FOUCL Point

Minutes-September 28, 2006

2006-11-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

FOUCL

Friends of Union County Libraries

Minutes

September 28, 2006

Meeting was called to order by Chair, Diane Walker.

Treasurer’s Report – Richard Hutchison . Expenditures, $609 to Heritage Quest, $26 for stamps, $50 for Bookmarks leaving a total of $1324.80.

Update on Books N Bites – Arlene

Kat reported that Janet Hume has two students who would be willing to help FOUCL

One would be willing to update our database of members and spreadsheet. Robert Woodworth will meet with us in November or December to explain the spreadsheet.

Another would provide technical assistance on the 501c3 application. The cost of approximately $100 would be funded by Kat’s organization.

Kat announced that the Town Hall meetings have been cancelled.

Discussion was held on how to conduct a membership drive. Also manning a table at basketball games to survey prospective members.

Discussion was held on plans for a major fundraising event to pay for election expenses. Perhaps a dinner theatre.

The Read Union County Project would need us to recommend a book and plan how to order and pay for books for this project.

Meeting Minutes-July 20, 2006

2006-08-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Friends of Union County Libraries

Minutes

July 20, 2006

Meeting was called to order by President Diane Walker. Donna Patterson,
Diane, Kat Davis and Arlene Young were in attendance.

Treasurer sent a report that there had been no activity since the last
meeting.

Kat reported that a partnership had been formed through the Library District
organization that included about a dozen groups in Union County interested
in literacy. A survey had been conducted and that was the topic all felt
strongly about. This Literacy Alliance for Union County plans to write a
grant to support a literacy coordinator in the Library District. They will
support a story telling booth at the County Fair.

The Copy Club display window is available for August and Diane, Donna and
Arlene will put together a display advertising the Fundraising event.
Another possible title for that cooking class is Recipes and Reading,
currently the title is Food for Thought. Suggestions are welcome. Diane's
daughter will make a poster for both the window display and the Fair
Literacy display. Items to be arranged are a child's table and chairs,
books, recipes, dishes, Donna's wine bottle and the poster. Perhaps a
tablecloth for the back wall.

Donna reminded us that we will need help applying for the 501c3 status and
suggestions were made about how to accomplish that. Perhaps someone on the
membership list would be willing to help.

Kat has a person who would be willing to call the membership list and ask
about interest in our group and what part of the program they might be
interested in helping with.

We discussed having an open house with appetizers at some stunning home of
interest in the valley in hopes of attracting people to learn about FOUCL
and perhaps boost our membership. Several homes were suggested which led to
the idea of a tour of "Country Homes" perhaps next year as a money raiser.

Arlene is to coordinate the book list for our current fundraiser and consult
with Merlyn to be sure the Nazarene Church is appropriate and settle on
theme and his choices of what to prepare. She also needs to contact
Sunflower Books and Earthen Books to see if they would like to set up
displays. Also attractive would be library displays with the books that are
available from the list we are collecting.

Michelle Farmer has resigned from the Board, but will remain an active
member. We discussed having monthly Board meetings to which all members
would be invited but having fewer membership meetings.

We will communicate by email during August and meet again on September 28th
in the Meisner room..

Agenda- July 20, 2006

2006-07-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

AGENDA

July 20, 2006

Call to Order

Review minutes

Modifications to agenda

Reports

Treasurer - Richard

Library District - Kat

Fundraising (Food for Thought event) – Arlene

· Window Display for August – Diane (What, who, when?)

· County Fair opportunity to promote FOUCL – Kat

· Heritage Quest follow-up and closure (Billing, evaluation, Foundation)

· Logistics: (membership list, BLOG updates)

· Membership drive and/or Holiday event?

Other?

Next meeting

Adjourn

Meeting Minutes- June 22, 2006

2006-07-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Minutes

June 22, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 5:40 by Diane Walker.

Treasurer's Report: Richard reported that the we have $2,168.80 in the account. This includes $609 for Heritage Quest. To his knowledge we have not yet been billed.

Food for Thought: Those present agreed that it would work best to have Arlene present reports at each meeting rather than trying to do planning for the event during the business meetings. The FOUCL Board requests that by August, Arlene be able to report on the menu, estimated expenses, ticket costs and plans for advertising so that others can begin to help promote the activity. They also asked that she check to see if Merlin is willing to do two sessions if ticket sales are brisk. Will the Nazarene Church kitchen work for his purposes?

Phone survey: The Board approved a survey sheet to be used to conduct an evaluation of the FOUCL Membership List for commitment and level of involvement. Kat has a volunteer who has agreed to take this on.

Bookmarks: Approved for printing with modification to include Friend’s Blogsite information on the front.

Database: Bookmarks have been distributed that will allow people to access EBSCO and Heritage Quest databases from home. Heritage Quest not yet up, should be operational when OSL technical person gets back from vacation.

Window displays: Arlene and Donna will be reminded to take down the exhibit at Copy Club.

Karen and Diane suggested that the Food for Thought fundraiser would be a great display for August. They will talk with Arlene. Ideas for other locations included a storefront in Cove, Cam Credits.

La Grande board mtg.: As of the last contact with La Grande, a meeting time had not yet been announced. Donna Patterson was handling the contact.

Friends at Children's Summer Events: The Board agreed that a display table should be available at children’s programs to promote the Library District and FOUCL. The next children’s programs will be Mud Pie Trio (July 13 and 14) and Cwerks, Inc. Children’s Theater (July 27 and 28). Kat has some exhibit materials ready that are also being used at Farmer’s Market.

Fair-Storytelling tent: Kat discussed formation of a new, Union County Literacy Alliance made up of public and school librarians, school reading teachers, EOU and various social services that promote aspects of family literacy such as Head Start. The first event for this group will be to put up a storytelling booth at the county fair. Kat is organizing this. Karen Campbell volunteered to take a shift and distribute information about FOUCL.

Next meeting-July 20, 1001 4^th Street at the Misener Room.

Meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.

Submitted by Karen Campbell for Arlene Young

Minutes of April 27th Meeting!

2006-05-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

Friends of Union County Libraries

Minutes, April 27, 2006

The meeting was called to order by President Diane Walker at 5:30 pm.

In attendance: Richard Hutchison, Kat Davis, Karen Campbell and Arlene Young.

Treasurer’s Report: The treasurer reported $1,424.80 in the treasury and an increase of 5 new members since February 28. He was authorized to buy an attaché case and a roll of stamps to be used for his correspondence. The FOUCL address is P.O. Box 359, Union. The box number has not been right on some of our correspondence.

The Lori Hayes-Kotter Fund was discussed and a check for $190 will be delivered to the North Powder Library.

OLD BUSINESS

Library Board Visits: Assignments for library board visits throughout the county were discussed and new assignments were made.

