The Friends of Maxwell held a regular meeting on Tuesday, September 3rd. Secretary, Linda D. chaired the meeting. The Board of Trustees president, and the Board's liaison to the Friends' group attended. Fundraising was discussed, along with the Board's plan to install a new electronic sign out in front of the library.
Fundraising is traditionally done by a library's Friends' group. (Refer to page 107 of the Handbook for Library Trustees of New York State.)
The Board will be going ahead with their own fundraising plans, beginning with a Basket Raffle in October or November. Friends' members are concerned that patrons will become raffle 'weary', and be confused about who is doing each raffle. In order to not have overlapping fundraisers, will the Friends give up fundraising? The Board of Trustees already holds an annual fund drive, and the Library has an ongoing book sale everyday. The Friends of Maxwell group hasn't had a big book sale in years, due to lack of storage space, and the decrease in size of the Community Room when the Library was renovated.
The Friends members who were at the meeting also voiced their concern about the need for an outdoor electronic sign for Library. The Board's objective is to increase the number of people coming to the Library. The Friends members do not feel that foot traffic would be increased. They pointed out that Fairmount, Marcellus, Solvay, and Onondaga Free Libraries do not have electronic signs. The Friends' members feel that the cost of approximately $30,000.00 of donations and taxpayer money to purchase and install an electronic sign could be spent more wisely. Cleaning the outside of the building, replacing the east and west windows, installing a sign more in keeping with the style of the Library, and adding landscape lighting, are Friends' priorities. The Methodist church next door often puts up Library messages on its electronic sign.
The active Friends of Maxwell Memorial Library have voted unanimously to not support Maxwell Memorial Library's purchase and installation of an electronic sign any way.
The group regrets that it cannot, in good conscience, support this project.
