Attending: J. Brummond, C. Campbell, E. Cisney, J. Guariz, M. Guariz, D. D’Haem, W. Larsen, G. Weixler, R. Weixler, P. Nolan, R. Rada, S. Pedersen
Action
Items:
2) Dee - Reschedule Inquiring Minds featuring Jill Johnson
3) Dee - Call ALANON and let them know Bob Parks has retired as Facilities Manager and will no longer open the building when keys are forgotten.
4) Carol - Review the room use policy and suggest a change at next
meeting
5) Carol – Thank you to Greg Iverson for cleaning the birdhouses
6) Carol – Thank you to Sissy and Doug (Manchester Family Inn) for their years of support
7) Dee – Information to be shared on any changes in the Library hours
8) Carol and Margaret – follow up on books, which may be donated, from Mrs. Denniston’s estate
9) Joe – Contact Phil to see if he needs help with Christmas lights at the Library
10) Carol and Margaret – Nominating committee for new Officers
11) Dee – Contact Linda Thompson about $100.00 donation from Knights of Pythias
12) Joe – Contact Andre to make sure he is still willing to do the rockwork
13) Carol – quote on the garden signs
14) Gigi – Contact Bethel and Olalla granges to see if we qualify for monetary donations
15) Dee, Carol, Julie – Heart of the Community - nomination
President Julie Brummond called the meeting to order at 7:00PM. Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as written.
Correspondence: Julie offered copies of newsletters from other Friends groups. She suggested we think about a newsletter from us. It could be used as a recruiting tool, building fund info, visibility, book sales, any proposals for other info, contact Carol via e-mail. Future discussion was planned.
Treasurer’s report: Carol presented the regular report with a comment on the spectacular book sale. There were no other significant items to report. Carol also reported, we would need to file an IRS form #990 due to the past two years’ fund raising successes.
Branch
Managers report:
Programs – Adult Winter Reading, December 21st to March 19th
- Martha Bayley, December 8th 7:00 PM
- Make a Gift Workshop for Adults [Glass Etching & Soap Making] – December 3rd
- Make a Gift Workshop for Kids [Book Making & Soap Making] – December 10th
Inquiring Minds -The presenter, Jill Johnson, due to the illness of her mother, canceled. She did offer to reschedule two dates in November/December but the meeting room was already booked. Dee will continue to explore rescheduling the presentation.
Adult Winter Reading – This year the program will be much simplified and will coincide with the winter solstice, re: dates above. No latte’ this year. There will be a simple sign up to enter, and a simple finisher form. Gift certificates to local independent bookstores will be issued and an immediate chocolate treat and silicone bracelet will be given to those who complete the challenge. Friends of the Library will not have a financial part in the program.
Martha Bayley – The Thursday Book Club meeting on December 8th is a book-talk by Martha Bayley. Martha is our fiction selector working in collection management at KRL’s Sylvan Way Branch. If you want to know what are the best reads, show up for this “party” (you can bring a snack to share) and talk about the best reads of this year and next.
Request from Bob Parks – Bob visited Dee yesterday and requested we post a sign saying that he no longer has a key and will be unable to unlock the library for those who have lost or forgotten their key. He also asked we post another number to call. Joe suggested groups, who lose keys, pay for another key to be made. Dee will call AlANON and ask them not to contact Bob Parks. Carol suggested we revisit and revise the written policy and present it to the groups who use the meeting room.
Greg Iverson cleaned and repaired the birdhouses on the left side of the Library. Carol will write a thank you for this helpful (and messy) service.
Nominations for Heart of the Library – Update. A cover letter, nomination statement and photo gallery (slide show Jane is working on) was presented to the Friends. It was decided that Julie, President of the Friends should be the nominator for the Manchester Library. Nominations need to be in by December 15th.
New Manchester Hours? – The meeting KRL was canceled due to “snow”. Information will be shared at the conclusion of the rescheduled meeting.
Bookstore report: Gigi reported that the November bookstore sale was a huge success.
Gigi presented a list, compiled by a business friend of hers, which lists places who would take books we can’t use. The Friends bookstore does not accept encyclopedias, textbooks, abridged versions, weekly magazines or old and smelly books. Gigi also suggested books could be donated to Purdy, a shelter in Shelton, or Retsil.
Gigi and Rich presented a “Friends Gather Here” plaque they purchased from the Manchester Family Inn gift shop. We will hang it in a prominent place in the meeting/bookstore area. Thank you to Rich and Gigi for this heartfelt donation.
Joe reported that we had a substantial donation (over 100 cookbooks) from Jim Steicel, a Manchester resident. They will be sorted, priced, and put in the book sale cupboard for the February sale.