Food for Thought Fundraiser: The “Food for Thought” fundraiser was discussed and it was decided to have just one cooking school in La Grande at the Nazarene Church if possible on October 10. Kat will contact a church member to plan an appropriate date and see if they will donate the space. Arlene will contact Merlyn with our changes in plan when we have a firm date and book titles. All of us are asked to think of book titles that we could give him to choose from in recommending a menu to prepare. Suggestions so far are Like Water for Chocolate, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Sweet Potato Queens, Babette’s Feast, Chocolate to Die For. It was suggested that book ideas could be posted to the FOUCL Blog to stimulate conversation!

Community Events: Community events, particularly parades were discussed and we tried to settle on one parade in each town. Kat suggested using decorated book carts and doing a drill team routine during the parades. Karen Campbell and Richard Hutchison are choreographing. Ten to fifteen people would be needed for the drill team. Practicing could be done in a parking lot. We hope to start with Hog Wild Days and progress to the Livestock Show or the Grassroots DooDah Parade in Union, Imbler 4^th of July Parade, Elgin Stampede, Union County Fair Parade, Cove Cherry Fair and the Oregon Trail Car Show in North Powder. We are all to call looking for volunteers. Perhaps we could also tap into high school students and library aides.

Database: Arlene reported that we are assured of funding for the Heritage Quest database. We are still waiting for the check and an address and password that can be accessed by everyone in the county.

NEW BUSINESS

OLA Report: Kat gave a report on Every Child Ready to Read Parenting Classes to be started next spring and FOUCL agreed to help with funding.

Next meeting will be May 25, 5:30 pm at the Meisner Room beside the County Clerk’s office on 4th.

Assignments: call to secure volunteers to march in parades and brainstorm books about food to choose from for our cooking school. Line up for the Hog Wild Days parade begins at 10 am Saturday, June 3.

Minutes of April 27th Meeting!

2006-05-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

Friends of Union County Libraries

Minutes, April 27, 2006

The meeting was called to order by President Diane Walker at 5:30 pm.

In attendance: Richard Hutchison, Kat Davis, Karen Campbell and Arlene Young.

The Lori Hayes-Kotter Fund was discussed and a check for $190 will be delivered to the North Powder Library.

OLD BUSINESS

Library Board Visits: Assignments for library board visits throughout the county were discussed and new assignments were made.

NEW BUSINESS

OLA Report: Kat gave a report on Every Child Ready to Read Parenting Classes to be started next spring and FOUCL agreed to help with funding.

Next meeting will be May 25, 5:30 pm at the Meisner Room beside the County Clerk’s office on 4th.

Friends of Union Cou

2006-04-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

                                        FOUCL
Friends of Union County Libraries
(image placeholder)
AGENDA
April 27, 5:30 pm
1119 Washington
(Library District Office)
Call to Order
Introductions
Review Minutes
Changes to Agenda

Reports:
Treasurer’s Report
     Paid memberships
     Lori Hayes-Kotter Fund
501c3 Update

Old Business:

Library Board Visits: Dates and times; Who goes where; Review outline (Diane)

“Food For Thought”: Update; Timing and costs; locations; publicity; process (Arlene)

Community Events Calendar: Select activities; What will we do?; Assign committee leader.(Diane)

Ben Franklin: When? Where? What? Who will manage this project? (Donna)

Database Update (Arlene, Kat)

New Business:

Every Child Ready to Read Parenting Classes (Kat)

Other?

Good of the Order

Next Meeting?

Adjourn

Next Meeting-April 27th!!!!!

2006-04-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

We will also be planning for ways to have a library “presence” at several, annual community events and fairs this year. All kinds of skills will be needed, from creative planning to designing costumes or maybe even building a float for local parades! If “doing” is of more interest to you than “meeting”, please get in touch so we can let you know when and where help is needed.

Finally, there are three projects in the works for FOUCL that will raise funds for library projects and keep them in the spotlight.
1.“Food for Thought” will be an innovative series of meals prepared around themes from books. Each “course” will be prepared in a different community over a series of weeks. Planning for this event continues at our April meeting!
2. This fall we hope to host an actor who is recreating the persona of Benjamin Franklin in honor of this Founding Father’s 300th birthday! Franklin’s message of the importance of books and reading for “the common man” is a message that is still important today.
3. We are moving closer to providing funds for a genealogy database that will be available to everyone in Union County at home and through their libraries. “HeritageQuest” will be available to us for a one year demonstration at a special rate.

If you love libraries, don’t be a silent partner! Join us as we work to help our libraries grow and thrive.

This month’s meeting: 5:30 pm, April 27
1119 Washington (across from Sunflower Books in UCEDC office)
La Grande, OR

An agenda is attached, hope to see you there!
The FOUCL Board of Directors

Friends of Union Cou

2006-03-30T09:14:00.000-08:00

Friends of Union County Libraries
Minutes
March 23, 2006

Meeting was called to order by President Diane Walker.  Those present were Kat Davis, Donna Patterson, Michele Farmer, Sharon Porter and Arlene Young.

Old Business: Donna will re-work the page explaining what FOUCL has done and will be doing.  She and John Van Schoonhoven will complete the 501c3 application.

Arlene has contacted Bob Larison about how to apply for funds for the Genealogy project.  She will supply him with more information before the April 4th Foundation meeting.

Diane, Arlene and Michele will meet with Merlin Baker from Foley Station to plan strategies for cooking classes at the five communities with libraries.  Diane brought her mystery novels with recipes and we will base the cooking series on these. A suggested place to hold the classes was the Nazarene Church on Gekeler; A title for the series could be “Food for Thought.”  Diane had examples of posters that could be used for advertising and also suggested a bookstore in each community that might stock the mystery series.  Door prizes could be a set of the books or a basket containing ingredients for making one of the recipes.

Diane and Arlene reported on a visit with Karen Kevan at the Family History Center.  She is enthusiastic about the new genealogy program and has been authorized to participate in the program.

New Business: Donna and Sharon will draft a letter to retired librarians encouraging membership in FOUCL.

FOUCL has received a check from Mary Brown for $200 that was intended for the La Grande Library Foundation.  The check has been forwarded to the Foundation and FOUCL has given the Browns a one-year membership in appreciation of their support.

FOUCL members volunteered to attend library board meetings throughout the county in April to explain our mission and goals and to maintain visibility.  Kat will arrange these meetings.
Cove – Diane, Donna and Arlene
Elgin – Sharon and Michele
La Grande – Diane and Karen Campbell
North Powder – Donna and Michele
Union – Arlene and Diane

Donna will make name tags to be worn to these meetings.

Kat had a copy of the Union County Chamber Calendar but we tabled until the next meeting any decision on which activities we would participate in and who would volunteer for each activity.

