Members Present: Betty Bakker, Peter Bergamo, Suzanne Christensen, Christine Cuttler, Mary Desole, Gayle Garin, Barbara Hespenheide, Susan Hill, Reed Sparling, Jenny Teague, Norma Torney, and Frank Van Zanten. The PPLD was represented by Janet Huen, Skip Patterson, and Teresa Kerin. 2005 members present were: Mark Nelson and Fred Schaeffer.

Members Absent: Deborah Eisberg, Gae Hutton, Jackie Klein, Wanda Mitchell, Mark Pastreich, Art Punsoni, Ike Rubin, Murray Solomon, and Noel Tepper.

President Report - Reed Sparling called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and welcomed two of our new Board members, Mark Nelson and Fred Schaeffer. Reed reported that the Book Sale Task Force has met and is in a fact-finding stage now. The Task Force will continue to meet through the new year.

Minutes of previous meetings were unavailable.

Treasurer’s Report: Chris reported that our total unrestricted balance is $101,848.54. Our expenses this month included $1,300.00 for the PPLD Children’s Concerts, and $1,095.66 for expenses for the Annual Appeal. Chris suggested, with the Annual Appeal coming up soon, that we consider the PPLD requests for funding but hold back at least $40,000 - $50,000, so that we could make a significant donation to the library district in 2006.

OLD BUSINESS

Program Committee Report - Susan reported that 900 + postcards were mailed out advertising the Holiday Book Sale, Mystery Monday, and James Bleecker’s presentation at our Annual Meeting in December. She used Eastern Offset to print and send out the postcards, and she doesn’t recommend using them in the future.
The program committee recommends we plan on refreshments for 30 people at the Annual Meeting, at a cost of $10.95 per person. Gayle moved we approve this expenditure, Norma seconded it, and it carried unanimously.

Booksale Committee - Frank reported we will be using Bob’s Store for our Holiday Sale again, which is convenient. Although it is large, we will only be using a small part of the front of it. The Sale will be December 3 -5.

Annual Appeal - 9,200 of the bulk mail letters were sent; 500 were sent to previous donors; and 430 businesses were added this year.

Nominating Committee - Norma thanked these outgoing Board members for their service: Deborah Eisberg, Barbara Hespenheide, Gae Hutton, Mark Pastreich,, Art Punsoni, and Reed Sparling. She reported that we will have 6 new members in January: Ruth Detjen, David Ferenz, John Glasse, Susan Hackett, Mark Nelson, and Fred Schaeffer. The Nominating committee has nominated the following for the Executive Committee: Suzanne Christensen, President, Jackie Klein, vice-president, and Christine Cuttler, Treasurer. No one has yet agreed to be the secretary, but we hope Mark will serve temporarily in that position, since he brings his laptop to meetings.

PPLD Report - Skip Patterson was asked about the campaign for a new building, and he reported that they are waiting to identify property in the town. Lauren said that Tom wants to request funds, but hasn’t finished his list yet. Reed asked for volunteers on a committee to review requests and make recommendations, and Jenny, Christine, and Suzanne volunteered.

Reed adjourned the meeting at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Suzanne Christensen
Secretary

Our next meeting will be our Annual Meeting, Dec. 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the Auditorium, 105 Market St.