Wanda asked about books from Mrs. Denniston’s estate. She wondered if any could be used for the bookstore. Carol and Margaret, as a community service, offered to help the family sort and distribute the books where they could be most used.
Penny Jar report: Lauri reported new donations of $31.93, for a grand total of $1,415.00 on the 5th anniversary of the penny drive. Lauri also reported that the Manchester Family Inn is sponsoring free gift-wrapping on every Saturday in December from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Sissy and Doug will suggest a donation to the Friends of the Library. Carol will send a thank you card to Sissy and Doug for their support over the years.
Facilities Manager’s report: Joe reported that the outside floodlights have not been on for almost a month. New light bulbs will be tried tonight. Update: The light bulbs were replaced; all are working. Christmas Lights: A question was raised as to Phil putting Christmas lights up on the Library. There were offers to help. Joe will contact him and see if he needs help. The tree lighting is scheduled to coordinate with the small Christmas ships which leave Southworth between 5:00-5:30 PM on December 17th and arrive in Manchester at 5:45 PM.
Old
Business:
Letters of thanks have been sent to PSE (John) and Bob Parks for long time Friendship (Norma)
Letter of condolence was sent to Charlie Randolph’s family (Carol)
Knights of Pythias: Carol, Bill, and Norma attended the meeting. They were nicely received and the Knights of Pythias committed to donate, which may have been mistakenly sent to the Port Orchard Library. Dee will call Linda Thompson and see if they got a donation recently from the Knights of Pythias.
Finalize LLGC agreement – Julie reported that the Garden Club seems to now be committed to honoring their obligations. Work parties have been scheduled and various members have been observed working in the Library garden area.
Heart of the Community nomination – Needs to be in by December 15th. Dee Carol and Julie will work on this.
Proposal for sharing cost of border rock - Joe shared that he gave the bid for the rockwork to Jim Thompson at the Port Meeting. After seeing the bid, Jim has changed his mind on his original commitment to pay in full for the project and has now said the Port would pay ½ of the cost. Joe felt that the money would be better spent for gutters, toilets, etc. but the consensus was that the Friends should go ahead and pay the other ½ to get the job done so we continue working jointly with the Port on other issues. The Friends agreed to pay ½ of the bill for the rocks and rock placement, which includes removal of the creosote logs. Joe will contact Andre and see if he is still willing to do the project.
Friends’ recruitment packages: Ron shared ideas on recruiting new members including a suggestion for membership dues. Ideas were also shared about tying recruiting packages to the building fund, referring to potential benefactors. Gigi shared, noting perks for other organizations, benefactors could be invited to come to the first night of the sale and have early access to the plant and book sales. Membership dues were discussed and it was decided, for an all-volunteer organization that requires so much help for book sales, plant sales, general maintenance, and salmon bake; charging dues would not be appropriate. Benefactors and privileges were discussed further and Ron said he would prepare a recommendation for recruitment packages, including benefactors and privileges, at the January meeting.
Meeting Night options: Changing the meeting night for the Friends was discussed. Meeting on the first Wednesday instead of the 3rd Wednesday would coordinate better with the financial records. After some discussion, it was decided to leave the meeting night as it is for now.
New
Business:
Community partnering for the new building: Discussion included: community support, needs of the community, needs of a community center, the need to expand the size of the footprint (which includes accessing more property), partnering possibilities, design partnering with the new structures planned for the downtown, height possibilities, parking issues, building fund suggestions. The most prominent position was that community support is vital in this endeavor. Steve Pedersen, Commissioner for the Water District, spoke on some of these issues. There was enthusiasm from the group and the consensus was to let John continue to pursue this idea, and not lose out on the opportunity to expand. A community partnering investigative meeting is scheduled on Saturday December 10th to continue the discussion.
Separate account for building funds: Tabled until January
Nominating committee for new officers: Carol and Margaret volunteered to be on the nominating committee for new officers.
Fund Raising Proposal: John, Ron Robinson, and Carol attended a grant-writing workshop. Carol shared ideas. Future discussions are planned.
Salmon Bake organization meeting: There will be a meeting in January for Salmon Bake planning. Joyce, Gigi and Julie will coordinate via e-mail to help facilitate the planning.
** A side note: Steve Pedersen’s mother, Louise Pedersen, retired Manchester Library librarian, is the Pedersen the bookroom is named after. Steve’s grandmother donated the space for the original library in 1947.
Next
meeting:
The next regular meeting will be Wednesday, January 25th at 7:00 PM in the Library meeting room.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret Guariz, Co-Vice President