Mae S. Bruce Library

Library Advisory Board Meeting

Minutes of January 13, 2005 Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 6:35pm. The following board members were present: 

Library Director Brenda B. Cheatham was also present. 

The minutes of the October meeting were read.  The motion to accept these minutes was unanimously approved. 

Member’s Report

1. We learned that state laws restrict the amount of fundraisers an organization can conduct to 2 per year.  We all agreed that our year would coincide with our fiscal year.  That makes the Book Sale and Raffle the first fundraiser for the year and the 2005 Heritage Festival the second.
2. At the October meeting, Brenda mentioned an inventory that she might need our help with.  The staff was able to conduct this inventory during the slow days at the end of December.

Director’s Report

Director Brenda Cheatham discussed the following items with the board members.

1.                  She has completed the applications for the following grants and specified where the awards will be spent.

§         The Lone Star Grant of $2425 has come in.  Brenda uses a large portion to fund the front clerk position and will be able to use $800 of it to purchase a new computer for the front desk.

§         On December 15, 2004, she applied for the J. Frank Dobie Award which could be between $3000 to $8000.  If the application is approved the amount received will be spent on children’s books.

§         The TIGG grant will fund a new network server once it is awarded.

§         She applied for the Texas Book Festival Award that was started by Laura Bush.  The awarded money is divided amongst those that applied and were approved.  If we receive this award, the money will go toward the purchase of audio books on CD.

§         Brenda also applied for the Tocker Foundation grant for approximately $12,000 to purchase new computer equipment.

2.                  The Post had an editorial from a local grandmother who stated that she was not allowed to get a library card for her grandchild.  We discussed the article and possible solutions. However, Brenda mentioned that she didn’t even have the identification required to obtain her own card.  Lark suggested we write an article stating the library card policy.  We need to find a legal way to accommodate these types of family situations for obtaining a library card for a child.  We then discussed the possibility of writing monthly articles for the paper.

3.                  Brenda would like the board to put together a list of things that the county funds have provided.  Using this type of list, we can send Thank You notes to county officials.

4.                  The Mae S. Bruce library website now lists our Board minutes.

New Business

1.                  In regards to the Post article, we decided to start a list of ideas for our own monthly articles.  Lark will contact the Post and find out the format and other regulations they might have for such an article.  Those interested will meet on Jan 25 at 2pm to discuss ideas.

2.                  The Thank You notes are a great idea.  We will begin working on those at the Jan 25^th meeting.

Adjournment

The motion to adjourn was made by Barbara and seconded by Linda.  The meeting was adjourned at 7:52pm.  The next meeting is scheduled for April 7, 2005 at 1 pm.