Last night we had teleconference with members from the Red Cliff board. The people that were able to join us were Sue DePerry, Rene Lushko, and Loretta Gokee, attending on our side of the line was Louise, Michele, Christina, Cat, Gabe, Roy, Christina and me (Alissa).
Before the meeting started we outlined some questions on the board that we wanted to address, these included: What is their interest in the library? What does success look like? Who is the organizing contact? What would they like from us? What would it mean to have the building open? We also planned to ask if they would like to participate in our trips and if we could have a regular meeting time by phone.
To begin the conversation, it was suggested that the library before it could be open needed to be painted and the books dusted and shelf read. But before this can begin, they decided that they needed to have a real board meeting with all the people they thought might be interested in contributing in some way to the library.
There were many names thrown around and I think Sue, Rene and Loretta will be contacting about 7 more people. Included in this list is Sister Barb, who actually has the key to the library and I think could possibly be a good contact.
Last night was an opportunity to get blood flowing back into the project. Everyone sounded very enthusiastic and they were all ready to get started. From what I gathered, the next step I believe is for the board members to meet as a whole and then contact us with their plans.
The most important thing gained from this exchange was a start to understanding the role that everyone is playing in this process. Hopefully, when we speak again the board they will have decided on a person to take the lead, or at least, divied up some tasks to be accomplished. As far as our participation goes, I think that we are expected to be supportive and offer suggestions.
All and all the meeting was positive and hopefully it will be a new beginning for the Red Cliff library.
Teleconference with Red Cliff Library Board Members 2/19/09