Donna suggested that if our request for funds is turned down by the Library Foundation that we spend the money from our treasury and then replenish it through fundraisers.

Kat reported that the web site hosted by the State Library will be up and running by June.

Kat is preparing a flyer to be distributed throughout the county with information about the library project.

The “Beans with Ben” idea was introduced by Donna Patterson and we are interested in following up with that in the fall.

Respectfully submitted,
Arlene Young, Secretary

Americans are using libraries more!

2006-02-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

Check out this great article from the American Library Association about modern library habits in the information age!

http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/februray/krcstudy.htm

Next Meeting's Agenda-Feb 23rd, 5:30 PM

2006-02-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

AGENDA
5:30 Thursday
February 23, 2006
Library District Project Office
1119 Washington, La Grande

Call to Order
Review minutes
Introductions
Modifications to agenda

Treasurer's Report
Membership Report
Announcement of New Board and Officers

Library service projects: Arlene and Diane will report on plans for a demonstration of county-wide access to database resources

Grant to support service projects: Approaching La Grande Community Library Foundation

Fundraising ideas: Cooking class, other? Fundraising goals?

Working with public library boards: Diane will lead discussion and outline a plan

Great Ideas!: Review a sampling of service and program ideas from other libraries around the country. What could work here?

Good of the order

Set next meeting date and location

Adjourn

Annual Meeting, Minutes- January 26, 2006

2006-02-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

Friends of Union County Libraries
Minutes
January 26, 2006

Meeting was called to order by Sharon Porter in Diane’s absence. She had to go home ill. Those present were Richard Hutchison, Jerry Young, Nan McDaniel, Donna Patterson, Kat Davis, Arlene Young and Aletha Bonebrake, guest speaker.

Governance Board Members nominated are:
3-year terms: Sharon Porter, Donna Patterson, one position open
2-year terms: Diane Walker, Arlene Young, Nan McDaniel
1-year term: Richard Hutchison, Michelle Farmer, one position open

Officers nominated for this year are: President: Diane Walker
Vice President: open
Secretary: Arlene Young
Treasurer: Richard Hutchison
Members at large: Nan McDaniel, Michelle Farmer, Donna
Patterson, Sharon Porter, one position
open
Donna Patterson moved to accept the Governance Board membership and the slate of officers. Nan McDaniel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Nan and Sharon will contact Donna Skovlin about the Vice President’s position. Nan will contact Ms. Noyes from Summerville about being a member at large.

Sharon requested a By-law change stating that officers will be elected each year from the Governance Committee members. Arlene will draft that amendment.

It was decided to meet at the Misener room when it is available for our regular monthly meetings on the last Thursday of each month. Next meeting will be February 23 at 5:30 at Kat’s office since the Misener room is unavailable. Arlene will arrange for reserving the Misener room.

At the next meeting we will discuss buying access to a genealogy database program that could be used in any of the libraries. Sharon will contact Shirley Roberts about that process and Donna Patterson will help with the arrangements.

Those present were assigned the task of investigating one other library and finding out what programs they offer and what kind of outreach they have. Choice of libraries is up to the individual.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:30

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM

A program entitled, “Dream Libraries! How do We Get There?” was presented by Aletha Bonebrake, Director of Baker County Library.

Aletha described the history of funding and outreach for the Baker County Library District. Many parallels could be drawn. She has been the County Librarian for 20 years. Their motto is Equal Access Through a Rural Library District.
Baker County has had a Bookmobile since it was started through a State Library demonstration project in 1957-60. In 1960 Baker County agreed to a County Library District and has continued since.
In 1970 a new 10,600-sq. ft. building was constructed with ¾ of the money donated by an individual and the rest of the money for construction donated by local clubs and groups.
In 1982 there were drastic cuts in the library department. Their budget was cut from $240,000 to $101,000. This amount was less than that raised by the county in taxes for the library.
In 1988 their library district became independent and permanent. It is a tax-supported entity. It is no longer a county department.
Aletha strongly suggested that contingency funds should be built into the budget, and the La Grande Feasibility Committee has done this. For them in 2005, personnel is 59.2% of the budget, books and media 13%, other 21.5% and sinking and contingency 6.3%.
Their strongest asset, the Bookmobile, is a critical part of their service plan. It is their most popular service and has served three generations of supporters. It goes twice a month to all the rural schools and stays at each for 3 or 4 hours. Students come out by class to use the facilities. The Bookmobile travels 1200 miles a month and has the motto on one side, I think I can, I think I can, and on the other side is No mountain too high, no valley too low. It also visits the correctional facility—in exchange for its services the inmates do grounds and facilities maintenance. The Bookmobile visits daycare centers, brings large print books to nursing homes, visits the summer lunch programs and the homebound.
The County Library is active in the community literacy program, partners with the school science program, and provides free public meeting rooms and equal access to the internet for all. The Library in Baker City is the “Mother Ship” that supports the other libraries.
Future plans include providing means for Baker County citizens to testify at the legislature through interactive video, and facilities to attend meetings by conference video.
The County Library has expanded from five computers to twenty-seven, each branch has several. The library subscribes to services that can be accessed in the library or in individual’s homes. Some of the services are:
EBSCO – full text database for journals and periodicals
Career Information
Novelist – database that identifies books written by a novelist and by other novelists that might write in the same vein.
Learning Express – armed services tests, vocational aptitude tests, SAT study guides and sample tests
Heritage Quest – genealogy database
Chilton’s automotive repair – complete sets including drawings and wiring diagrams.
SAGE an online card catalog including 1.2 million items

There is a room in the Baker City library dedicated to teaching people how to use these databases. They also have GPS and telescopes and projectors to loan.
There is the same access to all citizens within the district. This gives all the libraries the ability to keep their local collections fresh. They also have more purchasing power and a larger funding base.
Librarians can bring in books and take back out as many as they like. They change collections frequently.
These aspects give the library improved planning ability. They can tax and sell bonds. Voter confidence has increased. There is also a benefit from centralized management and cost controls. Each branch has one person in the library.
FEARS—loss of local control
District ownership of facilities
Larger communities will support smaller ones
CHALLENGES
New tasks result from corporate design
New service considerations
Maintaining local ambiance—landscaping, hours of opening, etc. (FOL contributed landscaping of the building)
End of presentation

I can’t begin to tell you the enthusiasm this evening generated!
Jerry Young suggested putting together our own power point presentation to explain the advantages of a County Library.
FOUCL is committed to investigating ways to subscribe to one of the databases, preferably the genealogy one, to use as a demonstration of the services that can be provided.

