Friends of the Russell Library Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
August 6, 2026
Russell Library Annex Building

Present: Sandy Becker, Barrie Robbins-Pianka, Makiko Shinjo, Cathy Boone, Laura Taft, Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Christina Trier, and Tisha Ferguson

Recorder: Tisha Ferguson

Call to Order 10:00 AM

Approval of agenda.
Approval of June 2026 minutes.

President’s Report

● Proposed Friends stickers to use in key locations the library – a good idea from Ramona. Consider changing the graphics and color to be consistent with Friends oval sticker (TBA).
● Discussion about the need to update library staff with Friends information, including book sales, presale, how-to’s. Sandy will speak with Ramona.
● Discussion about how to move ‘2X’d” books. Research resales at the Niantic Book Barn, Bristol Worthwhile Reads.

Outreach

● Lobby tabling to start again in September, schedule TBA, possibly including evening events.
● Ask for permission to give a brief pitch for the Friends at upcoming library events.
● Discussion about soliciting sponsorships from local businesses. Start by building a list of potential contacts. Perhaps create a “We Support” sticker.

Newsletter

● The September newsletter will go out on the first of the month, ahead of the book sale.
● The feature articles will be library award, book sale announcement, and staff favorites.

Treasurer’s Report

● Book Nook income has been excellent.
● Many books have been going to buy-back companies, increasing by 19% over last year.
● New members continue to be added, increasing by 11% over last year.
● The CDs will be renewed, with Finance Committee approval.

Action Items

● For Book Sale – Randolph Road sign needs to go up.
● Develop business contacts list.
● Newsletter content- please send by August 25.

Meeting adjourned at 11:13 AM

Next Meeting: Thursday, September 3, 2026, 10:00 AM, Russell Library Annex Building

Respectfully submitted,
Tisha Ferguson

Friends of the Russell Library Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
May 7, 2026
Russell Library Annex Building

Present: Sandy Becker, Barrie Robbins-Pianka, Makiko Shinjo, Cathy Boone, Laura Taft, Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Christina Trier, and Tisha Ferguson

Recorder: Tisha Ferguson

Call to Order 10:00 AM
Approval of agenda, with additions.
Approval of April 2026 minutes.

President’s Report

● Annual Meeting plans were discussed; it is to be held on June 16th in the Hubbard Room, at 5:00, prior to the library corporation meeting. This is not a ‘voting year’.

o Light refreshments and a selection of free books will be available.
o Ramona Burkey, Library Director, will speak at the meeting.
o A postcard or simple flyer will be made available at the lobby circulation desk. All are welcome at the meeting. Sandy will ask Mary Datillo to include a notice in the library’s newsletter.
o The meeting announcement/ invitation will be emailed to all but those few members who do not have an email address, and who will be sent a ‘snail mail’ notice.
o The Annual Meeting Agenda and prior year’s minutes will be sent to members two weeks prior to the meeting.

● The Friends should advertise our book sales to homeschoolers, on social media sites and other public resources. We will find out if the library already has connections to home school groups, or through the public schools.

● June book sale planning:
o Setup should start at 6:00 PM.
o The member preview will be from 7:00-8:00 PM., and there will be a 15 book per customer limit. This will be reflected in the BookSaleFinder listing, also.
o Strategies to correct the BookSaleFInder listing were discussed.
o The elevator is in service, but should not be overloaded, so fewer carts will be brought up in each trip.
o During the sale, as customers check out, we will ask how they find out about the sales and track responses (Nb: bring clipboard).

Outreach

● Tabling is set for June, but not for July or August, and will resume in September.
●The idea of providing or selling coffee was discussed, but tabled for a subsequent discussion.
●New memberships have been generated at each outreach table session.

Newsletter

● The June newsletter will go out 2 weeks prior to the book sale. The feature article will be an interview with Ramona.
●Other items will include: a request for response from readers, a note to check out the Friends eBay sales, a plug for the Book Nook, and highlights of programs funded by the Friends.

Treasurer’s Report

● The 3 month CD matured, and not rolled over, for year-end distribution to the library.
●Discussion of reasons for this year’s increased income, likely due to the increase in book pricing.
●This year’s contribution from the Friends to the library will increase to $23,000.Discussion and new business
●A Passing of Note: library board member Greg Harris passed away recently, and the Friends sent a condolence note (Cathy).

Action Items

● Book sale advertising, reaching out to home schoolers, June newsletter.

