Present: Jamie Matczak, NFLS, Lois Mauermann, Caroline Haskin, Kira Shockley, and Jennifer Thiele

President Haskin called meeting to order at 3:08 p.m. Mauermann made the motion and Shockley seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the December 2008 meeting. The minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report was accepted. Mauermann said there was not much to report. Mauermann put together the expenses over the past few years; NEWIL is spending about $2,000 more than bringing in. Mauermann will have to transfer money from the Merrill Lynch account to the NEWIL bank account. There was a discussion on what to do given today’s economic situation. Haskin suggested we look at the net lender amounts and see if NEWIL should continue to pay the net lenders. The net lenders would need to keep an account of how much borrowing they did. Haskin consulted with Howe about how it was handled in the past, NEWIL paid net lenders around $1500 for the year. There was also a discussion on what other groups such as Fox Valley Library Council and the group in Milwaukee does.

This is NEWIL’S 40-year anniversary. We need to think about our long-range plans. Mauermann mentioned some of the things that NEWIL did in the past such as ILL, courtesy cards, etc. and indicated that NEWIL needs to figure out how we will continue to spend the money and serve the community. NEWIL’S mission is to ensure cooperation, enhance sharing, and provide educational opportunities.  Some of the questions raised were, should we get rid of or cut back on CE grants? What about the net lending fees? Do we need to get to a point where income and expenses are the same? Should NEWIL disband? Should we evaluate net lenders? Cut back on WLAF donation? It was suggested that we survey the membership. Should we include this in the membership renewal forms?  Matczak will send out membership letters and survey on what the NEWIL membership wants to do.

Meetings for next time: April 2, 2009 at 3:00, June 11, 2009, August 13, 2009, October 8, 2009 at Mulva Library 40th anniversary party at St. Norbert College, December 10, 2009 location TBA.
Coordinator’s Report   Matczak distributed the calendars of activities for NFLS. Sara Houton-Jan Digital Services Manager at San Jose Public Library will present the March 25 event. She writes the Librarian in Black blog. The DPI Adolescent Literacy workshop is partnering with OWLS and NFLS. Invitations are going out as part of a statewide initiative. Another program on legal issues will be held in April, and the CCBC Choices in May.
Membership letters will go out this month.

 Meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m.

Submitted by Felice E. Maciejewski