Draft annual membership meeting minutes 2014
DRAFT Minutes
Annual Membership Meeting for the John Trigg Ester Library
Hartung Hall
19 October 2014
Synopsis: The annual meeting was a bit disorganized and began with a near-death experience for one board member, who is violently allergic to nuts (walnut caramel raspberry ice cream, even home-made, was NOT good for her health, and resulted in the absence of two board members and, as you can imagine, some consternation at the beginning of the meeting).
After things got going, sans agenda and the two willing but otherwise occupied members (one ill, one helping), we got down to the business of reviewing the year and presenting the annual report. The Annual Report was simplified somewhat from last year, offering:
• the President’s Report
• Friends of the John Trigg Ester Library
• Financial Report (to be corrected)
• Fundraising & Grants Report
• Program Overview for FY 2014
• Acknowledgement & Thanks
The membership enthusiastically approved the proposed Friends. The board was charged with seeking professional assistance with bookkeeping. The new board of directors includes:
• Deirdre Helfferich, president
• Connie Huffman, treasurer
• Varpu Lotvonen
• Hans Mölders
• James Rogan, vice president
• Phil Rulon
• Eric Zentner, secretary
The membership entrusted the board to find the needed two alternate board members.
Draft:
Board members present: Connie Huffman, Hans Moelders, Carla Helfferich, Deirdre Helfferich, Varpu Lotvonen, Eric Zentner, James Rogan.
Additional members of the JTEL present: Monique Musick, Eric Glos, Cecile Lardon, J.D. Ragan, Peter McRoy, Merritt Helfferich.
Present by proxy: Amy Cameron, Rena Flint, Judith Stauffer, Bob La Chassee, Phil Rulon.
Board President Deirdre Helfferich called the meeting to order at 5:20 PM. Reading the minutes of the previous annual meeting was waived; they are in the secretary’s notebook for any who care to peruse them.
Deirdre synopsized her president’s report: A crucial need is for another board member. The panel suffered many resignations during the past year—Kayt Sunwood, Sine Anahita, and Bill Akiss all found they could not continue to participate. The board made some appointments to fill the roster (Varpu, Eric) and most of the present membership has offered to continue, but one more person is needed. Deirdre asked the gathering to ask around and help recruit a good candidate to carry on the work.
On the positive side, the library has had much help from volunteers. The young gardeners cleaned and planted the cultivated areas at the Clausen Cabin, Ruth Rutherford has been doing prodigious work on cataloguing and shelving, and Eric Glos worked impressively with Hans on clearing out the cabin.
Deirdre noted that she and Connie had obtained a tax exemption from the borough for the cabin and its outbuildings, and suggested that we consider the proposed Friends support group before going on to discuss the financial reports. Carla explained her take on this function: although typically the “Friends” of some nonprofit association are wealthy people who solicit support from their wealthy friends and associates, she thought the natural form of the JTEL, as well as Ester itself, warranted another approach. The JTEL is bifurcate in function, with part of its effort going toward constructing a new super-efficient library building and another part dedicated to supporting library operations—“to keep the books out of the rain and in the hands of readers,” to borrow Phil Rulon’s concise expression of that function. Carla proposed that the JTEL Friends concentrate on that second function, which would include gathering money for operating expenses but also to build the endowment (intended to be the long-term source for regular expenses) but not the new structure. Friends could volunteer to help out in limited ways without thereby committing themselves to many meetings and many pleas for assistance. She suggested also that the JTEL Friends first have a limited lifespan, perhaps two years, to be sure that it wasn’t useless or actually bad for the organization. Cecile so moved, Monique provided the second, and the Friends was approved for a two-year trial.
Attention turned to the financial report. Connie stated that she has found the bookkeeping, “challenging,” but says she is working hard to get the books audit ready. As of the end of September, the JTEL savings account held $60, 573 (most of it encumbered for specific work related to the new building) while the checking account held $1651.15. Connie commented that although some of the JTEL’s supposed fundraisers did not in fact raise much in the way of funds, they were still effective and appropriate outreach activities. The Tape & Tarp and Readers on the Run, for example, certainly encouraged expressions of creativity.
The finances and their challenges were discussed at length, with the general accord being that the JTEL needed more clear and up to date reporting. Peter moved, Merritt seconded, that the organization hire a professional bookkeeper. Connie said she’d prefer hiring a person—and she knows someone suitable—to review her work to date, to serve as an auditor. Hans asked what an audit could cost; Merritt noted that one of the nonprofit organizations with which he was associated expected to pay “thousands.” After further discussion, Peter’s motion passed unanimously in the form, “The board should seek professional assistance with bookkeeping.” He offered to try to find a potential bookkeeper.
Deirdre presented the Fundraising Committee overview. Fundraising activities grossed a total of $7392; PickClickGive alone raised $1400 from 23 donors. Participation in United Way gave us $448, and the reporting was not good. The IndieGoGo campaign raised $1000 for the gazebo window replacements. Mo asked if the total income covered expenses; yes, with not much to spare—expenses for the Clausen Cabin alone came to ~$6000 for the calendar year.
Other library activities continued to be moderately successful. The Seedstock event was boosted by the presence of Senator Begich, who gave helpful suggestions and offered the assistance of his office. Other seed-saving events were not so well attended, and the final workshop drew two journalists but no participants. Deirdre did give a talk about the GEB program and seed saving work to an interested audience in Anchorage. The lecture program drew a total of 42 attendees over the year, and Trey has offered to continue running the series for 2015.
Nominations for the board were opened; Carla moved that the slate of all who wish to continue be continued. JD provided the second, and the motion passed unanimously.
For new business, Peter spoke about the need for a proper agenda, and Deirdre apologized for its absence. He also suggested that the cabin could be the nexus for a useful and very affordable new building—“the Stone wing,” he proposed, although continuing the log theme.
Mo moved that the meeting be adjourned, and a chorus of attendees provided the second. The meeting was declared adjourned at 7:40 PM.