Meeting adjourned at 11:01 AM
Next Meeting: Thursday, June 4, 2026, 10:00 AM, Russell Library Annex Building

Respectfully submitted,
Tisha Ferguson

Friends of the Russell Library Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
April 2, 2026
Russell Library Annex Building

Present: Sandy Becker, Barrie Robbins-Pianka, Makiko Shinjo, Cathy Boone, Laura Taft, Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Christina Trier, and Tisha Ferguson

Recorder: Tisha Ferguson

Call to Order 10:00 AM

Approval of agenda, with additions.
Approval of March 2026 minutes, no changes.

President’s Report

● The elevator is working now, but needs to be used carefully, not overloaded.
●Discussion of presale listing in Booksalefinder; limit number of books per customer.
●Add more publicity: Patch advertising of book sales, press release to Middletown Press, new ad in AnyBookSale website.
●To allow more setup time, starting at 6:00 PM, we will shift the presale to 7:00-8:00 PM.
●Confirmed annual meeting date of June 16th at 5:00 PM, prior to the Russell Library Corporation meeting at 6:00 PM.

Outreach

● The next monthly lobby tabling day is April 11. Candy or treats will be provided. Tabling will continue in May and June, but not in the summer.

Newsletter

● The newsletter will go out two weeks prior to the June book sale.
●The main feature is an interview with another library staff member(Ramona?).

Treasurer’s Report

● The March book sale was very good
●The Book Nook sales continue to be strong.
●Friends of CT Library meeting discussion of insurance; not specific to the Friends.

Discussion and new business

● Possible Friends brochure about bequest giving.
●Annual meeting plans; meeting to follow library corporation meeting. Possible showing of a short film?

Action Items

● New advertising – Tisha
●Lobby table volunteers – Jeff and Cathy

Meeting adjourned at 10:45 AM

Next Meeting: Thursday, May 7, 2026, 10:00 AM, Russell Library Annex Building

Respectfully submitted,
Tisha Ferguson

Friends of the Russell Library Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
March 5, 2026
Russell Library Annex Building

Present: Sandy Becker, Barrie Robbins-Pianka, Makiko Shinjo, Cathy Boone (calling in), Laura Taft, Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Christina Trier, and Tisha Ferguson

Recorder: Tisha Ferguson

Call to Order 10:00 AM

Approval of agenda, with additions.
Approval of February 2026 minutes, with changes.

President’s Report

● Update about the elevator repairs, and discussion of plans depending on its availability at the time of the book sale. Dave thinks it will be repaired in time for the sale.
●The volunteer schedule for the book sale will go out, as usual.
●Discussion of extra advertising (paid) in Booksalefinder.
●Discussion of financial information on the web page; specific information will not be included in the minutes or in general language on the page.

Outreach

● The monthly lobby tabling days are continuing, and the volunteers are organized for the next
several events.
●New members have been added at each event.
●Discussion of possibly offering coffee for sale in the lobby on tabling Saturdays. Sandy will discuss with Ramona.

Newsletter

● The newsletter is ready to go out two weeks prior to the book sale.
●The main feature is an interview with Amy Slowik about the Children & Family programs at the library.
●The Book Sale notice will include the featured special collection, Modern Poetry, and the invitation for members to attend the pre-sale.
●There will be a question or invitation to comment that readers can respond to- about books that they have found at a Friends book sale.

Treasurer’s Report

● The membership renewals continue to come in, and we have 2 additional new members.
●The Book Nook sales continue to be strong.
●The CD (s) have been rolled over.
●The Square terminal is out of warranty, and Laura will buy a new one before the book sale.

Discussion and new business

● Discussion about updating the Friends web page to be more positive, and less boring!
●Also, to add a section with the most recent newsletter and a link to subscribe.
●December book sale discussion. It will be mid-week, can we stay open later than usual? Sandy to check with Ramona.
●Proposed annual meeting date of June 16th, following the Russell Library Corporation meeting.

Action Items

● Sandy to confer with Ramona about offering coffee in the lobby and details about the December book sale hours.
●Planning for the book sale to go ahead as usual, assuming that the elevator will be in service.
●Tisha and Sandy to confer with Mary Datillo about updating the Friends web page.

Meeting adjourned at 10:48 AM

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 2, 2026, 10:00 AM, Russell Library Annex Building

Respectfully submitted,
Tisha Ferguson

Friends of the Russell Library Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
February 5, 2026
Russell Library Annex Building

Present: Sandy Becker, Barrie Robbins-Pianka, Makiko Shinjo, Cathy Boone, Laura Taft,
Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Christina Trier, and Tisha Ferguson
Recorder: Tisha Ferguson

Call to Order 10:00 AM
Approval of agenda, with additions.
Approval of January 2026 minutes.

