Thursday,  March 2, 2006

 The meeting was called to order by Vice President Don Durfee at approximately 4:04 p.m., EST.  In the absence of Secretary Amy Hughes, Terry Reynolds volunteered to take the minutes.

 On motion from Terry Reynolds, seconded by Dana Richter, the minutes of the previous two meetings were approved.

 Don Durfee reported that the Friends’ Winter Carnival activities had yielded $281.53, of which around $160 came from donations.  This was significantly more than the $185.75 raised the last time the Friends’ carried out the activity ($185.75 in 2004).  Don thanked all those involved for their help.  Discussion of the event yielded the following recommendations for next year:

- Start later – 11:00 a.m. would be much better than 10:00

- Put out an extra cart of books, if possible

 Terry Reynolds presented the Treasurer’s Report, showing a balance of around $15,500 in the Friends’ accounts and book cart sales up from last year.  Several of those present congratulated the Treasurer on a brilliant report, and Dana Richter congratulated him on preventing wasteful expenditures in his absence from the last meeting.  On motion from Dana Richter, seconded by Brian Geiger, the Treasurers’ fine report was accepted.

 After discussion, the Board decided to call a work bee, to be scheduled for Wednesday, March 8^th, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the basement of the library, to work on book donations (sorting, pricing, etc.).  Progress during that work session will determine whether another will be necessary.

 Discussion then turned to the upcoming April 18-19 book sale.  One element that needs to be moved into motion immediately is issuance of a Friends Newsletter and appeals for book donations.  By acclamation, the Board decided to delegate this task to Amy Hughes (who, conveniently, was not present at the meeting).  The Board suggested that Amy contact Don to do a news article on the Winter Carnival table.  The Newsletter need not be long – primary function is to alert Friends to the sale and push membership renewals to get in on the presale. 

 The Board next turned to a brief discussion of the issue of purchasing art work for the library.  Additional discomfort was expressed by persons other than the Treasurer about the cost of the Beckwith paintings.  Consensus was generally reached on the following points.

- The Board should consider some sort of matching contributions program for purchasing library art.  That is, for every dollar (up to a given amount, say $2000 or more) contributed by Friends or others to a special art fund, the Board would donate matching funds

- The Library should look at other local galleries (Hancock, Calumet/Vertin’s) and other local artists for more economical art, rather than simply purchasing everything from Beckwith.

- The Friends should establish a committee to work with the library director and other library personnel on making more specific recommendations to the Board.  The Chair appointed the following Board members to work with Phyllis on this:  Dana Richter, Dick Rupley, Karen Hubbard. 

 By common consent, the meeting adjourned at around 4:32 p.m. EST