MEETING MATTERS
FORBUSH MEMORIAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES TUESDAY, SEPT. 4, 2007
Compiled by Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Reporter

Top Story:

The trustees discussed the status of the goals they set in April including issues of how to start a fundraising campaign to help shift some of the expenditures away from the tax revenues as well as how to increase young adult participation in the library.

Library Trustee Cindy Hastings-Brutvan has suggested creating a library fundraising campaign to help offset some of the library costs. She said she doesn't know which costs she thinks should be offset by the fundraising and said that the committee should be take that on as a separate discussion.

"I think in good faith we need to step up and show we can bring money into this library," she said.

Trustees talked about a variety of possibilities but did not make any firm decisions or take any steps to decide.

Ideas included building repairs, adult and young programming or adding new programs to the library.

Library Trustee Beth D'Onfro suggested possibly teaming up with the schools to introduce the online reference materials that library users can access. She said in a seminar she attended, many people said students don't know how to do research when they enter college.

"We'd be absolutely delighted to be able to work with the schools in a school lab setting," Howe-Soper said. "We do a lot of one on one mentoring."

D'Onfro said this may also be something that should be offered to adults in the community.

D'Onfro suggested starting a research mentors program as a chance and away to have high school students help younger students learn how to research from library books and on the computer resources.

She suggested Howe-Soper could possibly look into creating a board in the young adults room that would allow readers to post their own reviews of books.

"I think we do really well in stressing early literature," she said.

Her goal is to increase the participation at the library of young adults in middle and high schools as well as the college-aged adults in towns.

In Other News:

• Trustees voted to accept a painting from a local artist but also voted to defer taking possession of it until the building has been renovated.

• Some of the trustees updated the other members about the successful move of the historical collection s out of the Eloranta Room and into storage at the Town Hall.