NEXT MEETING WILL BE FEBRUARY 23, 5:30.
1119 WASHINGTON STREET, LA GRANDE (UCLDP OFFICE)

Submitted by Arlene Young, Secretary

Annual Meeting Minutes-January 26, 2006

2006-02-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

                                        FOUCL
Friends of Union County Libraries
(image placeholder)


Friends of Union County Libraries
Minutes
January 26, 2006

Meeting was called to order by Sharon Porter in Diane’s absence.  She had to go home ill.  Those present were Richard Hutchison, Jerry Young, Nan McDaniel, Donna Patterson, Kat Davis, Arlene Young and Aletha Bonebrake, guest speaker.

Governance Board Members nominated are:
     3-year terms:  Sharon Porter, Donna Patterson, one position open
     2-year terms:  Diane Walker, Arlene Young, Nan McDaniel
     1-year term: Richard Hutchison, Michelle Farmer, one position open

Officers nominated for this year are: President: Diane Walker
                      Vice President: open
                      Secretary:  Arlene Young
                      Treasurer:  Richard Hutchison
        Members at large: Nan McDaniel, Michelle Farmer, Donna
                                      Patterson, Sharon Porter, one position
  open
Donna Patterson moved to accept the Governance Board membership and the slate of officers.  Nan McDaniel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Nan and Sharon will contact Donna Skovlin about the Vice President’s position.  Nan will contact Ms. Noyes from Summerville about being a member at large.

Sharon requested a By-law change stating that officers will be elected each year from the Governance Committee members.  Arlene will draft that amendment.

It was decided to meet at the Misener room when it is available for our regular monthly meetings on the last Thursday of each month.  Next meeting will be February 23 at 5:30 at Kat’s office since the Misener room is unavailable.  Arlene will arrange for reserving the Misener room.

At the next meeting we will discuss buying access to a genealogy database program that could be used in any of the libraries.  Sharon will contact Shirley Roberts about that process and Donna Patterson will help with the arrangements.

Those present were assigned the task of investigating one other library and finding out what programs they offer and what kind of outreach they have.  Choice of libraries is up to the individual.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:30

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM

A program entitled, “Dream Libraries! How do We Get There?” was presented by Aletha Bonebrake, Director of Baker County Library.

Aletha described the history of funding and outreach for the Baker County Library District.  Many parallels could be drawn.  She has been the County Librarian for 20 years.  Their motto is Equal Access Through a Rural Library District.
     Baker County has had a Bookmobile since it was started through a State Library demonstration project in 1957-60.  In 1960 Baker County agreed to a County Library District and has continued since.
     In 1970 a new 10,600-sq. ft. building was constructed with ¾ of the money donated by an individual and the rest of the money for construction donated by local clubs and groups.
     In 1982 there were drastic cuts in the library department.  Their budget was cut from $240,000 to $101,000.  This amount was less than that raised by the county in taxes for the library.
     In 1988 their library district became independent and permanent.  It is a tax-supported entity.  It is no longer a county department.
     Aletha strongly suggested that contingency funds should be built into the budget, and the La Grande Feasibility Committee has done this.  For them in 2005, personnel is 59.2% of the budget, books and media 13%, other 21.5% and sinking and contingency 6.3%.
     Their strongest asset, the Bookmobile, is a critical part of their service plan.  It is their most popular service and has served three generations of supporters.  It goes twice a month to all the rural schools and stays at each for 3 or 4 hours.  Students come out by class to use the facilities.  The Bookmobile travels 1200 miles a month and has the motto on one side, I think I can, I think I can, and on the other side is No mountain too high, no valley too low.  It also visits the correctional facility—in exchange for its services the inmates do grounds and facilities maintenance.  The Bookmobile visits daycare centers, brings large print books to nursing homes, visits the summer lunch programs and the homebound.
     The County Library is active in the community literacy program, partners with the school science program, and provides free public meeting rooms and equal access to the internet for all.  The Library in Baker City is the “Mother Ship” that supports the other libraries.
     Future plans include providing means for Baker County citizens to testify at the legislature through interactive video, and facilities to attend meetings by conference video.
     The County Library has expanded from five computers to twenty-seven, each branch has several.  The library subscribes to services that can be accessed in the library or in individual’s homes.  Some of the services are:
     EBSCO – full text database for journals and periodicals
     Career Information
     Novelist – database that identifies books written by a novelist and by other novelists that might write in the same vein.
     Learning Express – armed services tests, vocational aptitude tests, SAT study guides and sample tests
     Heritage Quest – genealogy database
     Chilton’s automotive repair – complete sets including drawings and wiring diagrams.
     SAGE an online card catalog including 1.2 million items

     There is a room in the Baker City library dedicated to teaching people how to use these databases.  They also have GPS and telescopes and projectors to loan.
     There is the same access to all citizens within the district.  This gives all the libraries the ability to keep their local collections fresh.  They also have more purchasing power and a larger funding base.
     Librarians can bring in books and take back out as many as they like.  They change collections frequently.
     These aspects give the library improved planning ability.  They can tax and sell bonds.  Voter confidence has increased.  There is also a benefit from centralized management and cost controls.  Each branch has one person in the library.
     FEARS—loss of local control
District ownership of facilities
Larger communities will support smaller ones
     CHALLENGES
     New tasks result from corporate design
     New service considerations
     Maintaining local ambiance—landscaping, hours of opening, etc.  (FOL contributed landscaping of the building)
End of presentation

I can’t begin to tell you the enthusiasm this evening generated!
     Jerry Young suggested putting together our own power point presentation to explain the advantages of a County Library.
     FOUCL is committed to investigating ways to subscribe to one of the databases, preferably the genealogy one, to use as a demonstration of the services that can be provided.

NEXT MEETING WILL BE FEBRUARY 23, 5:30.
1119 WASHINGTON STREET, LA GRANDE (UCLDP OFFICE)

Submitted by Arlene Young, Secretary

Union County Library

2006-01-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

Union County Library District Project
MINUTES
January 11, 2006

The meeting was called to order by Steering Committee member Shirley Roberts in Jerry Young’s absence.

In attendance:  Shirley Roberts, John Van Schoonhoven, Sharon Porter, Donna Patterson, Diane Walker, Kat Davis, Danae Yurgel, Aletha Bonebrake.

Steering Committee Summary:  Shirley and John provided information from the Steering Committee meeting relating to modifications in the LSTA Grant period extending the contract to April 30, 2006.  This was done at the request of the State Library to enable the peer evaluation component of the grant to take place.  Terri Washburn, Director of the St. Helen’s Public Library will serve as our evaluator.

Director’s Update:  Much of Kat’s time has been directed towards following through on the Children’s Services demonstration projects.  She is currently presenting booktalks in all schools in the six school districts within Union County.  Bev White, Coordinator for the Union County Literacy Center, is also volunteering on this project.  Kat is also providing technical support to the Elgin Public Library in its effort to secure grant funding for a new library.  As part of this effort she is assisting with a community involvement process planning for use of the new facility that will dovetail with identified, high priority community needs such as adult literacy and GED preparation.  Elgin has received grant funds from the Collins Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust.

