FRIENDS OF THE GOLDA MEIR LIBRARY

ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

May 17, 2006��� 4:45 p.m.

Special Collections Reading Room

 

Present: Pat Van Alyea, Ewa Barczyk, Betty Bostrom, E.J. Brumder, Gilbert Church, Deborah Conta, Bruce Fetter, Donn Haglund, Sarah Kimball, John Koethe, Nancy Laskin, Marianne Lubar, Robert Meldman, Martine Meyer, Stanley Miller II, George Mosher, Bob Pietrykowski, Jody Steren.

 

The meeting was called to order at 4:45 p.m.

 

1.      The minutes of the May 26, 2005 annual meeting were approved as submitted.

 

  1. President�s report:� As of May 12, 2006, Friends membership total is 360.� President Pat Van Alyea reviewed some of the year�s highlights.� The Friends:

 

�        Held two book sales;

�        Underwrote the UWM Libraries 2005 Outstanding Staff Awards;

�        Sponsored several teas and tours of the AGSL collection;

�        Met with Lucia Petrie, UWM Vice Chancellor of Development, to discuss the University�s plan for the campus comprehensive campaign;

�        Donated $5,000 to the Libraries WTMJ-TV news film preservation project.

�        Friends financial support also� included:

�      American Geographical Society Library�s Academic Adventurers faculty lecture series

�      Special Collections� Book Forums

�      Archives� Revisiting the Past lecture

�      Holzheimer Lecture: Maps and America

 

Van Alyea thanked Deborah Conta for organizing the very successful book sales and for planning today�s program.� She also thanked Board members for contributing items to the silent auction; Bob Meldman for his time spent exploring an Alaska cruise fundraiser; Ettinger Family Foundation for $25,000 grant to Special Collections; and E.J. Brumder for his help with the Brumder Collection Endowment fund.� She thanked the Board and library staff for helping to make the year a successful one. And she thanked Ewa Barczyk, Interim Director of Libraries, for her exceptional leadership, guiding the Friends in their efforts to increase community awareness of the Golda Meir Library.

 

  1. Treasurer�s Report:� Robert Meldman reported that thanks in part to the recent book sales, the Friends financial status was excellent. Beginning balance was $44,084.51; ending balance, $37,970.34.� Friends Trust funds totaled $42,573.09. Total Friends funds were $80,543.43. Donn Haglund made a motion to accept the report.� Motion was seconded and unanimoulsly accepted.

�

  1. Report of the Interim Director: Ewa Barczyk thanked the Friends� President; the Executive Committee; the Board of Directors; and the membership at large for their support and help.� She noted that Friends book sales had raised over $73,000 since they began a decade ago. She reported that the Libraries gate count had increased 17% in the last year; the Libraries now host over one million visitors annually. She highlighted several of this year�s accomplishments by the Libraries:

 

�        Created a Browsing Collection and furnished the Browsing Area with plants and comfortable furniture (acquired through donations to Parents Fund);

�        Initiated a laptop computer checkout program for students;

�        Doubled the number of images in our digital collection Greetings from Milwaukee: Selections from the Thomas and Jean Ross Bliffert Postcard Collection and are close to completing a monumental collection titled Cities Around the World with over 5,200 images;

�        Collaborated with the Milwaukee Art Museum in an exhibit titled �The American West, 1871-1874: Photographs from the American Geographical Society Library�;

�        Published two books with non-State funding: the third volume of the Morris Fromkin Memorial Lectures and�with some financial assistance from the Friends and publishing help from the School of the Arts�a book on the late acclaimed composer and UWM professor emeritus John Downey;

�        Finalized plans for the substantial remodeling of the Library building�s West Wing first floor, which will begin later this year;

�        Received several grants and gifts, including $25,000 Ettinger Family Foundation grant to support the Book Arts Collection and related programs; $10,551 gift from Robert C. Brumder to George Brumder German-language Publishing Collection Endowment Fund; $5,000 preservation assistance grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to re-house rare atlases; and $13,000 grant from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to support work on the WTMJ-TV news film collection.

 

Barczyk thanked the following UWM Libraries staff who assisted with the preparations for today�s event: Steve Burnham, Margaret Cushinery, Amelia Klem, Dawn Lee-Vue, Susan Modder, Kathi Paly, Kim Silbersack and Max Yela.

 

  1. Committee Reports

 

�        Communications Committee: Stanley Miller reported that publicity about Friends programs were placed in local media.� The Committee will work on marketing membership in the upcoming year.

 

�        Development Committee: Robert Meldman noted several fundraising projects undertaken by the Committee, including the silent auction at the annual program, map reprint sales on E-Bay, booknaming initiative, and cruise to Alaska.� Another cruise destination is being explored.

 

�        Nominating Committee: Marianne Lubar moved the adoption of a slate of nominees for 2006/07; the adoption was seconded.� There were no further nominations from the floor.� It was carried unanimously that the nominees be elected.� Officers re-elected to two-year terms were Pat Van Alyea, President, and Deborah Gardner Conta, Secretary.� Martine Meyer and Stanley Miller II were re-elected to four-year terms on the Board. Sarah Kimball and Jody Steren were elected to four-year terms on the Board.�

 

�        Program Committee: Deborah Conta reported on the success of this past year�s book sales and thanked the Friends volunteers and library staff who helped out. She announced that the next booksale would be held on October 9-11, 2006. She also reported on the upcoming Newberry Library tour. Tonight�s program will feature Milwaukee Art Museum Director David Gordon speaking on the topic �Is There a Conflict Between Being Both an Icon and an Art Museum?�

 

  1. Old business: No old business to report.

 

  1. New business

�        Barczyk asked the Board for feedback on naming opportunities that will be available at the UWM Libraries after upcoming renovations.

�        Pat Van Alyea welcomed new Board members, congratulated re-elected Board members, and thanked outgoing Board members Tom Bliffert and Gov. Martin Schreiber for their service.

 

  1. The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.