May 8 Board Meeting Highlights

The Amigos Board of Directors held a scheduled meeting May 8, the day before the annual online Amigos Member Conference. At the meeting, the Board approved the proposed Business Plan and Fee Schedule for FY2013.

In his treasurer’s report, Amigos Treasurer Patrick Heath reported that March 2012 operations resulted in a negative variance to the FY2012 business plan, due primarily to the timing of certain Member Discount Program revenues. Heath noted that Amigos’ operations performance was offset by realized and unrealized gains in the organization’s investment portfolio for March. Overall, Heath said the combination of March revenues and net investment gains exceeded expenses for the month.

Chair Anne Prestamo reviewed committee and task force appointments for the year just concluded and thanked the Directors and Amigos Members who served on them for their service. Prestamo also reported on the April meeting of the OCLC Global Council, noting that she was elected President-Elect of the Council.

In her President and Chief Executive Officer's report, Bonnie Juergens provided Directors a number of reports to update them on the operations of the organization. She discussed ongoing preparations for the integration of the Missouri Library Network Corporation into Amigos. She stated that the Trans-Amigos Express/TExpress courier service will soon partner with the Mid-America Library Alliance/Kansas City Metropolitan Library & Information Network. This new partnership will allow participating Amigos libraries to connect with the courier service for participating libraries in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, and Iowa. This extension of service comes to current Trans-Amigos Express/TExpress participants at no additional cost.

Juergens reported that seven applications for the Board's Fellowship and Opportunity Award were submitted for funding consideration. Directors authorized full funding for one and partial funding for one application based on the recommendation of the Amigos Opportunity Award and Fellowship Selection Committee. See Amigos Board Announces 2012 Fellowship and Opportunity Award Winners in this issue.

In other business, Directors received an update from Amigos Chief Financial Officer Charles Cason on the status of the sale of the Amigos building. The next Board of Directors meeting will be in August 2012, preceded by an orientation session for new Directors the previous day.