How do we give us a hug Okay, it is my pleasure to call to order the uh Board of Library Trustees, Monterey Public Library meeting for this Thursday, January 22nd, two thousand and twenty-six.

Um we will begin with a uh roll call since I've just called the order.

So please, Julia.

Right.

Do we have the Vice Chair Petty here?

Present.

Trustee Joshi.

I'm not here at the moment.

Not at the moment.

Oh, do we have trusty moral?

Yes, we did.

Awesome.

Trustee Silveria.

All right.

And then um D.

Lormier is absent.

She has an excused absence today.

Um so the first thing on our agenda is for you two to uh make an update uh tell the board about the um friends and foundation activities.

Great.

We've been looking forward to this, and uh since we have no handouts, you're gonna have to do a really good job.

We'll do a thorough job.

And we also I did end up putting some of that together on the fundraising, so I can send it to you after the fact if you want to include anything like that.

We'll review it thoroughly.

Okay.

So I'm Shannon Connor and the current president of the Monterey uh Friends and Foundation, Monterey First, every friends and foundation.

Um I took over in July.

So um they can give a little update since then.

Um we at our July meeting actually um approved the retention of Allie as our uh fundraising consultant um as a contractor for us, and so she'll provide kind of an update and on the fund development um activities that we've been up to.

Um but we um we obviously have MC Gibbs was a big um large success.

Um large part to a lot of Ali's work in the fund development committee.

Um we have uh we've had book sales, we've had uh we also actually did a late summer appeal last um, I think it was August.

September, okay, went out September, um, which we hadn't done one of those in quite a few years, so that was good to get that out the door.

I think we'll probably have plans to do that in the spring early in the spring.

Um let's see what what other highlights obviously we have chocolate and wine coming up, that's a big another big highlight for us.

And um, I understand that in the past, uh the board of trustees has uh considered donating wine um for that event if that is an option.

We would love to have your support in that way.

Um the board members have each individually decided it's not a board activity, but you know, uh to uh donate that's something effervescent.

Well, that's the level of that's what I think as opposed to you know a uh carb um chardonnay, I'm right.

Well, as opposed to uh Zen or something.

Sure.

Um and um where should we you're gonna tell us where we should bring those bottles, correct?

I think they're uh the Wednesday crew that it accepts the books on there is also prepared to receive donations there.

They're like brand line in the museum.

They promise not to drink it.

They struggle with that but that'll be okay.

So the Wednesday of the same week as the uh events coming out is that what you're saying or any Wednesday from now until then when or it can be we have a lot of friends at the library can help get wine in the right place.

And I can bring it down to the things that take it up and you can yeah they my office used to be the room and it can still be that so I can move it me and Julie can look at down to the basement.

So yeah feel free.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And um questions after we can do it all right for what to say I would maybe do after because I think we find a lot we're gonna go through.

Yeah let them finish we won't zip on without your raising your so um and then in the last couple of months we've been working with Brian's kind of identify the specific funding needs that the friends can really help with and I think that we've identified and discussed at our last board meetings specifically were um electronic resources so uh zip books being kind of uh zip books and language learning kind of being highlighted there and as well as um potentially funding to help make this makerspace a little bit more um accessible by maybe helping to fund a part-time position for someone to staff the makerspace and then um the last piece kind of being a um uh funding for kind of some larger our author talks to be open to the community and kind of a community education but author talks with authors um that maybe would be in larger venues perhaps the conference center just to kind of make those kind of some maybe larger um community based events as well.

And there's not been uh presentations by authors from time to time already usually I think in the community room.

Yeah um and I think the bigger picture thing we're trying to discuss with Brian that is a good tea up for some of the fundraising stuff I'll go over go over yeah is if we are hoping to raise more money if that's sort of our goal here like let's elevate our fundraising what do we do then with more funds because what we were doing is these sort of reactive things or he was coming up with quarterly wish lists was which was ended up being a lot of to-dos and a lot of tasks that then went back to him and staff to figure out how to make these things happen that we just got funding for so we tried to you know strategize and back it up what is what's the on a bigger picture how could we make this more um proactive and thoughtful about where funds can be best utilized instead of 10k here 15k there kind of things and so um the categories that came up were sort of sort of the ones she was talking about are like these bigger priorities areas of continuing with collection support with zip books and e-resources author talks and in a way that's elevated so it's a way to bring new audiences to us so instead of you know right now we still we do have great author talks the library does and Fredson foundation has but um names that you might have to pay for and get a bigger venue for that bring new audiences and kind of new new friends is what you're thinking of.

And I think that's kind of what got Brian a little bit excited like how do we sort of just elevate our status in terms of what the monarch library brings to the community.

Well let me just say in that regard I don't know if anybody in this room was connected with the library back when I was on the board um years ago when um there's a um Chinese fellow who's a well-known cook is a Chan.

Something can cook or something like that.

Yeah yeah, yen, yen can cook.

Whatever uh the library sponsored him.

And you mentioned the conference center.