North Carolina Library Association
Minutes of the Executive Board
April 16, 1999, Benton University Center
Wake Forest University
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 by President Gass.
Attending: Beverley Gass, Al Jones, Diane Kester, Vanessa Work-Ramseur, Martha Davis, Teresa McManus, Bobby Wynn, Mary Horton, Rhoda Channing, Phillip Banks, Carolyn Price, Kevin Cherry, Patrick Valentine, Ross Holt, George Taylor, Dave Fergusson, Gwen Jackson, Catherine Wilkinson, Frances Lampley, Ann Burlingame, Tracy Babiazs, Susan Smith, Eleanor Cook, Peggy Quinn, Karen Gavigan, Melinda Ratchford, Liz Jackson, Maureen Costello
Corrections to minutes
A motion to accept the minutes a written passed.
President’s Report
Julie Hersberger, a faculty member in the School of Library and Information Science at UNC-G, has agreed to chair a committee to consider the impact of charter schools and home schooling on the state’s libraries. George Taylor of the Forsyth County Public Library has agreed to chair the committee to plan the 2000 NCLA Leadership Institute.
A reminder was given that committee chairs are not voting members of the Board.
Maureen Costello has spent considerable time collecting committee rosters. Committee chairs who have not supplied names of committee members are urged to do so as soon as possible. Maureen has also completed Guidelines for Workshop Planners.
Treasurer’s Report
A budget report for the first quarter was distributed. Sections who wish individual reports may contact Diane Kester. Two special grants NCLA is administering in cooperation with the State Library are reflected on the budget report. NCLA receives a percentage of project profits. A motion to accept the report as written passed.
Section/Round Table Reports
Children’s Services Section
Confirmation on keynote speaker Johanna Hurwitz for the CSS breakfast meeting is being awaited. Programming, library services to Hispanic children, and a panel discussion of the successful State Library grant funded program "Mother Goose and More" are part of the agenda for the NCLA conference.
College and University Section
Committee minutes are posted to the web.
Community and Junior College Section
At this time, CJCLS plans to sponsor two sessions at the NCLA conference and to co-sponsor a third session with the College and University Section. "Redesigning Libraries for the 21st Century" is scheduled for Wednesday, September 22, 1999. On Thursday, September 23, CJCLS will sponsor a program on "Intellectual Freedom Issues Surrounding Internet Use." Some considerations is being given to making this a panel discussion and include other presenters. The co-sponsored session will be entitled "Copyright and the Digital Age."
Documents Section
Final arrangements for the spring workshop "Technical and Medical Literature on the Web" are being made. The workshop will be held May 21 at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Additional information on registration is available at: http://www.metalab.unc.edu/reference/docs/ncladocs/index.html.
The Biennial Conference program will cover state, federal and international statistics in such areas as demographics, health, business and education. The program is scheduled for Wednesday, September 22.
Library and Management Section
The LAMS Board has been communicating via email. The brochure for the Mentoring program was sent to Maureen Costello for printing and distribution. Sessions have been planned for participants at the Biennial Conference.
A second Special Interest Group has been proposed for Circulations Librarians. Robert James of UNC-G is interested and is being assisted by Debbie Lambert, who was involved in getting the SIG for Personnel and Staff Development off the ground. The Personnel and Staff Development SIG will have a luncheon/round table at the Biennial Conference.
NC Association of School Librarians Section
Karen Perry has been appointed to serve on the Library Services and Technology Act Committee, a 3 year commitment.
Current membership stands at 389.
Laura Williams is working on the web page. Links will be added for membership and other conferences.
NC Book Award voting took place in March.
Karen Gavigan represented NCASL at the Affiliate Assembly. There is new leadership with new officers. Nineteen states were represented.
A five-day conference sponsored by ALA will be held in Las Vegas to explain the changes in Information Power. Further, ALA will offer a one day training session at their conference this summer, which Karen Gavigan will attend. Frances Bradburn will present a conference on Information Power next fall at NCETC.
Summer workshops are being planned in Greenville, Rowan Community College, and Asheville. Topics will include new materials, flexible scheduling, NC Book Award and Battle of the Books.
It was decided that concerns about financial arrangements with NCLA were to be brought to the NCLA Executive Board for discussion.
NC Library Paraprofessional Round Table
Sue Mellott is the new liaison with Children’s Services Section.
NCLPA will co-sponsor with PLS and CSS on their sessions at the Biennial Conference. Additionally, a luncheon/business meeting and a workshop on reference for children will be held.
NC Public Library Trustee Association
There was no report. However, discussion was held about the role of trustees, including the idea of joining the trustees with the Friends group.
