FRIENDS OF THE CRYSTAL LAKE LIBRARY
September 23, 2009

Present: Alice Fetters, Fran Hicks, Elaine Falzone, Elizabeth Puchmelter, Robert Finger, Jeremy Stamp, Jan Polep, Ann Wells, Karen Migaldi and Barb Mullowney

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 by Jan.

The August minutes were reviewed, corrected and approved.

Presidents Report: Jan told us that Library Director Kim Martens, sent us a thank you letter and certificate thanking us for our $4000 donation for the Summer Reading Program. The money was used to purchase books for participants who completed the program. Jan will be attending a "Friends" meeting in Park Ridge, Sat. September 26th in which ten different "Friends" groups will be doing social networking, exchanging fund raising ideas and activities. The renewal fee of $162 for being a member of the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce is due soon and Jan will be asking the Chamber what being a member of the chamber entails. She also wants to know if they will waive the extra fee since we are a non for profit organization.

Treasurer's Report: Beginning Balance as of 1-May-09 $5833.60. Income: Interest $1.11, Expenses: None. Ending Balance $2608.06.

Tax Exempt Number Update- Ann has not heard back from the IRS. She said they needed a fiscal year (May 1 to April 30) end report as well as financial reports to obtain a tax exempt number. Ann said she would try to file taxes early in order to obtain one.

Certificate of Insurance Update- Ann has called to get a copy of FOCLL's certificate of insurance which is needed for use of the storefront for the Used Book Sale. At the time of the meeting she has not received it.

Committee Reports:

Membership List- Ann will mail out newsletters this month instead of emailing them so members can verify their email addresses via email returned to Ann's email address.

Fundraising: Mum Sale- !30 mums were dropped off from Countryside in two separate deliveries on the day of the sale Sept. 19th. It was decided not to order any more because last year sales were slow in the afternoon. The mums we did have sold out at 12:30. Ann sent an email stating that we cleared $510 from the sale.

2010 Used Book Sale update- Ranee and Beth had a conference call with Maggie to look at possible available storefronts in November for the Book Sale. Beth also met someone recently who rents tables and will look into the possibility of renting them for use at the Book Sale.

Culver's- Nancy has arranged with Culver's for us to work on Wednesday, November 11th (Veteran's Day) from 5-8pm. Sign up to help out for the event will be done at October's meeting held on the 28th. Volunteers will deliver customers' orders to their tables. Donation jars for FOCLL will be set out at the registers from November 9th to the 13th. Bookmarks and signs posted in the Library will be used to advertise the fundraiser, information will be sent for the November-December Beacon Newsletter and Eileen will put the event on Crystal Lake Net's Community Calendar.

Chili's fundraiser "Pepper Partner Program"- Chili's is requiring us to have a permit which involves having a tax exempt number (Ann is in the process of obtaining one) as well as signing a contract. Ranee had tentatively set up vouchers to be accepted on the 2nd Sunday for the months of January, February and March. We will have to hold off until FOCLL gets their tax exempt number.

T-shirts/hats- Jeremy researched three different options for t-shirts and hats. The first was at www.295guis.com where t-shirts can be ordered for $2.95 each but a minimum order of 1000 t-shirts has to be placed. The second was Vista Print where t-shirts can be ordered for $4.00 each with a coupon, reg. price $9.00. The third option was Café Press where t-shirts sell for $16.99 each. We can submit a design, set our selling price and have customers go through the website to order as well as us ordering t-shirts ahead of time. We could sell FOCLL t-shirts/hats at our fundraiser events.

Scholastic Book Sale- Karen gave credits of $704.41 from the sale to Jessie Exum (Head of Youth Services). She can place orders on line at their website or actually go to their warehouse. Beth gave a brief synopsis of this year's Scholastic Book Fair. At FOCLL's August meeting it was decided not to have any more Scholastic Book Fairs in the future.

Colonial- Beth brought a brochure about their fundraising information. Fundraising events are held on Tuesdays from 4:30 to close and we could have them once a month or as little as once a year. Customers need to mention the organization when they pay in order for us to receive a percentage of their bill. If sales for the time period are $500-$750 we will receive 10%, $751-$1000 15% and $1001 and above 20%. If Chili's fundraiser doesn't work out for the lack of a tax exempt number we will go ahead with the Colonial one instead.

Barnes and Noble- The date for gift wrapping is tentatively set for December 19th, but wasn't confirmed at the time of the meeting.

Library Director's Report: Karen showed us the new design of the Library website using a power point presentation which has a much cleaner look and doesn't require as much clicking or scrolling. The site is a lot more user friendly with drop down menus and even text that can be enlarged. The "Catalog" which is a consortium of 22 different local libraries can help patrons find specific reading material. Friends is now located under the link ÒGet Involved' on the left hand side of the home page. The Library will host a Technology Fair October 18th from 1:30-4:30, check CLPD website for more information.

Library Board Report: Alice told us about the Fine Amnesty Pay program which will be held at the Library Nov 1-15. The library will waive fines for at least half the amount if patrons bring in food items for the Crystal Lake Pantry. Last year $6000 was collected in fines. The Board discussed vandalism issues that have been taking place in the Library.

Old Business:

FOCLL Website Update- Jeremy plans to send pictures of past FOCLL events to Bob for the website. He needs to get permission of the person(s) in the pictures in order to have the pictures posted.

Debit/Credit Card Update- Jan inquired at Crystal Lake Bank and Trust about us obtaining a debit/credit card and was told there would be no charge. Jan will write up procedures for using the card and have them for the next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00. Next meeting will be Wednesday October 28th.

Respectively submitted,

Barb Mullowney, Recording Secretary