Friends of the UWM Golda Meir Library
Minutes of the Board Meeting
February 28, 2001
Present: Albert Adelman, Norm Balthasar, Lois Blinkhorn, Felmers Chaney, Susan Engberg, Bruce Fetter, Norman Lasca, Ted LaTour, Leigh Sherman, Barry Silberg, Sally Tolan, David Tucker, Pat Van Alyea, Winston Van Horne, and Peter Watson-Boone.
Absent: Tom Bliffert, Clayborn Benson, Gilbert Church, Michael Lord, Stanley Miller, Maria Monreal-Cameron, Martin Schreiber, Bob Seay, and Katie Smith.
Guest: Ewa Barczyk and Mike Doylen.
Excused: Ed Hinshaw.
The meeting was called to order at 12:10 p.m.
1. Minutes of the October 24, 2000 meeting were approved as submitted.
2. Announcements. Lasca welcomed Van Horne, Chair of the University Library Committee.
3. President's Report. Friends submitted a letter to the Governor asking that he include the Board of Regents' $4.7 million request for strengthening UW Library collections in the next biennial budget. The Friends have received approval from the UWM Foundation to move funds into a modified endowment account as of February 2001. Academic Adventurers series is going well, and AGSC has promised to foreground the Friends' role as cosponsor and to distribute membership applications at each event. Guild for Learning in Retirement approached Friends to sponsor various programs; the Friends have declined because such sponsorship would have no benefits to the group.
4. Treasurer's Report. The UWM Foundation account of the Friends stands at $50,810.25. See attached fiscal report for details. The Friends are part of the Milwaukee initiative for the 5-year Capital Campaign to raise $146,000,000. The Friends want to raise $10 million for the Library, $1 million of which is designated under the Capital Campaign. New memberships are coming in steadily; Van Alyea asked that a greater effort be made to recruit Board Members as Friends of the Library.
5. Director's Report. Watson-Boone promised to investigate parking options for the next meeting. Governor's budget was issued: recommends only $11.8 million for UWM and declined to recommend the Regents $4.7 million request for strengthening UW Library collections. No news concerning UWM's request for Phase 4 planning funds. Watson-Boone and Max Yela, Special Collections Librarian, met with Alumni Association Emeritus Board of Directors and asked them to be ambassadors to the Library. The Library is planning an event with the Guild for Learning in Retirement that will occur at the end of May. The Library will host a symposium in celebration of the American Geographical Society's 150 th anniversary on May 18, 2001; a bibliography of AGS publications was distributed. The Library received an anonymous donation of about a dozen books, some of which are quite rare and valuable; the Library is attempting to contact the donor and notify her of a tax deduction. The University Library Committee has submitted a proposal to the Chancellor concerning a new award program, The Chancellor's Golda Meir Library Scholars awards. Watson-Boone asked that members of the board individually contact state legislators in support of including the Board of Regents' $4.7 million request for strengthening UW Library collections in the next biennial budget; the Library will distribute the raw materials that members may use in their letters.
6. Committee Reports.
Communications (Fetter for Church): Reported on the idea to maintain the Friends as one group with special categories of enhanced benefits, instead of creating new membership categories. Committee would like to offer events tied to the Capital Campaign and relating to Library collections (e.g., the Shakespeare collection, AGSC, etc.). It was suggested that the Friends send out a survey to determine what sorts of events members might be interested in supporting.
Development (Silberg): Reported on the idea of striking a deal with vendors such that the vendors would make a voluntary donation to the Friends and that the Friends would advertise the vendors and their products in the Friends newsletter. Silberg will be meeting with various foundations to ask for executive gifts ($5,000 or less). Discussion followed concerning the Friends' effort to raise $10 million: need to develop a timeframe; expertise and staff time needed to run the campaign with a suggestion that the Friends might consider hiring a fundraiser to direct these efforts; concern that the Friends' efforts do not conflict with those of the UWM Foundation; concern how the money donated to the Campaign will be designated for the Library. It was agreed that the Development Committee was charged to discuss these issues and bring a plan forward to the Executive Committee for consideration at the annual membership meeting.
Program (Blinkhorn): Book sale is scheduled for April 9-11. Those interested in volunteering their time should contact Blinkhorn.
7. Old Business. None.
8. New Business. Watson-Boone wants to approach Johnson Controls with the idea of cosponsoring some event with the Library regarding Slovenia (Johnson Controls is one of the largest employers in that country). If anyone has contacts with Johnson Controls, please contact him.
9. Annual meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 12 June 2001, at 5 p.m.
10. Meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.