Northville District Library

Absent: Erin McDermott, Marcy Hershoren

7:38 Meeting called to order.

Minutes from prior meeting amended and approved.
Jim Morche was added to current agenda as an amendment. He will address the Used Book Sale and will address the topic after programs.

President's Report - Paul Snyder
On March 20 the Friends participated in the Taste of Northville, with Denise Stacer and Erin McDermott staffing the table for the Friends and Anne Mannisto and her husband Keith staffing the Library table. The food was good as usual and I believe it went smoother than in years past, but not as active. We still brought about three times more books to give away than we needed.
March 21 was our Annual Meeting. Congratulations to all who have been elected to serve another term.

March 29 Finance Committee meeting. The Finance Committee has decided to conduct a Finance Meeting each month at 7:00 p.m., prior to our normal business meeting. All interested Board Members are invited to attend.

April 2 First Friday Art Walk used book sale at the Art House. It was an abysmal failure from a sales perspective for many reasons, however certainly a worthwhile activity from a community outreach perspective. We further solidified our relationship with the Art House which has asked us to share our knowledge of the 501 c-3 process by giving them copies of our bylaws and Articles of Incorporation.

April 12 meeting with MBB to have a 5-month review. Joe has the details of that meeting.

On Tuesdays Joe and I continue to move books to the DPW and sort the DPW to put good books in some sort of order for the Used Book Sale in October, and to weed out recycle books. MBB has been very cooperative

Library Director's Report - Julie Herrin
RFID went into place and the library has started to use it. There have been very few complains on RFID. It is going well.

The Novi library will be closed from April through June. Circulation has gone up 30-40% which is attributed to the Novi library being closed. There was one staff member from Novi coming over to help process materials.

The library had a class on databases for sixth graders. There were 45 sixth graders who visited the library.

The Northville District Library will be looking at doing a community read program with the neighboring communities. Annie's Ghost is the book of choice. In October the author will be coming to the Novi library.

The board has been working on a five year financial plan. There is a 7% decrease in last year's budget. The library is looking at doing a small millage to make up the difference. They are looking at .25 mills. This gives the community the opportunity to pay for the services that they use. The library will be making two budgets one will be if the millage passes, the other if it doesn't. If the millage doesn't pass, then the library will look at closing one day of the week. The library is looking at reductions in the amount of funding it receives from the state as well. The library is looking at furlough days as another option.

Treasurer's Report - Denise Stacer
Report disbursed to group. There is nothing unusual to report.

Corresponding Secretary - Christa Williams
The Friends received a thank you letter from the Endowment Fund Committee for the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan for the $1000 donation.
Christa will be writing thank you notes for Genitti's, along with all the other guest speakers who participated in our annual meeting.

Barb Jenson wrote a letter detailing a disagreement overheard between Joe and Dave. Christa will be writing her a letter.

Membership Report - Ellison Franklin
170 people/households/businesses have responded. It was a great campaign. Paul motioned to approve Genitti's for a Patron Level member. The motion passed. All were in favor.

Gift Store - Martha Nork
Novi library patrons are starting to shop in the gift store.

Member shopping days will be April 30 thru May 2. Everyone who is a friend gets 25% off, the staff is included in the invitation to participate in the sale.

Laura made a motion to approve a review of the cash handling and financial practices of the gift store. The motion passed. All were in favor. Joe and Denise indicated they would participate in the review.

Book Carts - Andrea Murdock
Andrea is upset that MBB gets first choice at the books. She feels that the quality of the books has gone down.

Joe indicated that he had some ideas and would like to discuss them with Andrea.

Book Cellar - Dave Randall
Paul indicated that he called Dave to let him know that due to the conflict of interest he would no longer be able to work in the Book Cellar.

Laura wanted to say thank you to Dave for all of the hard work he has done over the years working in the cellar. We appreciate everything that was done in the Friend's name.

Programs - Jim Morche
The First Ladies will be doing a presentation during the Victorian Festival
Pix N' Stick - November 9
There will be a Jazz program and a presentation on Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with dates to be determined.

Mission Based Books - Joe Thomas
Report disbursed to group

New Business -
Discussion centered on the Endowment Tree. The motion to approve the entire proposed budget except the Donor Tree was approved.

The five month trial period for MBB is up in April. The contract has a 30 day discontinuance clause. Joe made a motion to continue the MBB contract. The motion was approved.

Meeting adjourned at 9:18 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Laura Lockhart