wii gaming series and said that the Observer News was at the last session; so he is hoping for some good publicity.  Adult Programs: Jo Combs provided some highlights on adult programs. She covered “The Muses: Celtic Music with A Zing!”, “Florida Pro Musica—A Baroque Chamber Music Concert” and a programs on the “Tuskegee Airmen” as especially good free programs currently scheduled. Art Programs: Suzanne Prach said that 3,000 people of all ages have participated in art programs since the library opened. There are a variety of programs for all ages. She thanked the Friends for all of their financial support. Suzanne also thanked the Community Foundation of Greater Sun City Center for their wonderful support, some of which comes from the Crawford Art Foundation. She also talked about the Bi-Monthly Art Shows that are held at the library and said that 50 people attended the first reception this month to “kick-off” the show.  She thanked the Friends for funding the refreshments.
     Friends Board Director Reports:
Mimi Rose – Volunteers: Mimi discussed what went on at the January 9, 2009 book sale volunteer meeting. She said that the “bible for the volunteers” is the Volunteer Reference Guide, which is continually updated and provides guideline for volunteers. Mimi said that 15 volunteers helped support the recent Book Sale. Mimi is also working on a HC volunteer recognition event for the 14 volunteers that have 100 or more hours of work. Mimi said that the county procedures on how these recognition events are conducted are being modified and she is working with Margret to find the best way to handle the recognition event.
Jack Fischer – Newsletter and Genealogy: Jack said that a new quarterly newsletter is available. It is printed on pink paper to distinguish it from prior editions. He said that the newsletter is published quarterly, or when special news is available or the prior edition runs out. Jack said that the Genealogy Center at the library is doing well and that members of the SouthShore Genealogy Club are available to help users get started with their projects. He said that the Club is providing both beginner and advanced programs conducted by Sharon Tate Moody who is a nationally recognized expert.
Fred Jacobson – History and Science: Fred said that “he has proof that elephants and big cats roamed SouthShore during the last ice age”. Fred was referring to the work of local paleontologist, Franks Garcia, who has discovered many fossils in our area. A display case of his discoveries is now on permanent display in the library. The goal is to add additional display cases on the history of communities in SouthShore. The display cases will be identical with the display cases used in other libraries in HC. Fred also discussed a joint program between the Friends and the Cypress Creek Elementary School Resident Advisory Committee. The program provides teachers at the school to award students special recognition by giving them a “coupon” provided by the Friends. It is good for a free book anywhere in Friends book sale room. So far, about 25 students have used the coupons for free books.
 Joan Shalleck – Arts: Joan said that the Book Bag is yielding consistent sales, but the KidsArt card sales are slow. Joan also provided a report on other art activities in SouthShore. She represents the Friends on most activities in SouthShore such as the SouthShore Arts council, the Crawford Art Studio, the County Public Art program and the recent Ruskin Big Draw, that resulted in a 100 foot long mural of Ruskin history being painted across the end of the old Clark Furniture Store in Ruskin.
Diane Waronka – Advertisement and PR: Diane reported on her recent work in increasing newspaper announcements for the library programs. Eloise said that the increase in new coverage was helping to increase program attendance.  Dee Foster – Membership and Promotion: Dee sends out thank you notes to evey Friend who joins, renews or donates $25 or more. She also is working with Mimi to have the book store volunteers hand out Friends applications to people who use the store. She is also working with the Tribune to get a weekly free “add” in the Saturday “SouthShore Faces” section in the newspaper.
Book Sale - Rich Bromberger and John and Linda Bowker gave a report on special book sale activities. They said that the January 17, 2009 sale was a success, with great support from volunteers. They said that they are going to try having book sales once per month; the first on planned for February 28th. The idea is to have more frequent book sales that will reduce the amount of extra handling and storage. They said that they will experiment with different ideas and see what works best. For the next sale they plan to use the “buck a bag” format and have all books in the regular sale room at half price.
President Hereford opened the meeting for comments from any attendee. The next General Membership meeting is scheduled for April 28th at 3pm at the library. Frances announced that punch and cookies were available after the meeting, and closed the meeting at 4:30 pm.
Joann Duffy, Secretary
Frances Hereford, President