Friendly Visitor’s Update:  Using the service projections created at the outset of the project, Danae Yurgel informed the committee that she is slightly ahead in numbers of trained volunteers and slightly under the number of anticipated clients.  Feedback from clients and volunteers is helping her continuously improve the program to meet client needs.  Meyer Memorial Trust has just approved a modification to extend services to any homebound individual over the age of 18.

FOUCL Update:  The next FOUCL meeting will be on January 26th at 5:30pm at the UCLDP office.  Diane Walker reported that governance committee members have been working to establish a slate of officers.  They still need someone for the position of Vice President. [NOTE:  The FOUCL meeting has been moved to 1001 4th St. in the Meisner Room at the County Office Building]

Discussion of comparative benefits of pursuing the library district election in November 2006 vs. May 2008:  The committee reviewed a chart prepared by Kat listing pros and cons of each option.  Other issues added to the chart included election costs.  Jennie Tucker reminded the group (via email, she was not in attendance) that substantial costs can be associated with use of the news media and producing signs.  Kat checked with various sources and came up with a number between $10,000 and $18,000.  FOUCL would need to take a lead role in raising this amount of money as no grant funds may be used for campaign purposes.

Donna and Aletha commented that the cost need not be that high if individuals are willing to make signs.  Aletha uses “homemade” signs in her campaigns and finds them to be very effective.

There is still a need for a stronger level of coordination for the FOUCL group to be successful in raising these funds.  There was discussion about the difficulty of putting together FOUCL’s organizational structure at the same time it is organizing its membership and non-profit status.

As three of the four officers from FOUCL were present, the discussion leaned towards advantages of waiting until the 2008 election.  The additional 18 months would give time for solidifying the organization.  Diane Walker indicated that if the group could first complete the incorporation process and get permanent officers in place, it would then be possible to focus on enjoyable, library service projects that are more likely to get members involved (e.g.: parades, a presence at community events, children’s activities).  Sharon Porter concurred that “fun” activities are needed to build relationships between members around the county.  Donna Patterson, Treasurer for FOUCL, stated that although she believes FOUCL could successfully collect petition signatures now, that waiting until 2008 would give the group time to develop a better advocacy plan and raise funds.

Following feedback from the FOUCL members, Shirley asked for Kat’s perspective as Project Director and from Aletha in her role as Mentor.  Kat observed that momentum is building for support of the district both inside La Grande and in the outlying communities. She has concern for the viability of the smaller libraries if we delay.  Aletha noted that because of the distraction of the new La Grande Library, the time may not be right for people to see the value of the district proposal.

Shirley asked each Feasibility Committee member for their position on moving forward or delaying the vote until May 2008.  She reminded those present that we had agreed to move forward with the petition gathering process for the November 2006 election based on the positive trend in the community survey, with final decision to be made on March 8th.  By consensus, in deference to the fact that FOUCL now holds primary responsibility for organizing the signature gathering and fundraising for the project, the committee agreed to revise the timeline to reflect a vote in 2008.

Kat outlined the consequences of making this decision including the need to revise the proposed district budget based on new projections for county-wide assessed value; recalculating the rate; obtaining new city resolutions updated with any needed changes; and re-completing the prospective petition process.  The benefits would include having the opportunity to make revisions to the proposed budget based upon actual operational costs of the new La Grande Library as well as allowing FOUCL to proceed on a timeline that will meet their needs.

Additionally, extending the timeline to May 2008 will require that a modification and extension to the LSTA grant be prepared and submitted prior to the April deadline.

As well as reaching consensus on extending the District Project until 2008, each committee member in attendance expressed their commitment to remaining active in the process.  John voiced his opinion that the extension will also allow the opportunity for bringing in additional members to the Feasibility Committee from local government as well as “informal” community leaders.  Committee members will continue to plan on organizing and leading community information meetings as assigned at the November 2005 meeting.

Kat agreed to draft a modified timeline for review.  She will contact each city, the county and the media with the Committee’s decision.

Diane and other FOUCL members will contact those volunteers who have been trained as Petition Captains and notify them of the change of timeline.  FOUCL will continue to pursue 501c3 non-profit status.  Their next meeting will focus on planning library advocacy activities for the coming year.

Adjourned at 4:30.

Submitted by Kat Davis
Project Director

Governance Meeting Minutes-January 6, 2006

2006-01-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

January 6, 2006

Notes from Governance Committee

Those attending: Kat Davis for a few minutes, Diane Walker, Sharon Porter, Arlene Young.

Agenda items are: Signature gathering, reschedule training of team captains and content of the January meeting.

By March 8 we need to have 1800 signatures or the feasibility committee will postpone the election.

January meeting: We need to elect four officers and at least 3 at-large members of the Governance Committee.  Suggestions were:
     Chair:  Diane Walker
     Vice-chair:  Dorothy Waln (Sharon will contact)
     Secretary:  Arlene Young
     Treasurer:  Donna Patterson or Richard Hutchison (Arlene will contact)
     At large members:       Nan McDaniel (Arlene will contact)
                    Laurie Hayes-Kotter (Sharon will contact)
                    Anne Rodriguez (Arlene will contact)
                    Glenna Sams
     Sharon will contact Maureen Smolkowski to see if she can suggest other Elgin residents who might be willing to be petition captains or if she has any interest in the Governance Committee.

     At the informational meeting on January 26 at 5:30 Diane will talk about officer duties.
     Team captains will talk about their plans for signature gathering.
     Kat will review the gathering of signature petitions
     Sharon will explain the voting booths and book talks and has a sign up sheet for people who could give book talks and read to children at the various libraries.

Meeting Notes-November 30,2005

2006-01-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Notes from November 30, 2005

Present:  Diane Walker, Sharon Porter, John van Schoonhoven, Jerry Young, Kat Davis, Donna Patterson, Arlene Young

Kat reported on the survey questions to the Feasibility Committee.
Diane announced her intention to attend the Lion’s Basketball Tourney in Union and collect signatures there.  At least have sign up sheets for FOUCL.
Diane and Donna will work together on this.

There will be a $3,000 charge if the library measure is put on the ballot and fails.

FOUCL will pay the $95 to the County to start the petition process.  The ballot measure is # 31-54.

FOUCL has a balance of approximately $1,000 in the treasury.
     Diane will make petition copies and will take fact sheets.
     Signature gatherers will use their own clipboards.

Jerry suggested a budget of $250 for copying, $95 for filing fee and $100 for miscellaneous fees including postage.

Diane suggested January 2 as a kickoff date for collecting signatures.  She will designate weekends to concentrate on each town.  The decision to be made around local games to be played.  Permission should be secured before attending an event.

The deadline is April 30 for all signatures which means May 18 should be the deadline for turning them in.

