Friends of the Oak Park Public Library

Call to order & roll call

• Present in Person: Russ Glidden, Beth Streit, Chet Taranowski, Eric Bryning, Robert Becker, Diane Cranford, Nancy Hartman, Kat Bell, Anne Polaski, Mika Yamamoto and Suzy Antell
• Present on Zoom: Nancy Clark and Leila Massouh
• Call to Order: Russ called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

Approval of minutes

• Review of October 20, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes: Nancy moved, Diane seconded and all approved the October 20 Board Meeting Minutes. 

Reports

Library Board Report

Suzy reported that the Library has hired a new Director of Communications, Alexandra Skinner who transitioned on January 5. The Library has also concluded interviews for a Director of Anti-Racism and Equity. The position of Director of Adult Services is also open. Twenty-two thousand of the $23,000 gifted by the Friends in 2025 has been spent so far.  Some of those funds were spent on a successful Kwanzaa program which was well attended. 

Standing reports

Membership

Chet presented a draft letter and survey to be sent to members and potential members amongst our volunteers. The Board gave feedback on the letter and survey. Chet will revise both based on the feedback. The Board also discussed membership management and donation processes. We agreed that membership renewals would follow a calendar year schedule, with new members who join after the annual Book Fair receiving an 18-month membership. Kat receives emails from Square when someone pays for membership and that information is tracked in a spreadsheet. Kat will share this spreadsheet with Beth and Eric who will track new memberships and give that information to Chet. The Board also discussed adding a survey link to the donation page, but determined this wasn’t feasible with the current Square payment system.

Finance & Budget

Leila reported that the Friends’ checking account has a balance of $50,212.50 and the money market has a balance of $40,814.99. Kat raised concerns that the Square account does not accept any money right now. Denise’s name is still on the account and she will need to change that. Leila should be on the account. The Board agreed to follow up with Denise regarding this issue. 

2026 Disbursement to the library

Beth moved, Diane seconded and all approved a $25,000 annual disbursement to the Library. 

Folk Music Series

Nancy Clark provided an update on upcoming concerts, including one on January 29th and negotiations for March and fall events.

Between the Lines, ideas for next issue, target date to send out

Diane has had a hard time finding a volunteer willing to be profiled for the newsletter. The Board decided to profile a Board member instead. Eric will be profiled for the next newsletter. Chet will interview Nancy Clark and Russ will contribute an article on the history of friends of the library groups. We will target the release of the newsletter to about a week before the spring social. 

Permanent name badges for board members

These will cost $15 each. The Board has already approved the design. We will postpone ordering them until after the election in March. 

Raising prices on any/all categories for 2026:  final decision

The Board has decided not to raise prices on children’s books, CDs or DVDs. However, we will raise prices on mass market paperbacks (from 50 cents to a dollar), trade paperbacks (from one dollar to two dollars) and hardback books (from two dollars to three dollars). Bob moved, Diane seconded and all approved this new pricing structure. Russ and Anne will work on a press release on the new pricing structure. 

Merchandise

• Permanent t-shirt for year-long sales: update – Russ had a meeting with Suzy and Gabriela about our permanent t-shirt. Gabriela has volunteered to design the permanent t-shirt and will have a prototype ready for the next meeting. 
• Baseball caps: update – Russ showed the Board four designs. Diane moved, Nancy seconded and all approved ordering 150 of the Front Runner design in navy blue. 
• 2026 T-shirt: Eric showed the Board 14 different designs (labeled A, B, B2, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, J2, K and L). The consensus was that we should order design G, which was a dark purple. Eric will finalize the design soon.
• Replenishing stock of other items for sales:  Russ suggested we postpone ordering totes until after the Book Fair. Diane suggested we order slightly bigger magnets. Jennie is working on magnets. Diane also suggested ordering vinyl stickers.  Eric will look into this.

Annual Planning

The annual meeting is on March 16. At the annual meeting we set yearly goals. The Board reviewed last year’s goals, noting accomplishments such as increased public awareness, formalizing relationships with the Library’s CEO, and establishing rules for conduct at the Book Fair. We agreed to continue several initiatives, including recruiting new board members, evaluating committee needs, and developing membership perks.  Chet will send out notices of the annual meeting to members not more than 60 days or less than 5 days before the meeting. 

Board Members whose terms expire at the 2026 annual meeting

• Bob Becker
• Diane Cranford
• Russ Glidden
• Nancy Hartman
• Leila Massouh
• Anne Polaski
• Denise Roser

Bob, Diane, Russ, Anne, Leila and Denise have expressed interest in running for another term. Nancy will let the group know before the next meeting if she will run again. Officer positions will be determined after Board members are elected.

Adjournment

Kat moved, Anne seconded and all approved. 

Meeting adjourned at 8:14 p.m.

Next Board Meeting:  March 16, 2026  

Respectfully submitted,

Beth Streit