Present: Karen Hubbard, George Love, Terry Reynolds, Dee Vincent, Faith Morrison, June Hawthorne, Dana Richter, Marianne Brokaw, Mary Marchaterre

Absent: Gail Mroz, Amy Hughes, Phyllis Johnson, Peck Cho, Don Durfee, Mike Miller

Dee Vincent called the meeting to order at 4 pm. Faith Morrison agreed to take the minutes. Action items are in bold.

The minutes of the November, 2002 meetings were reviewed. George Love moved and Karen Hubbard seconded a motion to approve the minutes. Motion passed.

Terry Reynolds passed out the Treasurer’s report dated December 3, 2002. Reynolds noted that finances are at an all-time low for the month of December. Reynolds will be on sabbatical Spring 2003 and prepared a packet to help the board conduct business while he is away. Faith Morrison will post the packet (minus account numbers) on the web. Reynolds will email Morrison an electronic copy. Through most of February Reynolds will be in town over the weekends and perhaps on Mondays as well. Reynolds will continue to pick up money from the book cart. Karen Hubbard will continue stocking the book cart.

Reynolds noted the receipt of a new membership - Bette Mongold. She was active in her local friends group in her previous location and wants to help. The board agreed that we should contact her and invite her to help with the book sale.

The board accepted the treasurer's report unanimously.

Dee Vincent reported that she had received a request for the Friends to supply refreshments for a talk in the Archives by Eric Nordberg. There will be 50-65 people. The talk is sponsored by the Alumni Association. The board agreed to budget up to $25 for this event. Motion passed with one dissenting vote. Mary Marchaterre and Dee Vincent will coordinate the purchase of cookies for the event.

Vincent brought up the book sale and the problems associated with the book sale during the renovation of the library. Since Phyllis Johnson was not able to attend the meeting, the board was unable to complete this discussion. The book sale is our top revenue event and the storage of the books is also an issue in the running of the book carts. Together they bring in $3000/year. The Friends need a place to store, sort, and price books. The book sale is also our most visible project. It was suggested that the Friends could ask the deans/directors for space? It was noted that space in the Library or the MUB would be appropriate; elsewhere would entail a great deal of moving and carting of books. The subject was tabled until more information could be obtained.

Vincent brought up the subject of selling more books on the web. It was noted that there is a great deal of work involved in putting books for sale on the web. Perhaps our student friends could help? Perhaps we could do it with paid help? Would we clear enough? The discussion was tabled until a future meeting.

Karen Hubbard brought a program called "Books are Fun" to the board's attention. In this program a book vendor brings in new books and sells them. The sponsoring location gets 10% of the sales. Hubbard reports that the hospital auxillary does this as does Hancock library. One address for this is "James Stori, 1120 N. 1^st Avenue, Iron River, MI 49935 906-265-3062 email: jnstorti@up.net". The board was interested. Would be a good fundraiser. Would the university permit? Who should be asked? The board will ask Johnson about the possibility of doing this kind of fundraiser.

Dana Richter pointed out the article on the Archive Travel Grants that appeared in the Alumnus - the Friends get a prominent mention. The board expressed it's appreciation to Eric Nordberg for writing the article.

The board discussed spending projects/priorities. Dee Vincent will contact library staff for more ideas. Morrison suggested a collections project? Morrison also asked if it would be a good idea for the VP Library to have a circulating DVD collection to add to the popular collection. That would bring in the students. Vincent will ask the Library staff.

MaryAnn Brokaw asked if there was any sales presence in the dorms? Reynolds noted that we could put a book cart in a second location, but he favored the MUB. The board liked these ideas and will revisit them at a future meeting.

The next meeting of the Friends will be Thursday, January 16, the first Thursday of spring term. Meeting adjourned at 5:12pm.

Submitted by Faith Morrison December 9, 2002