FLF Meeting - May 23, 2005

On Monday, May 23, about twenty residents of Felton and surrounding
communities met at the Felton branch to discuss how we wish to continue to
work together, now that we have saved our library from closure. It was
a very successful and enjoyable gathering of people who care deeply
about the Felton branch and about the library system as a whole.
Below are the main topics of our meeting, including decisions,
requests, and suggestions.

KEY ACTION ITEMS:
---ATTEND THE NEXT JOINT POWERS BOARD MEETING, JUNE 6, 7:30 P.M. CENTRAL BRANCH.
---WRITE THE CITY MANAGER, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND MEMBERS OF THE
JOINT POWERS BOARD ABOUT YOUR CONCERNS WITH THE BUDGET AND ANN
TURNER'S PERFORMANCE
---ATTEND OUR NEXT MEETING, TUESDAY JUNE 21.

1. The next meeting of "Felton Library Friends" will be at 4:00 p.m.,
Tuesday June 21, outside of the Felton branch. Please bring folding
chairs. At that meeting we will make a decision on what to call our
group (please email suggestions to me). Once we have a name, we will
register an internet domain name, and transfer responsibility for the
website at "saveourlibrary.com" to our group. We have volunteers
ready to design and manage our site.

ACTION: Five of us will prepare a Mission Statement and list of goals
for the group, to be presented at the next meeting.

2. Belardi building issues. Gwen Eddy, of the Belardi Board, provided
us information on restrictions, both financial and architectural
(because of the historic building status),
to improvements we might be able to make to the current Felton branch
building.

ACTION: Jeanne Hofvendahl will approach the board regarding the
possibility of installing attic fans to address the heat problem.

3. New Felton branch building. We discussed the design prepared years
ago, current possibilities for a dual-use building, the status of the
land offer, the status of Measure B funds originally intended for
Felton library services, the desire for a Tier 2 Felton branch, and
possible alternative uses of the Belardi
building if the library were to move. We agreed that only after the
FLOW vote in July will our community be ready to start focussing on
such a large issue.

ACTION: Donna Ziel will research the status of Measure B funds and the
language of that measure for the next meeting
ACTION: Paul Machlis will meet with Mark Stone about this issue and
report at the next meeting.

4. Fundraising. Eric Burman offered to organize a fundraising event.
Although we recognize that a new branch building will require much
more money than can be raised by our group, various more modest
projects would benefit from such efforts, including improvements to
the existing branch or a particular room or collection in a new
branch.

ACTION: At the next meeting, agree on a date for the event planned by Eric.

4. Current status of the library budget and issues related to Director
Turner. Jeanne Hofvendhal presented an information sheet and urged
members to write various officials and newspapers about their
concerns. Copies were handed out and the text was emailed after the
meeting to almost 100 people who are on our email list.

ACTION: Members, please write City Manager Wilson, members of the
Santa Cruz City Council, and members of the Library Joint Powers Board
about your concerns.

ACTION: Members, please attend the next open meeting of the Joint
Powers Board, Monday, June 6, 7:30 p.m. It is important that Felton
branch users stay involved, and not disappear after saving the branch
from closure.

Go to www.saveourlibrary.com for copies of articles in the Sentinel
and other papers related to the Santa Cruz Library and the Felton
branch. Thanks to FLOW's Jim Graham for maintaining that site.

--
Paul Machlis
P.O.Box 650
Felton CA 95018
machlis@gmail.com