Library Planning Meeting #7 11/2/08 See also: New Library Building Present: Kate Billington, Eric Glos, Deirdre Helfferich, Ginger Meta, Hans Mölders, Mike Musick, Gary Pohl, Margaret Rogers, Lois Sala, Alice Stickney, Bob Trigg AGENDA: Maintenance
Fundraising
Design & Construction Plans
Maintenance: Only three or four people arrived on time to the meeting, so the maintenance discussion was very brief (passed out information on LibraryThing, the capital campaign, and the library fundraisers). We need a treasurer and a performance coordinator for the next lallapalooza. A library cleanup party will be scheduled at a later time. Fundraising: Our fundraising efforts are concentrated on events, and have been earning us about $9,000 per year. While this amount has been slowly rising over the last four years, this is nowhere near enough to earn the kind of money we will need for the library ($300,000 to $450,000). We need to expand into a capital campaign that includes direct solicitation and grants. Several people pointed out that the costs for materials and labor are increasing, so we should build quickly. Also, when Hans Mölders was building the gazebo, people were "throwing money" at him; a similar effect may take place once construction on the library starts, and donations may pick up when people can actually see something happening. Gary Pohl concurred: "eye candy" will help bring in funds; however, the circular problem exists: no money, no construction, so it's harder to bring in money. Pohl will prepare a drawing for funds solicitations for the next meeting (by mid-January), and perhaps a model. Eric Glos brought up the question of access to funds through the Alaska Library Association grant cycle, and suggested that it may be easier to obtain grants if we become a public library and/or part of the state library system. He brought a guide to setting up a village library, which offers some helpful step-by-step guidelines for starting and operating a local library. The idea of becoming separate from the Ester Community Association and obtaining our own 501(c)(3) status was also discussed in this context, as also making it easier to obtain donations and grants. The group decided to obtain a separate nonprofit status for the library. Design & Construction: After much discussion, it was decided that, to save on expenses and to get the building functional as quickly as possible, that the library would have no basement, merely a crawl space, and would be built in phases. Phase One will include the mechanical room, kitchenette, what will eventually become a conference room, and the upstairs. Phase two will include the masonry heater and main room. At this point, phase three is unclear. Lois Sala will design the plumbing. A mechanical engineer will be needed, as well as someone to manage the project, either a construction manager or a general contractor. | |||||
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