FRIENDS OF THE BUDA PUBLIC LIBRARY
ANNUAL MMEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
Sunday January 27, 2013
The meeting was called to order at 2:10 pm by President, Kathy Luckett. Approximately 20 people were in attendance
The minutes of the last meeting were presented. A motion to accept the minutes was made by
Audrey Elder, seconded by Marc Hunter and approved by voice vote.
Treasurer Pamela Nelson reviewed the 2012 Financial Report which showed a year ending balance of $23,933.85. Pam noted that, in the membership drive, $7,325 was received from 165 individual members and $8,350 was received from 16 business memberships, with the largest donation coming from the Burdine Johnson Foundation. The Friends made a donation of
$15,000 to the Library in 2012 with additional expenses for t-shirts for the library’s summer reading program, postage, printing, book storage, web site expenses and prizes for the essay and short story competition winners.
The Board recognized and thanked Athena Berreles-Luna, Jhovanny Lopez-Avila and Faith
Vasquez as the Library’s outstanding youth volunteers for 2012. Each recognized volunteer will receive a certificate of appreciation and a gift certificate. Kathy Luckett thanked the top adult volunteers, Bob Banish, Shirley Gravett, Minerva Hernandez and Amy Jensen for their dedication and Pamela also noted that Bob is the person who keeps the Library’s many computers running and problem free.
The Board also recognized and thanked those businesses that have been particularly supportive of the Library in the past year, either with a financial contribution or with in kind donations of services. Pamela Nelson reported that the Burdine Johnson Foundation donated $2,500 to the
Friends in January 2012 and another $2,500 in December. The Buda Lions Club donated $1,250;
Pedernales Electric CoOp donated $1,000; Progressive Insurance donated a matching gift of
$300 and Texas Lehigh donated $1,000. Tamarie Sayger of Usborne Books was responsible for arranging for donations totaling $1,500 from Plum Creek development, and HEB. In addition
Hays Free Press provided free event coverage in the newspaper; Tru-Lock storage gave a $750 discount against the cost of storing books for the annual book sale and Boy Scout Troup #128 provided invaluable assistance in moving books to and from the storage unit both before and after the book sale. All donors recognized at the meeting will receive certificates of appreciation from the Friends.
The President then introduced the newly elected Mayor Todd Ruge of Buda. The Mayor, a former Vice President and longtime member of the Friends of the Buda Library, spoke to the

audience of his lifelong love of books and of the importance of the Library to the community.
Mayor Ruge praised the Library staff for all they do, often with greatly less resources than they need and told all present that as long as he is on the Buda City Counsel they will be able to rely on his support.
The Mayor spoke about the current funding of the Library as well as its future funding and growth. The Mayor noted that both the City of Buda and Hays County have held the line on
Library funding in the past year but the State has cut funding. The Capital Improvement Project to build a new library is still in the City’s plan however it would probably have to be achieved through a bond issue. The Mayor noted that in order to move forward there would have to be a total of 4 council members in favor of the new Library bond issue and that he was just one of those votes so he encouraged all present to contact their elected state and local officials and express their support for such a proposal. The Mayor explained that there is a viable cost estimate of aprox. $4M+ available for a new library building and that if enough interest could be generated they might be able to get the project up for a council vote with in the year. The
Council is aware that there is land available on N. Loop 4 that would be suitable for the new
Library site. The Mayor explained that he had created a “Facebook” page for the purpose of keeping people informed about the council’s activities and he encouraged those present to “Like” the page and to stay involved in local issues and make sure that the Council hears about the community’s wish for a new library building.
Kathy Luckett introduced Marc Hunter as a member of the City Council’s Library Commission and then introduced Melinda Hodges, the Director of the Library who presented her report for
2012. Melinda was delighted to report that, for the first time ever, annual checkouts at the
Library had exceeded the 100,000 mark with a total of 122,933. The Library’s long range plan has been completed. The staff has been working with a consultant to try to optimize space within the library in order to meet the increasing demand for services. Melinda’s comments about the lack of space in the Library prompted a general discussion among those present about the creation of a fund raising committee for a new Library building. Melinda reported that for the last two years funding from the State for libraries had been terrible; many services had been completely cut, costs had been imposed for previously free services and in other cases fees for services have been increased. The Texas Library Association has declared February 12th 2013 to be “Library Virtual Action Day” in support of funding for libraries state wide. Melinda asked that all present use this day to contact their State Representatives to urge the State to better fund the library system.
Kathy Luckett then presented a $10,000 check to Melinda from the Friends in support of the
Library and explained that it was the Friends’ intention that they would be able to make an additional $5,000 gift to the Library, later in the year as the needs arise from the Library.

Kathy Luckett introduced the Friends current officers and noted that the Board’s three current
Directors, Georgie Cunningham, Allen Fisher and Darla Fowler were not able to attend the meeting and had all decided not to serve again in the coming year. Kathy thanked the outgoing
Board and the Officers for their service to the Friends and to Georgie Cunningham in particular who has been so much help over the years and has always made sure that the administration of the Friends has been done correctly. Kathy then introduced the proposed new Board of
Directors, Lea Ahmed, Juliette Miller and herself. A nomination to elect the new Board of
Directors was made by long standing friends member, Bob Elder, seconded by Neva Lockett and approved by voice vote. The Board then appointed officers for the upcoming year as follows:
President Marc Hunter
Vice President & Treasurer Pam Nelson
Secretary Juliette Miller
Kathy noted that the Board of Directors meets on the 2nd Monday of every month, at the Buda
Library, and that everyone is welcome to attend.
Neva Lockett, spoke to the assembled group to offer her thanks and appreciation to Kathy
Luckett for servings as President this past year.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 and refreshments were served.