Suggested groups that should be contacted for support were businesses, union members at Eastern (Sharon will make a presentation to that group).

Team captains should meet January 5 at 5:30 to make plans for the campaign.

Sharon will donate markers and graphic materials for signs.

There should be another training for team captains.

Sharon reviewed the rules for petition gathering:
     Petitions cannot be left unattended.
     People cannot sign for someone else.
     You need to see a signature card for those people not registered to vote.
     Check the box to see if the signer is a landowner – new state law.
     Circulator has to sign and date the petition the same each time.
     Use a pen not a pencil.
     When a petition is finished and dated you have to start a new page.  Can’t add more signatures to that page.
     Signature gatherers are not paid.

Union County Library District Proposal

2005-12-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

Coming soon----the proposal document for forming a library district in Union County, Oregon. Having techical difficulties!

FOUCL

2005-11-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

FOUCL
Friends of Union County Libraries
(image placeholder)
The Mission of The Friends of Union County Libraries is to support all libraries in Union County and enhance library services for all county residents.

Reach for the world…read.

Membership in FOUCL is open to all individuals and interested organizations or businesses that support its purposes. Membership categories and dues are as follows:

Family Life Member $200
Individual Life Member $100
Business/ organization $ 50
Family $ 30
Individual $ 20
Senior/ Student $ 10

Dues for 2006 are due in January. Please detach and return the form below along with your check to: Friends of Union County Libraries; Donna Patterson, Treasurer; PO Box 359; Union, OR 97883.

Name:___________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Phone:__________________________________________________
Email:___________________________________________________
Please record my membership for 2006 at the level indicated (check one)
__Senior/ Student
__Individual
__Family
__Business/ Organization
__Individual Life Member
__Family Life Member
__Additional contribution for ___________________(ex: mailings, supplies, library materials and programs)
__Please remove my name from your list

Library Volunteers Needed!!!!!

2005-11-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

Schools are scheduling times for Young Reader's Choice Award book talks. If you have time during regular school hours to help with this and enjoy reading aloud to children, please contact Kat Davis.

Still looking for some volunteers to make "voting booths" out of refrigerator boxes. Anyone out there have a barn or workshop to paint and store some of these? Fun! Easy!

Signature gatherers will be needed beginning in mid December. If you think you could collect some signatures to help with the petition drive, please contact Diane Walker, 562-5521

Anyone with connections to community events such as Livestock Show, Fair, Riverfest or other similar events is asked to contact one of the FOUCL officers listed below. We would like to have information about FOUCL and the library district at as many community events as possible in 2006.

Diane Walker    562-5521
Sharon Porter     962-3780
Donna Patterson    562-5550
Arlene Young    963-3879

December 1 5:30 pm

2005-11-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

December 1, 5:30pm
THIS MONTH'S REGULAR FOUCL MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE PETITION TRAINING. The next regular meeting will be held on Thursday, January 26 at 5:30pm. 1119 Washington in La Grande.

November 29 5:30 pm-Petition Training

2005-11-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

November 29, 5:30 pm
Petition Circulation Training - This is for anyone interested in being a Petition Captain for the Library District Initiative Petition drive. These volunteers will receive training, then will each recruit and train 4 or 5 other individuals to assist with gathering signatures. Signatures may be collected until April 2006. Please attend even if you think you might be interested! (Many hands make light work). 1119 Washington,
La Grande. 963-4039.

Friends of Union County Libraries Minutes 10-27-05

2005-11-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

FOUCL
Friends of Union County Libraries
(image placeholder)

MINUTES
Oct. 27, 2005
4:00 PM – Island City ESD

Present: Diane Walker, Kat Davis, Donna Patterson. and Sharon Porter
Treasurer’s Report: Donna Patterson, reported a balance of $1,122.00. The Federal Employer ID has been received. The treasurer and secretary have copies.
Minutes: Approval of the minutes from the September meeting was tabled due to lack of a quorum.

Many individuals were not able to attend the meeting due to the early start time of 4:00pm. The decision was made to cancel our reservations at the ESD in Island City as they will charge a fee for any meetings that are held after 5:00 pm. Kat offered her office meeting room at 1119 Washington since it is usually available in the evening; there is ample parking; and there is no fee. [NOTE: The Governance Committee has decided to set 5:30 pm on the last Thursday of each month as the regular FOUCL meeting time. However, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next meeting will be December 1, 5:30. The regular date will be in effect for subsequent meetings. Meetings will be at the UCLDP office, 1119 Washington, La Grande]

There was discussion on the difficulty of inspiring people to attend business meetings. It was noted that in addition to the early time conflicting with work schedules, the distance involved is also a problem. One suggestion was to have a representative from each library’s Friends group serve as a liaison to the FOUCL meeting to take decisions and project news back to the local groups. However, there are no functioning Friends groups in Union County at this time (exception being the efforts of the members of the Cove Improvement Club). With the time constraints of the District forming process looming ahead, there was consensus that the immediate effort needs to be focused on organizing the petition drive for getting the District issue on the ballot. The idea of encouraging local Friend’s groups will be explored more in 2006.

Initiative Petition Process: To be eligible for inclusion on the November 2006 ballot, 3,000 signatures need to be collected and turned in to the County Recorder by May. The following tasks need to be achieved:

We need to form a lead committee that will be made up of “Initiative Petition Area Captains” (IPAC’s?). These individuals will be trained to organize volunteers to gather signatures. Volunteers need not be 18 to gather signatures so offering community service hours for this project would be ideal. National Honor Societies, FBLA members, etc. could be asked to help out. If 6 Petition Captains can work with a team of at least 4 or 5 individuals, each person would need to collect 100 signatures over 5 months (or about 10 signatures a month, per person). Signatures can be gathered anywhere in the county with the exception of Imbler. (The City of Imbler will not be participating in the election).

Kat will conduct a “how-to” session for Petition Captains on November 29th at 5:30. It is a simple process, but must be 100% accurate to be valid.

Initial suggestions for Petition Area Captains are:

Diane Walker (she will organize the clipboards and track the process)
Lori Hayes-Kotter
Polly Chartier
Richard Hutchison
Kate Bottger
Louise Schoonhoven
Patty McClellan
Ruth Brandt
Melissa Over
Maureen Smolkowski
Sally Mielke

Governance Committee members will contact these individuals to see if they are able to help.

Nov. 16th, noon, at Kat’s office, the executive committee will meet to discuss progress on finding volunteers; outlining “job descriptions” for volunteer assistants; and reviewing updated information on the initiative petition process.

The meeting was adjourned at 5 PM.

THE NEXT FOUCL MEETING WILL BE HELD AT 1119 WASHINGTON (ACROSS FROM THE ELKS LODGE) ON DECEMBER 1 AT 5:30 PM.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

December Agenda Preview:

Petition Drive Update

Non-Profit status

Planning for Parades, Fairs and Rodeos!

