FRIENDS OF THE GOLDA MEIR LIBRARY

Board Meeting

Wednesday, 3 October 2001, noon

4 th floor Conference Center

Present: Albert Adelman, Norm Balthasar, Tom Bliffert, Gilbert Church, Simone Conceição-Runlee, Susan Engberg, Bruce Fetter, Ted LaTour; Norman Lasca, Scott Sampson, Martin Schreiber, Leigh Sherman, and Peter Watson-Boone.

Guests: Ewa Barczyk, Michael Doylen, Davey Singer, and David Tucker.

The meeting was called to order at 11:30.

1. Minutes of the February 28, 2001 Board meeting were approved as submitted.

2. President's Report:

• Welcomed new members Conceição-Runlee and Sampson to the Board.
• The Board has hired David Tucker as fund-raiser to work with the Library Development Director, the UWM Foundation, and the Alumni Association.
• Recommended that future meetings be moved to Fridays in order to guarantee Board members on-campus parking; recommendation accepted.
• Asked Board members to RSVP regarding lunches at meetings.
• As of September 24, Friends memberships totaled 282.
• Thanked the Bliffert Foundation for a very generous contribution that will enable the Friends to create an endowment whose purpose is to assist the Friends in their support of the Library. " The Thomas and Jean Bliffert Trust for the Friends of the Golda Meir Library" will have as a priority the acquisition and dissemination of information on the local history of the arts, in which Tom and Jean have long had a special interest, but it may also be used for other worthy purposes.
• Invited Davey Singer, the Library's Development Director, to describe a new fund-raising program endorsed by the Executive Committee, called Inside Inscriptions. Singer explained that for a $35 contribution to the Friends, the Library will place a bookplate inscribed with an honoree's name inside a new book. Discussion followed regarding ways to expand the program in the future, targeting a larger audience, giving individuals the option of making larger contributions, and posting information regarding the program on the Friends' Web site.
• The next issue of the Friends Newsletter will be published in a month or so.
• Discussed revising the bylaws to allow the Executive Committee to appoint new members. The Board decided to continue the present procedure for now, and President Lasca asked members to nominate candidates for a mail ballot. President Lasca will draft language to modify the bylaws and present it to the Friends at the next annual meeting. Asked Board members to send him the names of nominees.

3. Treasurer's Report (Lasca for Silberg): The UWM Foundation account of the Friends stands at $64,037.03.

4. Library Director's Report:

• Watson-Boone apologized for sending to Board members information with an incorrect meeting time of 11:00 a.m.
• Distributed a list of the ways in which the Library fulfills its extended mission to UWM and the local community.
• The request for planning dollars in 2001-03 for Stage IV of the Library was supported by UWM administration and the UW System, but not by the State Building Commission.
• Because the Library has no new funds for acquisitions this year, it is compelled to cancel over $200,000 of journal subscriptions. Cancellation criteria included subscription cost, usage of the title, and availability of the same title at another UW institution. Electronic desktop delivery of specific articles from journals cancelled in paper format is now much more viable. Library administration has initiated discussions about these cancellations with campus groups such as the Deans Council, Library Liaisons, and Department Chairs.
• On September 6, the Library celebrated the recent publication of A Bibliography and List of Library Holdings of Milwaukee Publisher George Brumder (1839-1910) with about 40 members of the Brumder family.
• Tucker asked if the Library had managed to contact the individual who anonymously donated the group of rare and valuable books to the Library in January 2001. The Library's attempts to do this have not succeeded.

5. Committee Reports

• Program Committee (Lasca for Blinkhorn): The book sale, held in April 2001, raised $3,100 for the Library. The Friends plan to hold another book sale in spring 2002.
• Communications Committee (Church): It was moved that the following membership categories and rates (for one-year memberships) be adopted by the Friends:

Regular $35
Contributing $50
Sponsor $100
Patron $500
Benefactors $1,000

Motion passed. Vote will be taken by the membership at the next annual meeting. Also moved that an existing committee be charged or a new committee be established to facilitate activities that members have indicated they want to engage in. Motion passed.

• Development Committee (Lasca for Silberg): Lasca introduced Tucker, who gave an update on his fund-raising efforts. Tucker thanked the Friends for the past opportunity to serve on the Board as the Alumni Association Liaison, and for the present opportunity to serve as a fund-raiser. The goal is to raise $70,000 in unrestricted and restricted funds for the Friends in one year. Tucker noted that the tragedy of September 11 has impacted fund-raising efforts nationwide, and that active solicitation on behalf of the Friends was being pushed back to the last quarter of this year. Although the goal is to raise as much money as possible in undesignated funds, Tucker recognizes that many individuals will want to target their donations to specific needs. With that in mind, he has identified 3 areas for designated donations: 1) enhancement of Library collections beyond what is possible with state funding alone, 2) collection preservation, and 3) support and expansion of the Library's public programming. He noted the possibility of a fourth stage of Golda Meir Library building, reviewed the vehicles for donations, and emphasized that he will coordinate his fund-raising efforts with the Library's Development Office and the UWM Capital Campaign. He is convinced that the increased community awareness about UWM can only help the Friends’ fund-raising efforts. Tucker is happy to discuss these matters further and interested individuals should call him at 535-1800.

New Business:

6. Committee Assignments: Lasca asked new Board members to meet with him about committee assignments.

7. Vacant Board positions: Lasca will receive nominations from Board members that will then be put to a vote of the membership by a mail ballot.

8. Funding Request: Watson-Boone asked the Friends for $969 for the purchase of 1500 book bags. It was moved, seconded, and passed. An Inside Inscriptions mailer will be included as bags are given to users.

9. Contribution to New York Public Library: Tucker suggested that in response to the September 11 tragedy, the Friends make a "token contribution" to the Friends of the New York Public Library. The Board agreed by consensus and charged the Executive Committee to determine the amount of the contribution and send it.

10. Future meeting dates. Next Board meeting scheduled for Friday, January 25, 2002 at 12 noon.