At 12:05 President Carol rang the bell to open the meeting. Sharon Chambers-Gordon, Windermere, provided the invocation.  Her message reflected on her experience in London seeing the signs “Mind the Gap” when exiting trains. She thoughtfully shared with the club how it reminded her that as Rotarians we need to remember to mind the gap in rendering the best of who we are and always render the gap for those who are in need. Evelyn Ryberg, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, led us in the National Anthem and the 4 Way Test.   Kirsten Willis  and Diane Kelleher, Columbia Bank brought mics as members with guests stood to be introduced.  Chris Serface introduced his partner, Jeremy Foglequist introduced his oldest daughter, and both our exchange students, Nicolas and Gabriel, introduced themselves and shared how much they have appreciated all the friendly people. President Carol introduced Dean Carrell to present our Program – Jaime Prothro from the Pierce County Library System. Jaime is from Kansas and in charge of Library Customer Service. Dean described how Jaime is like the coach of the Pierce County Library team. Jaime explained how the library system is a space that is open to everyone and how they are working to adjust in changing times. They work within a strategic framework that focuses on three areas: Learning, Enjoyment and Community. To support LEARNING they help people navigate, get unstuck from finding information, stay interested and always be a neutral space for all. For kids they offer programs such as STEM, Science To Go, Life After High School, Tools for Students including financial literacy and homework help and Baby Books To Go. For adults they offer Lynda.com, Book a Librarian, Microsoft Academy, Universal Class, Get Smart, Pronunciator and a testing and education reference center. For businesses they offer resources in demographics, business ratios and business plan information. In 2017 they helped over 200 businesses start up in Pierce County. To support  ENJOYMENT they work to help people find joy and live a balanced life. To support COMMUNITY they have programs to connect community with things such as Pierce County Reads. They work to provide access to all for voting in elections. One of the ways they work to strengthen the community is with a game called Our Community Adventure. A question from a Rotarian addressed the homeless population. Jaime indicated the library system is welcoming of all and has partnered with various agencies to provide resources to our homeless population. She also emphasized there is a code of conduct that applies to all. President Carol thanked Jaime and told her that we will be making a donation in her name to the Tacoma Rotary Foundation. Gifts to our foundation help support Literacy Efforts. We invest in programs like Read2Me and Reach out and Read as well as supporting Little Free Libraries. We are so proud to support the importance of Literacy here in Pierce County. President Carol invited Carolyn Weyrick, Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children, forward as our meeting sponsor. Carolyn thanked Jim Whitacre for paying for the sponsorship and the club for their generous support of LDC. She invited the club to the Breakfast supporting the Lindquist Dental Clinic. The Lindquist Dental Clinic has provided over $600,000 in care through 41,600 dental visits.   President Carol congratulated Anniversaries:  Cosette Pfaff, Clay Zhang, Joy Vivar-Beeks, Ali Criss, Eric Lind, Nurhan Karakas, Dane Meyer, John Winskill, Linn Larsen.  President Carol invited Maria Harlow forward to introduce our newest member David Setford. David is the Executive Director of  the Tacoma Art Museum. This is his 3rd Rotary Club he has been a member of. He belonged in upstate NY and Santa Fe. He loves to meet people and to give back to his community. It was suggested the Grants Committee may be a good fit! Carol presented a certificate and pin. President Carol invited Carolyn Weyrick forward for a Pandaka Graduation. Carolyn recognized: Sharon Chambers Gordon, Sabrina Ahrens, Jan & Skip Anderson and Alex Davis.  Mark Anderson came forward for a paid announcement. Mark let the club know he will be participating in the Habitat for Humanity fundraiser and repelling off the Murano Hotel and he asked for the club’s support. Maria Harlow made an announcement for Firesides scheduled on October 22nd.  She also celebrated and congratulated members with 100% Engagement! Dean Carrell made an announcement for the Literacy Committee Book Drive. He let the club know September is Literacy Month and that we hope to earn an award for reaching the Governor's literacy goals again. We have a goal of collecting 600 Children's Books. There will be a basket in the back of the room for a few weeks and everyone was encouraged to donate. Michelle Roberts announced the social events coming up: November 5th will be a Ladies Night Out, December 5th will be an event hosted by Carlyn Roy, December 12th will be Thursdays at 5 at Ben Bridge and in the New Year there will be a bowling event.  President Carol announced that next week we will be calling for nominations for our Officer Nominating Committee and our Board Nominating Committee.  We will be looking for the names of 4 candidates to serve on the Officer Nominating Committee and 6 candidates who will serve on the Board Nominating please contact the office if you are interested in being nominated, or ask a friend to nominate you on the 26th. She reminded everyone that Club Service is an important part of being a member, please carefully consider if you are willing to serve the club as an officer or a board member.  President Carol then asked for True Confessions. Marsha Burns hiked 70 miles in 8 days, Corey Hjalseth went fly fishing with his wife and is excited to be expecting another grandchild, Larry Treleven caught 100 lbs of fish in Alaska, John West shared his experience of scoring a 89 yard touchdown playing football in 1956 for the Scofield Barracks against Hawaii, Peter Darling shared his joy for volunteering in Read2Me and encouraged the club to participate, Betty Capestany shared that she won the lottery to run in the Tokyo Marathon! President Carol extended thanks to Sharon for the reflection, Evelyn for the music and Carolyn for being our meeting sponsor. She congratulated our new member David Setford as well as the Pandaka’s who graduated. She also reminded members of 3 years and less to join in a "Coffee with Carol" next week.   Please join us next week or hear from our wonderful exchange students Gabriel Bringman and Nicolas Galy as well as our returning student Rizley Cox.  President Carol ended the meeting with a reminder that it’s time to go out and be People of Action.