All hands on deck!

Meeting today-4 PM-Island City ESD!

2005-10-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Be there and contribute to this fledgling group! Our libraries need us!

Next Friends Meeting

2005-10-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

The next Friends of Unoin County Libraries meeting is on Thursday, October 27th at 4:00 at the Union-Wallowa Baker ESD Building in Island City. Bring a Friend!

Fact Sheet for Forming a Library District in Union County, Oregon

2005-10-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Proposal to Form a

Library District to Serve Union County

Fact Sheet

There are 5 public libraries in Union County; four operated as departments of cities (La Grande, North Powder, Union and Elgin), one operated by a community non-profit (Cove).

Library services have fluctuated and/or decreased at all facilities over the last ten years, even as demand for library services continues to grow. Over 50% of the residents of Union County hold library cards.

Library positions are being cut from school budgets; students are receiving less exposure to research skills. Strong, local support of public libraries can help ensure access to important information resources and skills.

Libraries are paid for by residents of Union, Elgin and La Grande through property taxes paid to their cities’ general fund budgets. Libraries compete for support with other important city services such as Police, Fire, and Public Works.

A Special Library District would provide a stable source of funding that is only for libraries. Libraries would no longer compete with other essential city services.

All residents of Union County are presently allowed to use the public libraries, even if they do not provide any support for these services. This results in a high per capita use of the libraries, but a low per capita level of support. Per capita support for libraries in Union County is less than half of the state average.

A Special Library District would spread the cost of supporting this county-wide service across the entire county as opposed to the city residents in three-out-of-eight cities.

If cities did not need to provide general fund dollars for the libraries, those resources could be reallocated to cover other general fund services. The annual savings in Union and Elgin would be about $30,000 per year. In La Grande the annual savings would be more than $300,000 per year (including loss due to compression).

A Special Library District would take on responsibility for all costs related to the libraries including caring for the buildings, personnel, books and materials, and services.

Cities would have the option to retain ownership of their library facilities and enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Library District to provide library service out of city buildings, or, they could transfer ownership to the District. Should facility expansions or replacements be required, the District and Cities would work as partners to identify and raise the needed funds. The proposed district budget includes a capital improvements fund.

The salary and benefit schedule used by the La Grande Library served as the basis for calculating personnel costs for the proposed district budget.

All current library employees would be retained.

All local Library Boards would be retained.

Library Directors now report to their City Administrator and are governed by City Councils.

In a Library District, Library Directors would report to the District Librarian and be governed by a five member District Library Board, removing a layer of government between libraries and library users.

District Library Board members would be elected by zone, providing for representation from throughout the county.

Countywide service improvements would include a 54% increase in open hours; an 85% increase in library materials; regularly scheduled courier service between libraries; outreach services for seniors; and regularly scheduled youth programs.

The district could be supported with a permanent rate of .85/$1,000 of assessed value. This equals $7.08 per month on a property with an assessed value of $100,000 – less than the cost of one movie ticket, one paperback book or two bags of chips.

If the library district is approved, there would be a 2% decrease in funding shared between all existing non- school taxing districts in compressed areas. La Grande and Elgin are the areas most impacted by compression. Residents in these areas whose property is in compression would see little or no change to their current property tax bill.

Process:

ORS 198.720(1) requires that before a county-wide district may be formed, City Councils for cities within the area must pass a resolution allowing the issue to appear on the ballot for residents of their city.

A vote in support of the resolution will NOT indicate endorsement of the proposal. It will allow the citizens of each community to have the opportunity to vote on the issue.

After city resolutions are obtained, the County Commissioners will be asked to place the issue on the November 2006 ballot for all of Union County.

A no vote on the resolution would mean that the question of forming a district would not appear on local ballots and citizens would not participate in this decision.

If there are questions about this process, or if you would like to review a full copy of the proposal, please contact:

Kat Davis

Project Director

Union County Library District Project

963-4039

534-5036

Friends Meeting Minutes: September 29, 2005

2005-10-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

Minutes

Friends of Union County Libraries

September 29, 2005

Diane Walker, President, called the meeting of the Friends of Union County Libraries to order at 7:00 pm at the La Grande Fire Hall on September 29, 2005. In attendance were Diane Walker, Shirley Roberts, Sharon Porter, Arlene Young, Jerry Young, Richard Hutchinson, Nancy Free-Kline, Lori Hayes-Kotter, Danae Yurgel and Glenna Sams.

Sharon Porter moved the acceptance of the minutes of the previous meeting. They were accepted as printed.

Sharon Porter reviewed the history of the Friends of the Library. This is a new start for the group that existed nearly ten years ago. It is now a tax free, non-profit organization with by-laws and representatives from all communities in the county. The purpose is to contribute to countywide projects and support library efforts in the county.

A PAC group will be formed to collect signatures to put the Union County Library proposal on the ballot.

Arlene Young, Secretary reviewed the meeting of the Governance Committee. Sharon has set up a blog as a means of communication with members. http://foucl.blogspot.com The name of the site is FOUCL Point. Governance Committee members called the people from the original “Friends” group to alert them about this meeting and the fact that we would be activating this group again. Donna Patterson will serve as Treasurer until the January meeting and has opened an account at Community Bank in Union. She and Diane Walker will be authorized to sign checks.

John Van Schoonhoven will report on progress on the non-profit committee status at the next meeting.

Shirley Roberts distributed a Fact Sheet about the proposal to form a Union County Library District. The City of Union is the last city in the county to make a decision to put the proposal on the ballot, all others have voted favorably to support a vote on this issue. She announced that if it is decided to gather signatures to put the proposal on the ballot there is a May 18, 2006 deadline for submitting those signatures. The Union County Commission could also put the issue on the ballot by fiat.

The proposal would include a vote on a five person District Library Board of Directors to be selected from three zones in the county with two at-large positions.

Danae Yurgel moved that the Mission Statement “To support all libraries in Union county and enhance library services for all of its residents.” be accepted. The motion was seconded and passed.

Danae also moved that the proposed By-laws be accepted as outlined pursuant to grammatical corrections.” The motion was seconded and passed.

Discussion was held about the next meeting time and place and that decision was referred to the Governance Board. Some suggestions for place were the ESD Conference Room, the Island City Fire Department, a bank meeting room, an Eastern meeting room, and the Ag Extension building.

Friends members will likely be asked to write letters of support to the Editor of the Observer. Kat Davis will make those contacts.

Ideas were discussed for activities to which the Friends group could contribute during this next year.

>Write letters of support to the newspaper in support of the County Library District.

>Send digital stories to the troops from local families

>Participate in Young Reader’s Choice Awards. Volunteer to read books and share with schools.

