President’s Message

Minutes of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Friends of Snow Library Member Appreciation Luncheon 

October 25, 2024 (12pm to 2 pm)

President Tracey Salley brought the meeting to order a little after noon in the Marion Craine Gallery. She welcomed the members and thanked the Hospitality Committee for the food. She then introduced the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs:V.P. – Tom Generaux, Secretary – Judy Ryon, Treasurer – Linda Wander, Assistant Treasurer – Phil Suraci. Committee Chairs:Book Sales – Betty Suraci Publicity (social media) – Karen Kishpaugh, Hospitality – Carolyn Millet, Nominations – Elia Marnick, Lifetime Learning – Ellen Burleigh Literary Consultant – Elizabeth Merritt, Membership/Volunteers – Susan Pieciak, Technology – Gerry Grenier. Members-at-Large – Karen Jenen, Joanne Smith

Thanks were given to the following Board Members who resigned their posts: Membership/Volunteer Chair Carol Michels, Member at Large Suzanne Calsson, and Assistant Treasurer Phil Suraci.

Decisions made by the Board during the 2023-24 year were presented for a vote:

● The FOSL Board’s Earmark of $50,000 of financial holdings as a budget for the Capital Campaign spending for the new library was approved.

● The Minutes of the Oct. 20, 2023 Annual Meeting were approved

Committee Reports:

Phil Suraci gave the financial summary for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, in place of Linda Wander, who was unable to attend the meeting. Highlights of this report included:

● The Friends reached an all-time high in revenue of over $160,000, surpassing last years’ record by almost $30,000. Income included $51,000 of investment income and membership and donation income over $44,000, which exceeded last year’s intake by over $6,000. 

● The Friends gave almost $68,000 in direct library contributions. One of the major expenses was a technology upgrade in the Marion Craine Gallery. 

● Operating Expenses totaled approximately $26,000. These funds were used for insurance, investment fees, hospitality events, tax preparation and miscellaneous expenses, including printing and postage.

● Net Income also hit a record high of approximately $40,000. $25,000 was invested in our portfolio with Cape Cod 5. 

Lifetime Learning – Ellen Burleigh reported that Lifetime Learning continues to be very successful, although many more programs are available from other libraries post Covid.  Fall registration was robust with 1,453 total registrations by 426 participants,  including 98 individuals who registered for the first time.  Lifetime Learning is co-sponsoring a class with Eldredge Library and continues to offer programs to assisted living complexes and to small libraries who do not have the resources to run their own programs.

Tracey reported on the rest of the Friends’ activities for the year:

● We currently have 293 active members, which has increased by 56 members over last year. 

● Gerry Grenier switched our email blasts to Brevo to save us money on bulk emails we send out to members. We are investigating using Little Green Light, a cloud-based membership/donation platform other non-profits in town use. 

● We received a $10,000 Fred J. Brotherton Grant to fund a second Storytellers Series this summer. We had a total of 8 storytellers this year, and will use some of the grant money to fund a songwriting workshop by David Roth with OES 4th graders. 

● We also reached out to the middle school to bring back the Donald Baker Memorial Poetry Contest which disappeared during Covid. The Friends gave each student a gift certificate to Sea Howl Books for their efforts. 

● In February the Friends Board voted to approve the MOU that Linda, Tracey, and Trustees Joan Francolini and Deirdre White developed with Town Counsel Michael Ford. The purpose of this document is to clarify the agreement between the Friends and the Trustees about the collection and distribution of Snow Library Capital Campaign Funds under the Friends 501(c)3 status. 

Tracey closed the meeting by thanking all the Friends members who showed their love of our library this year by either increasing their level of membership dues, giving an extra donation when they registered for their Lifetime Learning classes, or making a generous donation to the Friends. She also thanked all those people who volunteered their time and energy to increase awareness of how important Snow Library is to our Orleans community. She then turned the program over to 

Jamie Balliett, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Snow Library who thanked the Friends for their support of the planning for the new library. Jamie reported that:

● In September, the Trustees were informed that the decision of the committee would be communicated in January 2025, rather than this November as  originally anticipated.

● The Trustees voted to fund the creation of a video to highlight the challenges facing the library. Public tours of the current building highlighting the most critical concerns are available.

● He emphasized that the building design presented to accompany the Feasibility Study was meant to show that a new building that would meet the size, space and programming requirements could be built on the current library site and is not a final design. He emphasized that feedback and additional input from the public will be welcomed.

Tracey Salley

President, Friends of Snow Library