Friends of the Library
Minutes of the Fall Meeting
October 21, 2005
The The fall Friends of the Library meeting activities began on 21 October 2005 at 3 PM in the Browsing Room of the Library. Dr. David Orvos, Sweet Briar's Professor of Environmental Studies and recently appointed by the Amherst County Board of Supervisors to study and test biosolids for the county, presented a lecture on "Applying Biosolids to Farmlands - Stink or Sustainable Practice?"
Vice Chairman, Stephen Mirabella convened the Fall Business Meeting of the Friends of the Library in the Browsing Room of the Library on 21 October 2005 at 4:00 pm. Mr. Mirabella reported that Chairman, Ann Reams and Jane Nelson were unable to attend the meeting and sent their regrets. Those present were: Carolyn Bates, Mary Landon Brugh '57, Connor Forren, John Goulde, Polk Green '82, Adelaide Hapala, Ron Horwege, John Jaffe, Lisa Johnston, Liz Kent, Joyce Kramar, Helen Lewis '54, Margaret Loebe '06, Joe Malloy, John Marsh, Bonnie Marsh, Mary Richie McGuire '89, Sigrid Mirabella, Ro Putz '88, Anne Richards '84, Peggy Anne Rogers '56 and Harold Swisher.
MINUTES
The minutes of the Spring Meeting (2005) of the Friends of the Library were approved as submitted.
Membership Committee Report
Connor Forren, Director of Donor Relations and Operations presented the membership report. Ms. Forren reported that as of October 20, 2005, the Friends of the Library membership was 16 totaling $895.00. Last year at this time we had 18 members with a total dollar amount of $800.00. Ms. Forren met with Joyce Kramar in the spring and a large mailing was sent out immediately after our spring meeting to past members who had not renewed memberships. Ms. Forren reported that the response from this mailing was excellent. They also discussed other mailings that would be sent out. Ms. Kramar will be soliciting freshman parents in November, and renewal letters will be sent out in January and again in April. Ms. Forren and Ms. Kramar plan to meet again this fall and look at ways to increase the membership by possibly targeting areas close by, i.e., Amherst, Richmond and Charlottesville areas. Ms. Forren and Ms. Kramar will also be working on soliciting more life memberships.
Finance Committee Report
Dr. John Goulde, Professor of Religion, gave the Finance Committee Report. Professor Goulde requested that we accept the proposed budget. The Friends voted to keep the same budget.
Mr. Mirabella suggested that we might want to reduce the Needs budget since we are not using it all. It was reported that any leftover budget money was to be transferred to our endowment funds.
Mr. Mirabella discussed the membership table that he, Sigrid Mirabella and Lisa Johnston set up at Families Weekend. He had a great time talking to families about the Friends of the Library. The idea was to create more awareness of the Friends to the parents and let them know how we contribute to the enrichment of the college. Mr. Mirabella reported that they had handed out a good number of Friends of Library applications.
Needs Committee Report
Lisa Johnston, Associate Director and Chairman of the Needs Committee gave the Needs Committee Report. Ms. Johnston requested that the Friends approve the Needs List. The cost to purchase these requests was $4,998.46. After reviewing the requests, the Friends approved the purchase of these items.
Ms. Johnston also reported that at Families Weekend she had a list of past Needs requests and the parents were very excited to see what the Friends had purchased.
Mr. Huszti commented on the low number of departments requesting books this term and suggested that possibly the new faculty were unaware of the Friends. It was suggested that the Friends solicit new faculty and also put something in the "New Employee Packet" about the Friends and how they may join.
Events Committee Report
Mr. Malloy gave the Events Committee Report. He does not yet have a speaker for the Spring 2006 meeting.
Mrs. Marsh suggested that we might be interested in having David Baldacci as a speaker. He spoke at the Lynchburg Public Library and was very well received. Mr. Marsh also remarked that Baldacci would be of interest to the Friends of the Library and Friends of Art as well as the college community.
Sigrid Mirabella suggested that we also might want to have a program on Fox Hunting and the American Fox Hound breed, which originated in Virginia. It was suggested that she speak to Shelby French at the Riding Center.
Mr. Mirabella encouraged anyone who might have other ideas or suggestions for speakers to please contact Mr. Malloy.
Publications Committee Report
Mr. Malloy gave the Publications Committee Report. The Gazette will be out in April or the 1st of May. Mr. Malloy has sent out post cards about the Basbanes Book Collecting Contest to students and will be following up with posters as well as e-mails notifying everyone of the contest.
Professor Goulde also suggested that the Friends might want to consider releasing the Gazette in digital format. It was noted that the Gazette is available on the college library web site: http://www.cochran.sbc.edu/friends/libgaztoc.html
Mr. Mirabella suggested that we might also ask the winners of the Basbanes Book Collecting Contest to talk about their collection and maybe bring a list or a few books to highlight their collection. We could do this instead of having a speaker. John Jaffe suggested what we might want to have an exhibit of their collections in the library, which would allow the public to see the collections.
There was no old business.
New Business
Mr. Malloy announced that the Spring Meeting of the Friends would be March 31, 2006. The next Fall Meeting of the Friends will be Oct. 27, 2006. We are hoping that our speaker for the Spring Meeting 2006 will be Dean James manager of the bookstore Murder by the Book. The bookstore is in Houston and is one of the nation's oldest and largest mystery bookstores. Mr. James is an author and co-author of many mystery books including Murder by Dissertation. Most recently Mr. Dean has launched a new series under the name of Jimmie Ruth Evans. The first book in the series, Flamingo Fatale, was published by Berkley Prime Crime in July 2005. Murder over Easy, will follow in 2006 and the third in the series will be published in the summer of 2007.
Ms Johnston gave a brief report on the library. She announced that we have a new library computer system that was installed this summer. We are still in the LION consortium with local libraries but Lynchburg College is no longer a member. The members are now: Sweet Briar College, Randolph Macon Women's College, the Amherst County Public Library system and the Lynchburg City Public Library system. Ms. Johnston reported that the library is now doing a small weekly book display. She also reported that the library is actively working on the archives and rare books collections.
Mr. Malloy reported on the new make up of LION with some statistics received from Mrs. Marge Freeman. If you are an Amherst County or Lynchburg resident those public libraries will now be sharing the catalog and you will be able to ask for items from either library. The book will be delivered to you by courier, which is provided by the LION Consortium and should be available to you in about two days. The entire LION Consortium collection is over 700,000 volumes.
Ms. Kent reported that she is working on the Journal Finder. If you go to the library's web page you will find a link to Journal Finder, which will link you to all of our full text journals. Ms. Kent is working on interlinking all of our databases with Journal Finder, which will save the patron several steps when trying to find out if we have a certain article or journal. Ms. Kent also reported she is an advisor to the Women and Genders Studies minor. She is encouraging more studies to minor in Women and Genders Studies.
Mr. Jaffe reported that a couple of years ago we had about 1,200 electronic journal subscriptions. Sweet Briar College patrons now have access to over 28,700 electronic journals.
Margaret Loebe '06 will be working on an exhibit this Spring of Caroline Casey Lindemann's '49 miniature books. Mrs. Lindemann gave the library a number of her miniature books from her collection. We hope that Caroline will be able to join us for this event.
Meeting adjourned.
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