>Participate in Friendly Visitor program

>Volunteer to help with the PAC committee

Lori Hayes-Kotter and Richard Hutchinson volunteered to help on that committee

>Help with the Literacy Program

Jerry Young will be checking out administrative rules about how to collect signatures, specifically if those under 18 can volunteer to collect signatures.

Annual meeting of the Friends of Union County Libraries will be held January 26, 2006.

Diane Walker adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.

Fundraising Workshop for Libraries: La Grande, Oct. 12

2005-10-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

There is a workshop "Steps to Fund Raising Success" to be held in La Grande on Wednesday, October 12th in La Grande at the Best Western Rama Inn. It is sponsored by LEO (Libraries of eastern Oregon,) the La Grande Public Luibrary, and the La Grande Community Library Foundation. The presenters are Kay Sohl, author of The Oregon Nonprofit Handbook and David Wescott, VP for Development for Oregon Community Foundation. It will run from 10 to 2 PM. Registration is $20 and includes a catered lunch and all handouts. Scholarships are available for representatives of public libraries. Call Jo Cowling at 962.1339 for more details and registration.

We really need this information. Is anyone interested?

Governance Committee Meeting-September 20, 2005

2005-10-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a report of the doings of the Governance Committee, getting details together for subsequent meetings.

FOUCL
Friends of Union County Libraries
Governance Committee Meeting
September 20, 2005
In attendance: Arlene, Sharon, Donna, Diane, Jenny, Kat
Mission Statement revision: To support all libraries in Union County and enhance library
services for all of its residents.
Membership Dues: changes noted – student/ seniors now $10; individual now $20. All
those present paid their dues and became “official” members.
Membership Card: accepted current design. Kat will make change to reflect new address
once currently printed cards run out.
Membership list: Those present divided list between them to make phone calls. We will
be checking to make sure information is correct; add email addresses where available;
inspire people to get involved with FOUCL; seek interest in officer positions.
Logistics:
Agenda: Agenda will be initially prepared by Kat, then sent to Diane for review
before sending out to members.
Minutes: Arlene agreed to assume role of temporary Secretary. She will take
minutes beginning with meeting on Sept. 29; minutes will be emailed to Kat who will
send out with agenda for next meeting. Initially this will be by snail mail with a goal to
move to email once addresses are available.
Meeting location: Kat will see if ESD is available for free at 4pm on the last
Thursdays. (DONE – ESD will let us meet there at 4pm through 2006.
Membership: Donna will take on membership responsibility as part of Treasurer
duties. Cards issued now through January will expire December 2006.
Accounts: Donna assumed the role of temporary Treasurer. Donna and Diane
will open and account at Community Bank in Union with two signatures required.
Newsletter: Sharon offered to set up a BLOG as a means of speedy
communication between members. (DONE. Address is http://foucl.blogspot.com
The name of the site is FOUCL Point.
Nominating Committee: All temporary officers agreed to be part of the
Nominating Committee and will ask about interest in serving on the Board or as an
officer when the calls are made to check the membership list.
Other: There was a brief discussion of activities for this year. FOUCL may want to set
up ad hoc committees to work on programs or events for National Library Week in
November. There will also be a need for people to help with book talks for the Young
Reader’s Choice Award program as well as making “voting booths” for the vote in
March. Donna has information on the Read Across America program that she will share.
The Stories for the Troops project will be revisited in April.
A committee will need to be put together to organize signature gathering for the district
proposal. This will take place between January and May 2006.
Donna offered to make a ½ page flyer about FOUCL including sign up information that
can go on the desk in all public libraries.
Meeting adjourned, 4:10pm.

Progress Made by the 501(3)c Sub-Committee!

2005-10-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

The subcommittee to draw together the 501(3)c application met and this is an account of their doings.

FOUCL
Friends of Union County Libraries
501(c) (3) Committee Meeting
October 13, 2005
In attendance: John, Jennie, Diane, Donna, Kat
The official name of the Friends group will be Friends of Union County Libraries
(FOUCL)
The mailing address is PO Box 357, Union, OR 97883
The cost of the post office box is $27.
The following tasks were assigned:
Diane – to obtain Post Office Box and keys (completed)
Donna – to submit Employee Identification Number request (completed; EIN is 02-
0750280)
Kathy – to complete articles of incorporation (completed; copy will be at October 29th
meeting for signatures and will then be ready to mail with a check for $50)
Jennie – revise By-Laws to match Articles of Incorporation (completed; will be ready to
attach to 501c3 application)
John and Donna – Complete 501c3 application. This can now move forward as all other
information has been prepared. Temporary officers were selected at Governance
Committee meeting as follows:
Chair: Diane Walker
Vice Chair: Sharon Porter
Secretary: Arlene Young
Treasurer: Donna Patterson

La Grande City Council passes resolution to allow vote for District!

2005-09-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

In a unanimous vote, La Grande City Council passed a resolution to allow the forming of a library district for Union County to appear on the ballot in November 2006. A signature petition drive will have to gather enough citizens to have it qualify for the ballot.

We now have only Union City Council to vote for the resolution next month to have all of Union County's citizens be able to see the issue on their ballots.

This is a big whew!!! Without this decision, we would have had to enact Plan B without La Grande in the district.

Now, talk, talk, talk about the District plan. If you need facts or anecdotal evidence in how the District will serve patrons in the county, call Kat at 963.4039 or email her at: ucldp@eoni.com Donna Patterson, Sharon Porter, Sally Mielke, and Shirley Roberts can help you with information about specific services that can be expected of a top-notch library. You know, the kind of library that our citizens deserve.

2005-09-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

A group is born! Or, the phoenix has risen!

2005-09-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Friends of Union County Libraries is beginning. After a short hiatus, the group is reforming in response to the needs of the five public libraries in Union County. The Articles of Incorporation have been drafted as well as the By-Laws. The mission was drafted yesterday to read:

To support all libraries in Union County and enhance library services for all of its residents.

Several committee people became members yesterday and paid their dues- literally! A dues schedule has been proposed and reads as follows:

Family Life Member $200

Individual Life Member $100

Business/corporate $ 50

Family $ 30

Individual $ 20

Senior/Student $ 10

Until January, the governing structure reads thus:

Diane Walker, President
Sharon Porter, VP
Arlene Young, Secretary
Donna Patterson, Treasurer

Also on deck is John Van Schoonhoven to assist with the federal tax-exempt status paperwork.

The committee divided the membership list of all potential and past members to telephone and correct the roster for telephone numbers, email (a BIG push---to save postage!), and to flush out some vibrant leadership.

Activities to support include the Young Readers' Choice Awards. Volunteers will be needed to do booktalks of the stories to readers in the libraries so that they will get excited about their choices for reading this year. See the Links section to the left of this section for more information about the titles nominated for this year.

More news to come!