Welcome to the Friends of the Libraries & Archives of Texas

3. Reading and approval of minutes from July 11, 2005, board meeting.
There was a spelling correction to the July 11 Meeting Minutes, after which the minutes were approved and sent into the Minute Book.

4. Treasurer’s Report
Darryl Tocker delivered the Treasurer’s Report in Mickey Schott’s absence.

An account has been opened with the Austin Community Foundation to accept direct donations.

5. Membership Report
84 current members, of which 13 are brand new members.

A mailing will go out in October to those whose memberships have lapsed. Then another mailing will go out to interested people to help increase membership.

6. Newsletter Report
Diana Cox, the newsletter editor, had a conflict and was unable to attend the meeting, so Erica reported that work continues on getting a newly designed newsletter printed by the end of September.

1000 newsletters in color can be printed for around $400, which is within budget. The newsletter will cover October through December, and will be mailed with donations from the Texas State Library.

Future submissions may be made to Erica and she will coordinate with Diana.

7. Old Business:
The Project Fund agreement at the Community Foundation has been signed. When donations are received and payments are made they will come out of this fund.

Kathleen Jenkins with Texas Stories reported that $6,000 has been received from Humanities Texas. Additional funds are being requested from The Summerlee Foundation.

Kathleen continues to work with radio stations on sound spots and teacher activities for grades 4 and 7. She plans to have written activities ready for January on flags.

A major insurance company is considering becoming the corporate sponsor. This is not ready for publication, however, they are asking all of the “right” questions and Kathleen continues to work with their media representative.

January 2nd is the launch date, Kathleen’s 20th anniversary.

8. New Business:
Ed Seidenberg, Assistant State Librarian, brought an emergency issue before the Board. As a result of Hurricane Rita, the Sam Houston Regional Center in Liberty is without power, and there could be a mold crisis. There is an immediate need for a generator to provide power to the building.

After much discussion on who could assist with possible contacts, Pat Smith made the motion that the Board would make available up to $5,000 on an as needed basis to rescue the documents and the Board would be contacted if the amount went over $5,000. Motion seconded, vote taken, and passed.

A $500 account has been set up with Frost Bank and the Board hopes to build on this relationship.

There was much discussion concerning membership levels and fees.

Pat Smith moved that the Friends of Libraries and Archives of Texas extend a Business Membership for of $500 to $999, and a lifetime membership for donations of $1,000 or more. Motion seconded, vote called, and passed unamiously.

Three projects needing the Boards support were presented via a handout from Peggy Rudd.

Liz Clare made a short presentation on the proposal to Produce Digital Images of the Confederate Pension Applications. This project is the most expensive. However, the public would benefit the most by having work on it completed first.

Darryl stated that the Friends group should take the lead in looking for funding sources for these projects. He suggested putting together a committee to pull together a package to be used to approach foundations to obtain funding. He will chair this committee. Dianna Dorman and Pat Smith volunteered to serve on the committee.

Pat Smith made a motion that the Friends of Libraries and Archives of Texas adopt the project of producing digital images of the Confederate Pension Applications and implement a fundraising campaign to support that project. Motion was seconded, vote called and passed unanimously.

The Texas Library Association Conference will be held in Houston on April 25 – 28, 2006. The Friends will put on a program with Kathleen and Lynn Boswell and a rural public librarian on how individuals can use their local archives - how to make findings accessible and exciting.

Possibly this session will be called “Panning for Texas History – a Gold mine in your back yard.”

This session will begin at 8:00 with a breakfast, to entice people to come out early, followed by a membership meeting.

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted –

Susan Smith Dorsey, Secretary

Attending Board members:
Ramon Noches
Sandy Melton Stephens
Dianna Dorman
Pat Smith
Darryl Tocker
Susan Smith Dorsey

Attending Guests:
Erica McKewen
Liz Demoss
Kathleen Jenkins
Liz Clare
John Anderson
Edward Seidenberg
Carolyn Foster
Tracy Kuhn