New Members Round Table
Conference plans are being made. Plans to hold a grant writing/fundraising workshop this summer are being firmed up and brochures are being prepared.
A newsletter is due out in May.
The mentoring committee has completed and sent brochures about this program.
The letter to new members now requests them to contact Tracy regarding involvement in NCLA. Several contacts have been made. Also, the web page address is on the welcome letter.
Public Library Section
There was no report.
Reference & Adult Services Section
Plans for the Biennial Conference are to have Maggie Jackson, Associated Press agent in New York City, to talk about "Our Patrons in the New Millennium" during the September 23rd luncheon. Maggie was chosen because of an article she wrote concerning GenXers that appeared in the Winston-Salem Journal. On Wednesday, September 22nd, RASS will co-sponsor with RTSS a workshop featuring John Webb on "Electronic Resources."
Philip Banks is the representative to the Continuing Education Committee.
Nominations are being determined for the 1999-2001 biennium.
Resources & Technical Services
The main focus of current activities is planning for the NCLA biennial conference. The major program is being co-sponsored with RASS. RTSS is sponsoring four table talks that feature topics being addressed in the major program. Librarians who have experience dealing with the topics are facilitating each session.
The awards committee is charged with determining those to be presented the student award, the significant contributions award, and the award for the best article on resources and technical services in North Carolina Libraries. Awards will be presented at the biennial conference. Nominations are being sought for the first two awards on the RTSS web page (http://www.unc.edu/~ldsmith/rtss/rtsshomepage.htm).
The board has been involved in the planning of the fall issue of North Carolina Libraries, being edited by Page Life, the RTSS board member on the NC Libraries editorial board. The issue entitled "Life and Limb" will feature articles on health and safety issues in the library setting.
The membership committee is initiating a RTSS membership drive and surveying the RTSS members to update the directory. The committee in conjunction with the board will be developing publicity materials for conference programs.
Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns
There was no report.
Round Table on Special Collections
A session at the Biennial Conference entitled "Documenting the African-American Experience: African-American Archives in North Carolina" will be sponsored.
The South Carolina State Library has picked up a local history collection program that had been presented two years ago. Also, a previous workshop on oral history has been requested by the state again.
Round Table on the Status of Women in Librarianship
There was no report.
Technology & Trends Round Table
Spring workshops will be held at GTCC on April 22, 1999.Speakers will discuss computer care and future trends.
William Terry has been formally contacted to speak at the Biennial Conference.
Committee Reports
Administrative Office and Personnel Advisory Committee
There was no report.
Archives Committee
There was no report.
Conference Committee
Plans for the Biennial Conference are proceeding according to the planning time line.
A web page for the conference has been developed by Bao-Chu Chang and is available at http://www4.ncsu.edu/~bcchang/ncla.html. Copies of minutes of the Conference Committee and the latest information about exhibits, rooms, registration, program, placement/recruitment and local arrangements have been posted for perusal.
Program planners from the various sections, round tables and special groups have been in contact with Phil Barton, Program Chair. Preliminary and interim plans have been received and forwarded to Barbara Anderson for assignment of meeting rooms. Program planners are reminded to submit photographs for the conference program booklet.
The opening session speaker on Wednesday, September 22 will be Maureen Sullivan, ACRL President and consultant with the State Library on interlibrary cooperation in North Carolina. Sally Helgesen, futurist, will present the Ogilvie Lecure on Thursday afternoon, September 23. The North Carolina Storytellers will provide entertainment for the September 24 Friday morning breakfast.
Information has been sent to over 500 potential exhibitors. About one-third of the 120-exhibit booth goal have been rented.
Registration forms and supporting materials will be mailed in the summer well in advance of conference reservation deadlines.
Gerald Holmes is planning a program on recruitment of minorities to the profession as well as scholarship opportunities for minority candidates through the Spectrum Initiative of ALA.
Al Jones will be attending an ALA preconference program in New Orleans on recruitment and retention of members for state organizations.
Constitution, Codes and Handbook Committee
The Executive Board received handbook updates. Revisions will also go up on the web. Chairs not present will receive updates by mail from Maureen.
Continuing Education Committee
Some changes in the concepts initially presented were noted. Most specifically, the CE Committee will take a proactive role in education. Feedback from previous workshops can provide a needs assessment for further education. NCLA must make the best use of our resources including shared resources and services, but when there is a significant demand for information, various workshops would be most effective. State libraries, university libraries and technologies available should provide support in the continuing education endeavor.
A calendar page on the web site has offerings of the association. Discussion was held on whether this could be expanded to include new opportunities.
Development Committee
The Development Committee has negotiated with the NCCF for a contract that more clearly protects the interests of NCLA. The committee is awaiting word from the NCCF about the acceptability of the modified contract.
