Meeting called to order by Chairman Kim Hoagland at ~4:00 PM in room 309 of
the Library.  Secretary Faith Morrison arrived at 4:09pm.  Action items in
bold.

Present:   June Hawthorn, George Love, Dee Vincent, Karen Hubbard, Kim
Hoagland, Erin Minne, Peck Cho, Faith Morrison, Terry Reynolds
Absent: Dana Richter, Lynn Bjorkman, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Phyllis Johnson,
Visitors:  none

The December minutes were reviewed.  One typographical error was corrected.
 The minutes were approved unanimously.

Reynolds gave the treasurer's report.  Account totals are up slightly due
to some membership renewals.  The audit has not yet been performed.  Minne
will work with Richter to make sure that the audit is performed in time for
the February meeting.

Morrison asked how she could find out who had renewed and at what level.
The board discussed this.  Reynolds agreed to ask the Tech Fund for a list
of all donors to the Friends from 7/1/98 - 12/31/98 including addresses and
amounts. He will pass this information on to the secretary. He will also do
this quarterly so that the secretary can keep up-to-date with memberships.
Morrison noted that Johnson will need to do the same for Library accounts.

Morrison gave the secretary's report.  She is still working with Fitzgerald
to get old newsletters on the web.  The September and December dues
reminders went out just before Christmas (the renewal letter was passed
around the meeting).  The December newsletter went out yesterday to all
members in good standing as well as to all past members.  This is the last
newsletter that will go out to those who do not renew.  Hubbard suggested
that copies of the newsletter be placed at the circulation desk.  Morrison
will do this.  Morrison indicated that she might come to the board with a
proposal to simplify the renewal process, perhaps proposing only annual
renewals at the time of the book sale.  Love asked that Morrison bring 30
copies of the newsletter to the February meeting for distribution to a
group of retired faculty/staff.  Morrison will do this.

Vincent reported that plans for the book sale are moving forward.  The
dates (April 15-16) will be firmed up with the MUB in early February.
There was some discussion of the times of the sale, and it was decided that
the pre-sale would be from 5-8pm and the full-day sale would be from 9-5
with a bag sale from 4-5pm.  Morrison noted that there is no drop-box in
the library for donations.  Johnson had promised to take care of that
(Vincent will remind Johnson).  Cho said he could ask Tau Beta Pi if they
would be willing to donate 30-50 person-hours to the sale.  The board
agreed to bestow membership on volunteers who give 4 or more hours of
service to the Friends.  Hoagland asked Vincent to set up subcommittees to
oversee the various activities of the book sale.

It was noted that the next meeting is scheduled to be during Winter
Carnival.  The meeting was changed to February 11 to avoid Carnival week.

There were no reports from the fundraising, advocacy, or membership
committees (possibly due to the holidays).  Hoagland asked that all
committees meet and report at the February meeting.  Hubbard reported that
the Library Beautification staff group has not met.  Johnson is asked to
follow up on this and report at the February meeting.

Cho asked why we have membership categories.  Morrison indicated that it is
so that in lists of members we can separate members by their donor level,
and individuals can take pride in being in the higher-donation categories.
Cho asked if we could increase membership through blanket sales, perhaps by
giving membership to those who pay $5 or $10 over blanket cost while buying
a blanket; a form for joining in this way could be slipped in with the
blankets.  Reynolds added that we could give the blanket as a premium for
donations of, for example, $200 or more; of course the tax-deduction from
the donation would be reduced by the retail price of the blanket.  We could
also use note cards as a premium for a smaller membership category.  The
membership committee (Hubbard, Fitzgerald, and Hawthorn) is charged with
looking into these ideas.  Hubbard asked if there could be another member
to the committee; it was suggested that perhaps Lynn Bjorkman would join.
Hubbard will ask her.

Hoagland and Reynolds will make sure that the blanket on display in the
library has a note pinned on it indicating how blankets may be purchased.
There was discussion on how to increase blanket sales; it was agreed that
we should sell blankets and cards at the book sale to increase our
visibility, even if the sales are low.  We should also sell during Alumni
Weekend.  The Fundraising committee will consider these issues.

In New Business, Cho, Love, and Johnson have been contacted by an alumnus
who has suggested that Mike Krinitski (spelling?) be nominated for an
honorary doctorate.  The board discussed this suggestion.  Morrison will
check with the MTU Honors and Awards Committee to see what the procedure
is.  Johnson is asked to bring any information she has on Krinitski to the
February meeting.  It was discussed that the Friends could give their own
award as well.

The next newsletter will be in mid to late March.

The next meeting will be February 11, 1999 in room 309 of the Library.
Meeting adjourned at 5:03pm.

Submitted by Faith Morrison, January 7, 1999.