Friends of the Alameda Free Library Board - Friends of the Alameda Free Library

2019 FAL Officers

President	Karen Butter
Vice President	Kumar Fanse
Secretary	David Beall
Treasurer	Bill Gibbs

2019 FAL Directors

Becky Cyr	Luzanne Engh	Marlene Grcevich	Karen Manuel
Honora Murphy	Billy Reinschmiedt	Carole Robie	Karen Roemer
Josephine Sam	Eileen Savel	Doris Ung	Jo Winzenread

The Board meets the fourth Monday of each month except December, at
6:30 p.m. in the Family Room, Main Library. The public is welcome.

Responsibilities of Each FAL Board Member

Advocate for the Alameda Free Library
Attend Board meetings
Participate in discussions
Support Board decisions, plans and policies
Work to develop long range Board plans
Serve on committee(s) as liaison or chair; estimated to be 1-5 hours/week
Make an annual financial donation to FAL that is significant to you
Participate in FAL fundraising events/campaigns.

The FAL Bylaws are available in PDF form by clicking here.

Board president’s report for August

FAL is looking for ways to encourage those who receive a copy of the monthly newsletter by mail to switch to the online edition. A request will appear in the newsletter and the Board discussed contacting people by phone to let them know of the option/change.

The Board was very pleased to welcome Sita Peddada as book sale manager. She will be working closely with Peg Rosen, the former book sale manager who did an outstanding job. To distribute the responsibilities, specific tasks were created and individuals have volunteered for them. Sita looks forward to the challenge and the Board is excited to work with Sita as she learns the job. An ongoing issue for the book sale is how to inform Alameda teachers of the special Friday afternoon sale before doors open to the public. Board members will contact the school district again to explore ways to reach the teachers.

The Café has contracted with new vendors for a number of products and welcomes comments.

For the first year Live @ the Library tickets were sold out by September 1. The Alameda Journal had a wonderful front-page article about the series and the artists, but no tickets were available by the time the article ran resulting in a few unhappy readers. The Board expressed strong appreciation to Library Director Jane Chisaki for her outstanding support.

Another program to honor Black History Month is in development. The theme for February 2, 2020 will be Voices from Black Youth with a moderator and panel. The Committee is working to identify panelists and will engage a videographer to record the program. As an added feature there will be a Docent program on February 10, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, 1963-1983.

--Karen Butter, FAL president