President’s Report
● The approved book sale dates for 2026 are: March 27-28, June 12-13, September 11-12.
● The Finance Committee has approved the library’s wish list for this year, and has approved the increased donation from the Friends.
● The request was made to provide the library’s annual wish list to all the Executive Committee members, with some context about how it is developed by the library staff.
● The Finance Committee will resume in-person meetings, schedule TBA.
● The 2026 November/December book sale dates are not decided, due to the conflict with the library’s scheduled rehearsal and performance dates of the holiday play. Sandy will meet with Ramona to discuss, and determine if we can find alternate location or dates.

Outreach
● The monthly lobby tabling days have been successful. The February and March dates are scheduled, and April-June will be set up soon.
● One goal of the table events is to highlight the Book Nook, with free book coupons and signage.
● Volunteer opportunity emails sent to the Friends at large, to encourage members who are not active to get involved by doing a short stint at a table.

Newsletter
● The next issue will go out about two weeks prior to the March book sale.
● One feature will be an interview with a library staff member.
● The Book Sale notice will include featured or special collections.
● There will be a question or invitation to comment that readers can respond to.
● Content from the Executive Committee members is due by March 1st.

Treasurer’s Report
● The membership renewals continue to come in, and we have 10 new members.
● The CDs have been renewed for 3 months, to allow for the year end library donation.

Discussion and new business
● Discussion of ways to increase sales, and how to advertise special collections.
● Discussion about classified sections and pricing in Booksalefinder.
● Discussion about looking into the Cheshire Friends bookstall discards. Do we need to bring in more books? How else might we do that?
● Initial planning for the Annual Meeting, and proposed date of 6/16th.

Action Items
● Tisha will work on the next newsletter.
● Volunteers will get in touch with the Cheshire Friends about looking at their sale discards.
● Jeff will organize the tabling volunteers and setup.

Meeting adjourned at 11:05 AM
Next Meeting: Thursday, March 5 2026, 10:00 AM, Russell Library Annex Building

Respectfully submitted,
Tisha Ferguson

Friends of the Russell Library Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
January 8, 2026
Russell Library Annex Building

Present: Sandy Becker, Makiko Shinjo, Cathy Boone, Laura Taft,
Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Christina Trier, and Tisha Ferguson
Recorder: Tisha Ferguson

Call to Order 10:00 AM
Approval of agenda, with additions of outreach and newsletter reports
Approval of December 2025 minutes

President’s Report
● The approved book sale dates for 2026 are: March 27-28, June 12-13, September 11-12.
● The monthly lunch at a downtown spot for sorters and volunteers will be on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, from 11:30-12:45. The next one will be held this month, on January 21st, at Brew Bakers.
● An acquaintance of Laura’s has forwarded an offer of a modern poetry collection, which will be arriving on Saturday, Jan. 10th in the morning. Volunteers will be on hand to accept it. Outreach
● There are 3 monthly lobby tabling days scheduled in January, February and March. Two ‘table sitter’ volunteers have signed up for each event. Jeff will be sure that volunteers are familiar with the ‘how-to’s’, and arrange for the supplies, etc. Newsletter
● The next issue will go out about two weeks prior to the March book sale. Ideas for new content include member interviews, photos and notes from the library history vault (on the website), history of the Friends. Mack volunteered to try to get in touch with some of the Friends past members. Another idea is a survey, to let members share their ideas and thoughts. Possibly a ‘share your story’ feature.
● Content from the Executive Committee members should be sent to Tisha by March 1st.

Treasurer’s Report
● 135 membership renewal letters were mailed out, and approximately 50% have renewed so far.
There was discussion about the tracking of dues payment dates.
● Discussion continued about using Zeffe Software vs. Paypal and /or Square for both membership dues, the Book Nook, and book sales. The comparative fees, ease of use, and buyer’s comfort with the software were the issues. The decision was made to stay with our current PayPal and Square methods of accepting payment.
● The current Square device is no longer supported, and the decision was made to replace it with a new one before the March book sale.
● The decision was made to recommend to the Finance Committee that the Friends’ annual contribution to the library this year be increased.

Discussion and new business
● Discussion of ways to increase sales, at the Book Nook and at the big book sales, and to advertise special collections. Are there alternatives to BookSaleFinder, or other places to list our sales? Other ways to find buyers for special collections?

Action items
● Tisha will work on the next newsletter.
● Jeff will organize the tabling volunteers and setup.

Meeting adjourned at 11:00AM
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 5, 2026, 10:00 AM, Russell Library Annex Building

Respectfully submitted,
Tisha Ferguson