President Jerry Faletti called the meeting to order at 12:16 pm. Jerry Faletti, guitar; Ed Coleman, drums; Joe Kovarik, ukulete; and Bob Jones, piano led the singing of Frosty the Snowman, accompanied by Doug Hartford, piano. Jerry Faletti asked everyone to take a Moment of Silence for long-time distinguished Rotary member Howard Guthman. Nancy McKillips introduced visiting guests of Rotarians. The greeters were Deb Vos, Patrick Brown and Linda Mulhern; the scribe was Lynne Beck.
Jerry announced that Thursday’s Fellowship Breakfast will be Table Topics. He thanked the Holiday Party Planning Committee – Kristin Monpetit, Jason Dekeuster, Sherry Howe, Corey Edmonds and his wife Ann. About 100 people enjoyed a fun evening. The amount raised will be announced later. He reminded us to make our donations to the Rotary Foundation and Rotary International.
John Andrews gave a memoriam for Ron Phillippo. He was a member of Club #10 from 1978 to 2010 when he became a member emeritus. He had a 42-year career with the Boy Scouts and was the Executive Director and CEO of the Indian Head Council. He was married for 59 years to his wife Betsy.
Jay Pfaender promoted the next meeting with Tony Lloyd, author and radio host. He will talk about 10 Lessons Learned From 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs.
Nancy McKillips collected Happy Dollars from a number of Rotarians.
Todd Nicholson introduced the speaker, Beth Burns, President, Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. Her topic was Beyond Books: The Library as the Center of Our Community’s Learning Network. Beth has been President of the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library since January 2017. Previously she held leadership positions with the Minnesota Zoo, Guthrie Theater, MacPhail Center for Music, Lutheran Music Program, and Children’s Theatre Company.
Beth talked about why libraries still matter and why they are important to our future workforce. Our workforce is changing; there is a need to adapt to technology. The Saint Paul Public Libraries have a 130+ year history. In 2016, 2.2 million people used the service in person and another 3.38 million connected to libraries online. The usage is not just about books. There were 312,000 computers users and 140,000 program attendees.
Many people living in poverty don’t have access to technology at home so need to connect at the libraries. All students in the Saint Paul Public Schools (40,000+) have a library card with their lunch number. There are Homework Centers in 6 branches that provide one-on-one-mentoring and snacks after school. There are also similar summer programs. Other programs help patrons with digital literacy and tools to learn job skills (Nicholson Workplace and Innovation Center at the George Latimer Central Library).
The Friends of the Saint Paul Library, founded in 1945, is one of the most robust in the nation. Its roles are: Advocacy (educating officials), Fundraising (Opus and Olives), Programming (arts and culture), Minnesota Center for the Book (The Minnesota Book Awards), and Library Strategies Consulting Group. The Friends earn $1 million in revenue from consulting with libraries around the country.
President Jerry Faletti led Rotary members in the Four Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 1:15 pm.
Lynne Beck
Scribe