[Bookstoprisoners] Report on Steering Meeting

[Barbara kessel]

i attended a two and a half hour steering committee meeting last night
and was the only B2P person there. I will report on just what you all
have possible interest in.

A)The first hour plus was a conference call with three people in
Baltimore from a group called The Alternative Press Center, publisher
of the Alternative Press index, an archive available in print and
electronic versions in some university and public librairies through
OCLC's First Search." Another member of their group is already living
and working here. The proposal is for three of them to relocate here
with their library collection to the first floor of the IMC with
shelves built and added where there currently is a libriary of sorts.
they woud also rent an office space to do their indexing and they
would staff the librairy a great many hours during the week, giving
the IMC as a whole kind of a reception presence. it is not a done deal
but will be determined by September 1 and if decided, it would be
completed by October 1. (They would not be taking up any of our
space.)

B) The IMC proposes that each working group have a very occasional
cleanup project in which they invite other working groups to
participate with them to get to know one another and also get the
place more spiffy. I asked for an example and got this one: B2P could
invite particularly the Biicycle Project, the School for Designing a
Society, our proximate neighbors and any others in the building to
join us at a certain weekend time and clean up the hallway outside our
door. I think cleaning includes possible painting, lighting, anything
to make it attractive.

C) Show bookings are booming so that is bringing in lots of dough.

D) The School for Designing a Society has rented the Sun Room four
days a week starting in September for an actual school. This impacts
our BOOK SALE PLAN. Danielle said that we could have it in October (I
said that was when i thought we would be having a book sale) only
Friday through Sunday.) If we wanted it for longer, we would have to
go into the show room. she also said that THE CALENDAR WAS FILLING UP
FOR OCTOBER SO WE HAD BETER GET OUR REQUEST IN PRONTO.
I AM THINKING IT MIGHT NOT BE PRUDENT TO WAIT UNTIL OUR MEETING ON
AUGUST 11, so perhaps April could run an e-mail decision-making
process to get us a date and place to request ASAP.

E) I announced that we are having the national conference in the IMC
on November 2-3-4. I believe that Suzanne has already reserved the
spaces. I prepared them for the letter on housing and money that they
would (most of them) be receiving imminently - Keystaff will also be
getting it within hours. There was a lot of interest and some
questions during and after the meeting. A lot of people are proud of
what we do, how we do it, how much we do and consider Books to
Prisoners the crown jewel of the IMC!

Post-meeting, I was called over to meet with the tech guy for the IMC
(Dan something) who had attended the grant writing meeting. So also
did Roger Epperson of the Finance Committee of the IMC and our Leslie
and Yvette and myself. The IMC would like to write a grant request
including any of the constitutents that want money because only one
per 501(3) c is allowed, so Dan was asking me if the B2P would like to
request any. The grand total is $5,000 and change. The WRFU wants a
major amount to complete the fund for a higher tower which would mean
that people could actually hear WRFU. I told him that I would pass
this on to Leslie and all and that Deb and I and Yvette had discussed
informally Thursday afternoon what we might ask for ****We thought a
request for $500 for consumable books and magazines (and some popular
paperbacks) for the county jails would work. Limitations are that the
$ must be spent to enhance the community of Eastern Illinois (not the
state of Illinois) and that it cannot be spent on operating expenses
(such as postage). So what do you all think?

Please weigh in on anything here - to the list. I am just the mail messenger.
Barbara Kessel