OZARK-DALE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

January 24, 2018

Members Present: Marie Black

Dr. Imogene Mixson
Marian Jenkins
Beverly Raley
Jewnita Clark

Also Present: Sandra Holmes, Library Director

Jennifer Simpson, Administrative Assistant
Chris Wisham, FOL President
Ron Steensland, Consultant

Marie called the meeting to order at 9:10am.

Minutes from November. Imogene moved to have the November minutes approved and
Beverly seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed.

Circulation/Financial Reports. Per the Director’s reports, circulation is still down. We are in
the process of deleting material. Financially, we seem to be doing good, we received money from
the County and Mr. Marx.

Old Business.
A. Library Update. Stocks are up.
B. Dialogues on the Experience of War. We had a magnificent program the other night.
We had two General officers and 19 participants in attendance. We will have another
discussion February 8th at 6:30 p.m.
C. Resolution of Auman Account. We will have a meeting with Mr. Auman’s attorney on
February 5th at 9 a.m. We will meet at City Hall on the second floor. Sandra will mail out
a copy of the letter from Mr. Auman’s attorney to all board members.

New Business.
A. Election of Officers. Marie Black will continue as Chairman; Marian Jenkins, Vice
Chairman; Dr. Imogene Mixson, Treasurer; Jewnita Clark, Secretary; Beverly Raley,
Liaison. Beverly moved to approve the election and Marian Seconded. All were in favor
and the motion passed.
B. Selection of Architect. The first architect had been ill and the second Firm had only done
a school library, but no stand-alone Library. The board prefers the firm of J Michael Lee.
They were discussed in depth. Ron had a two and a half hour meeting with Chad and
Joie on January 23rd and he thinks they are a good group. They proposed a fee of 6% and
the board will usually sign three contracts, including engineering. This firm constructed
the Dothan Library. Ron also spoke with an attorney who is willing to review contracts
for us at no cost, but they do advise to have a business attorney review the AIA contract.
Marie stated that if chosen, Chad Brown is ready to move forward. Based on a review of
 architecture firms, a motion to hire the firm, J. Michael Lee, was made by Marian and
was seconded by Dr. Imogene Mixson. All were in favor and the motion passed.
C. Friends of the Library Annual Luncheon. It will be held on January 29th at Noon.
Everyone bring a covered dish. Former Mayor of Dothan, Mike Schmitz, will be our
guest speaker and we will set up our recording equipment to record his speech.
D. Donations for fund Raisers. Bob Harry has donated a travel trailer and two motorcycles.
Sandra suggested to hold a silent auction to meet Alabama law.
E. Wiregrass United Way Annual Report. Sandra is now preparing.
F. Go Fund Me. The account is not doing well so we will put it on all media outlets and
Facebook. We are also setting up a direct pay (PayPal) option, therefore a PayPal
account needs to be set up. Michael needs to place the link to PayPal on the Library’s
website and Facebook page.
G. Building Fund. Imogene suggested having a handout to pass out giving a brief
description of how things are going with the Library. We could possibly hand out small,
self-addressed envelopes for people wanting to help with the building fund. Marion
wants to drive people to the website, since it’s always changing and doesn’t cut into
funding.
H. Major donors. Jennifer is keeping a list of donors. We need to invite Mary Alice Veal
to come to the next board meeting. She could advise on increasing donors to contribute
new Library funds.
I. Sustainability. We should immerse ourselves in sustainability. We need to get a
commitment from the City and County. We should also have a legal review of
architectural contracts.
J. Wiregrass Foundation. The grant request for the June meeting should be ready no later
than 3/1. We are hoping for a 3:1 match. We need to know how large the building will
be before the June meeting. The consultant fee, including traveling, is approximately
$27,500 and the architect fee is approximately $20,000. Prior to the June meeting we
will have another meeting with the architects. We must find out how much their fee will
be. We need to have a clear understanding of what the Foundation will and will not fund.
K. American Library Meetings. Ron suggested Sandra, the Board, himself and the
architects should attend the American Library Meetings in New Orleans, LA. The
Library and Architects could share traveling expenses.
L. Documents for Ron. He will need statistics on usage and also circulation. We will
follow up with Mayor Bunting regarding the bondage contract he previously agreed on.
We need to make sure he and the County Commission sign the bond for construction.
M. New Advisory Board. It’s critical to choose 10 key people for this new Board. Marie
will ask Mayor Bunting again to appoint members. Ideal member should be highly
visible with good connections. We should look at people who are already donors. We
need to keep Mayor Bunting and Mark Blankenship on board. Places we can check for
possible members are the Hospital, Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, Retired Teachers,
Superintendent of Dale County and Ozark City Schools along with the Daleville City
Superintendent. We need this board to show we are broad based to serve our community.
 N. Finalize Land Donation. Marie will contact Mr. Brauer regarding land for the Library.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:50am, and the next meeting will be held on February
14, 2018.

Respectfully submitted by _________________

Approved by Secretary _________________