President’s Message

Minutes of the 58^th Annual Meeting of the Friends of Snow Library & Volunteer Appreciation Reception

October 20, 2023

President Tracey Salley brought the meeting to order at 12:10pm in the Marion Craine Gallery. She welcomed the members and thanked the Hospitality Committee for the food and decorations. She then introduced the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs:

President – Tracey Salley

V.P. – Tom Genereaux

Secretary – Judy Ryon

Treasurer – Linda Wander; Assistant Treasurer – Phil Suraci

Book Sales – Betty Suraci

Hospitality – Carolyn Millett

Lifetime Learning – Ellen Burleigh

Membership/Volunteers – Carol Michels & Susan Piceciak

Technology – Gerry Grenier

Publicity – Karen Kishpaugh (Social Media)

Nominations – Elia Marnick

Literary Consultant – Elizabeth Merritt

Members-at-Large – Suzanne Calsson, Karen Jenen, Joanne Smith

Thanks were given to the following Board Members who resigned their posts:

Technology Chair Tom Miller, who moved to Maine last December, and Publicity Co-chair Chris Istrati, who left to consult with the State Department and spend time with his grandchildren.

Decisions made by the Board during the 2022-23 year were brought before the members for a vote:

New Board Positions that were approved unanimously were Gerry Grenier (Technology), Carolyn Millett (Hospitality), and Joanne Smith (Member-at-large). There were no changes to the By-laws, and the Minutes of last year’s Annual Meeting were approved unanimously.

Committee Reports:

Linda Wander presented the Treasurer’s Report of the fiscal year July 2022-June 30, 2023. Highlights of this report included:

• Our revenue reached $131, 467, which exceeded last year’s total revenue by almost $7,000.
• About $56,000 was made in Library Contributions. This exceeded our $55,000 budget and exceeded last year’s contribution expenses by a little over $11,500. We increased spending on Children’s and other programing and had higher subscription costs. We also financed the “Future of Snow Library” brochures and bookmarks.
• Our Operating Expenses, which totaled almost $37,000, were about $3,400 lower than last year due to lower Lifetime Learning technology expenses.
• Our Net Income was a little over $38,000, exceeding last year by about $4,400.

Ellen Burleigh presented the Lifetime Learning Report. Income was down last year because we now have competition from other libraries. However, registrations are up this fall as compared to last year, and over $10,000 has been invested in new technology equipment to improve our hybrid model.

Tracey presented a report on the rest of the Friends’ activities for the year:

• Our membership stands at about 650 members. Tracey reminded members to renew their membership if they haven’t done so already.
• The Technology team acquired and trained some great new members, and Gerry Grenier is a welcome addition as Committee Chair. In addition to funding new equipment, we our currently working on improving our website.
• Our Flower Power Bulb Fundraiser brought in $488 last fall.
• The FOSL Board is working closely with the Trustees in pursuit of a new library.
• We joined Philanthropy Partners of Cape Cod & the Islands, and different Board members have been attending educational sessions about effective fundraising.
• We worked with the Trustees to decorate a float and march in the July 4^th
• The Friends are funding consultant Pat Basler to assist the library director, Tavi Prugno, in preparing our application for the MBLC grant.

Tracey closed the meeting by thanking all the library volunteers for their behind-the-scenes work. She then turned the meeting over to Steve Gass, who gave an update on the Feasibility Committee and their progress so far.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:43.