Spring sale, Belasco reading program and Internet access

Source scan page 1

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE HERMOSA BEACH FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY
HELD AT THE LIBRARY ON MARCH 26, 1996 7
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Rosalind Bender, Tim Ferguson, John Hales, Charlotte
and Bill Malone, Cathy McCurdy, Betty Starr and Al Valdes.
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Toni Empringham, Betty Evans, Tom Humbarger, and Jean
Lombardo.
OTHER ATTENDEES: CLM Ron Schneider and Alan Thomen.
CALL TO ORDER: By Vice-President Charlotte Malone at 7:35 PM.
MINUTES: ACTION: To approve the minutes of the meeting of 1-22-97.
Motion John Hales, second Bill Malone. No objection. So ordered.
TREASURER'S REPORT: Bill presented the Treasurer's Report with a balance on
hand as of 3-26-97 of $6,819.18. (Vice-President Charlotte Malone gave over
the chair to President Tim Ferguson at 7:36 PM.) ACTION: To approve
Treasurer's Report. Motion Charlotte Malone, second Al Valdes. So ordered.
Listed as "non-monetary donations" are books donated for the sale and
placed into the Library's collections.
BOOK SALE REPORT: Our most successful book sale to date, the book sale
brought in $2,825.45. The high proceeds were attributed to the quality of
books donated by Publisher's Representative Stevie Stewart. Many thanks to
her as well as to our hard working team of volunteers and a very special
thank you to Kathy Dunbabin whose splendid signage has made the different
book categories so easy to locate. Words of praise from our president:
"Thank you to all the volunteers for your heroic efforts. For a small
community we continually exceed our own standards."
With each succeeding book sale more efforts are made to curb pilferage;
this year the additional number of volunteers and strategic placement of
tables blocking easy exit from the sale area have reduced the number of
books taken. Additional measures were discussed: using brightly colored
tape or stickers to mark the outside bags or boxes of paid books; having a
special and marked area for book sellers to amass their finds before
purchase; and more communication to cashiers about the higher priced books
to avoid price confusion. Charlotte's sharp eyes noticed Langston Hughes
autographed book "Simple Speaks His Mind" among the stacks of donated books
and offered it to Swann Galleries of New York where it brought $110 at
auction.
COMPUTER CONTRACT: Due to a class action law suit the warranties on the
computer monitors have been extended an additional year to December of 1999
THIRD COMPUTER, SECOND INTERNET AND PHONE LINE: Our hopes of the County's
furnishing us another computer and second Internet access have been dashed.
The County will instead spend funds allocated for such materials for a
Special June Election (cost - 2-3 million dollars). The election is an

Source scan page 2

attempt to recover taxes lost by the passage of Prop. 218 last Nov. Ron
said that the county has agreed to pay for the phone line itself.
ACTION: In the event that Ron is unable to get County funds, FOL would pay
for the second Internet connection, total monthly charges not to exceed $50.
Motion Al Valdes, second Charlotte Malone. So ordered.
Discussion: Our computer expert will be contacted as to the cost of
obtaining an alternative to having exclusively AOL as the Internet
provider.
RENTAL OF BEST SELLERS AND VIDEOS: Although the information given out by
the Marina del Rey FOL claims to make $1,000 per month, Ron Schneider is of
the opinion that the return is not that high. Charlotte Malone and Al
Valdes will go on a fact finding mission before the next meeting and
report.
NEW BUSINESS: The following actions were taken per Ron's requests: ACTION:
To allocate $1,000 from the Belasco fund for the children's summer reading
programs. Motion John Hales, second Al Valdes. No objection. So ordered.
ACTION: To allocate $700 for adult books. Motion Charlotte Malone, second
Alan Thomen. No objection. So ordered. ACTION: To allocate $300 for videos
for completion of Oscar winners' collection. Motion Alan Thomen, second Al
Valdes. 5 for, 2 against, 1 abstaining. So ordered. ACTION: To allocate
$200 for audio books. Motion Bill Malone, second Charlotte Malone. No
objection. So ordered.
MAGAZINE GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS: A suggestion was made that an announcement
could be made through the FOL newsletter regarding donating magazine
subscriptions. In addition, asking for donations of magazine subscriptions
could be tied in to school magazine drives. It was further suggested that
to pull in more parents as FOL members, booths could be set up at School
Book Fairs. Ron pointed out that last year's summer program, "Education
Success", was very effective in bringing in more students to the library
and they hope to do the program again this year.
HB SCHOOL DISTRICT - requests that members of the community read to a class
of students during the first week of April.
BOOK SALE SURVEY: A survey card was distributed at last week's sale.
Results will be tabulated and considered. A quick count shows that
respondents are interested in longer hours, more best sellers and reference
books.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE: It was suggested that we should have an actual
entry for 1998. We are hoping that there's an FOL member with a vintage
car who would like to volunteer for the event.
ADJOURNMENT: On order of FOL President Tim Ferguson, the meeting was
adjourned at 8:35 PM to the meeting of Wednesday, July 23%d, 1997 at 7:30 PM at the library.
Recording Secretary