FLF Meeting - July 19, 2005

Highlights and call for volunteers:
1. Volunteers needed for our October 15 fundraising event.
2. Donations needed for the October 15 raffle.
3. Volunteers still appreciated to represent FLF at meetings of the
Joint Powers Board and the Friends of the SCPL.
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At the third meeting of Felton Library Friends, on Tuesday July 19, we
caught up on discussions of a new branch building, reviewed the 1999
community needs assessment of what our community wants in a library
branch, and made plans for a concert, raffle, art contest, and
community survey – all to occur on October 15 at the Felton Community
Hall.

I have provided email contacts for members who are taking
responsibility for particular activities. Please contact them
directly if you wish to assist them, or contact me about more general
issues.

1. Our next meeting will be September 6, 7:15 p.m., at the Felton branch.

2. Laura Dolson (dolson@cruzio.com) will work with our web designer to
establish our website with the domain name "feltonlibraryfriends.org".

3. Eric Burman (brookdalebluegrass@hotmail.com) will organize a
benefit for FLF of bluegrass music, October 15, 5-9 p.m. Although he
has many volunteers from his own organization, help from members of
FLF will be much appreciated, especially on the day of the event.
Left undecided for now is whether we will offer and/or sell food,
drink, and alcohol to the public, although we are definitely committed
to feeding the musicians who are donating their services.

4. Elicia Burton (burtonfddlr@aol.com) will organize the raffle for
the October 15 event, and is soliciting donated items; we are
especially interested in one or more big-value items, such as a tour.

5. Bill Jurgens (awjurgens@comcast.net) will organize an art contest
for drawings of the Faye Belardi building, with entries to be
displayed at the October 15 event (possibly on sale, if artists wish),
the winner to be announced at the event, and then following the event
the winning entry to be reproduced as a fundraising notecard for FLF.

6. Sherry Skold (sskold2@msn.com) and Laura Dolson will explore the
idea of a survey to augment and update the 1999 Community Needs
Assessment Project. They will consult with Library Administration
regarding statistics and other useful information in drafting the
survey, with the goal of making it available at the October 15 event.

7. The purpose of all of these activities will be to build community
interest in a new branch building and to raise money to support the
current and future needs of the branch.

8. Paul Machlis reported on emails from Library Director Anne Turner
and County Supervisor (and member of the JPB) Mark Stone on
preliminary discussions with representatives of the County Office of
Education regarding a dual-use building at the Verutti site. Although
there are questions regarding various aspects of this possibility,
especially on how the library system could fund its share of the
project, there is interest and enthusiasm on the part of the various agencies.

9. We discussed the1999 Needs Assessment Project and the summary of
what the community and library staff appreciated in the current
building and wanted in a new one. We confirmed that the needs
identified are still relevant today: more materials of all kinds; more
computer terminals; better parking and bathroom facilities; separate
areas for children, youth, and adults; comfortable furniture and good
lighting; good handicap and stroller access; and a easily-accessed
downtown/centralized facility with an atmosphere reflective of the
"closeness" experienced within small towns. In the area of services,
the project identified retaining the friendliness and expertise of
current staff, and increasing activities of all kinds for all ages.
Based on the strong showing of students, from primary to high-school
level and including many homeschoolers, at the Joint Powers Meeting
about the proposed closure, FLF feels that the importance of the
Felton Branch for youth deserves special emphasis. In addition, FLF
discussed with enthusiasm the goal of having the new branch be a
"green" building -- one that meets national standards for
environmentally sound materials, energy and water conservation,
and integration into the natural surroundings. We agreed this goal
could enhance the appeal of a new branch to grant agencies, donors,
and the community. Although "green" buildings can sometimes be
initially more expensive to build (with costs recouped through future
energy savings), government rebates and other incentives increasingly
make the construction of such buildings competitive in price to
conventional buildings.

Paul Machlis
for FLF