A resolution was presented to the Board allowing NCCF to receive endowment start-up funds from NCLA. The resolution was passed.
The Development Committee chair will beet with Anne Steele on April 20 to learn about marketing and publicity that the NCCF can provide for our endowment.
Future meetings will address fundraising efforts for the endowment.
The Development Committee chair moved that the Executive Board send a by-laws amendment to the membership at the Biennial Conference that will make the Development Committee a standing committee. This will ensure the growth of the endowment from biennium to biennium. The motion passed.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee brought a recommendation to the Board that NCLA implement the use of credit cards to collect membership dues. Payment of dues by credit card on the web requires use of secure server and some other issues and that was not recommended. It was decided that $4.00 be returned from membership to sections for every member whether their membership has been paid for by credit card or not, but that all sections will share in the expenses of the credit card.
4.06% of each credit card transaction is returned to the credit card vendor. Inquiries have been made for using credit cards to pay for conference registration. Computer software that costs $60.00 can help the association keep those records accurately. For the one year that NCLA studies this concept, the organization will pay the credit card fees. The Finance Committee will deliver a report of the findings to the Board in one year. A motion was made so accept this recommendation and was passed. A reminder was made that membership forms will need to be revised to show this option.
Governmental Relations Committee
This committee is organizing an ALA Legislative Day trip to Washington.
Discussion was held regarding whether NCLA has considered the passage of a lottery in NC and the impact it might have on libraries in NC. A possible lobby to have NC-LIVE included in the benefits of the lottery was suggested. Before the lottery is passed, decisions will have already been made regarding how proceeds would be spent. This committee has been asked to watch the legislative committees that would be charged with determining expenditures from the results of the lottery.
Intellectual Freedom Committee
Activities of this committee were shared. Among those were maintaining contacts and information regarding Intellectual Freedom issues.
Titles causing problems in North Carolina are Babysitter Three, Lights Out, Monster Soup & Other Spooky Poems, Playboy magazine and We All Fall Down.
This committee is soliciting nominations for the NCLA/SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award, which recognizes biennially the contribution of an individual or group who has actively promoted intellectual freedom in North Carolina. Nominations should be sent with supporting documentation to Dr. Gene D. Lanier, IFC Chair, Dept. of Broadcasting, Librarianship & Educational Technology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353. They can be faxed to 252-328-4368 or emailed to lanierg@mail.ecu.edu. Nominations must be received by July 30, 1999.
Leadership Institute
The call has been sent to 1996 and 1998 participants to plan the next Institute. So far, 12 people have responded. In a May meeting, a timeline will be developed and discussion about the issues surrounding the next institute will begin. Major topics will include marketing, location, and facilitators. The committee will investigate some of the issues that were presented in the recommendation report from the 1998 Institute.
Literacy Committee
There was no report.
Membership Committee
Nominations for NCLA’s Life, Honorary, and Distinguished Library Service Awards have been solicited via NCLA and NC-LIVE listservs. Nominations are being forwarded to President Gass. Awards are presented at the Biennial Conference. This committee will report back on the status of awards at the next board meeting.
As per the membership plan, tabletop displays are being considered. The committee will also investigate and report at the next board meeting.
Membership renewal was questioned. The history has been to have membership renewed on the calendar year for bookkeeping purposes. However, computer technology has changed this issue. A motion was made and passed to send a request to the Constitution, Codes and Handbook Committee to bring a reworded by-law change to the July board meeting. Part of this motion was to create the wording for a possible mail vote.
The membership brochure is promised for the end of April.
Peggy Quinn attended the Career Fair at the UNC-CH Library School on February 17, 1999. She spoke with about 25 students about the benefits of NCLA, many of whom were specifically interested in the mentoring program.
An updated membership plan priority list was presented to Board members as well as a list of members by section/ round table.
Nominating Committee
Candidates for the 1999-2001 biennium of NCLA are:
Vice-President/President Elect: Jordan Scepanski, TPHI
Secretary: Sue Cody, UNC-W, Carrie Nichols, Meredith
Director – East: Sherwin Rice, Bladen County Public Library, Patrick Valentine, Wilson County Public Library
Director-West: Phil Barton, Rowan County Public Library, Rex Klett, Mitchell Community College
SELA: Louvenia Summerfield, UNC-C, John Via, Forsyth County Public Library
The Board was asked to consider existing NCLA leadership for an additional candidate for Vice-President/President-Elect and submit names of possible candidates to Gwen Jackson.
Ballots will be mailed to the NCLA membership by May 1, 1999 with the deadline for returning them June 1, 1999. The nominating Committee will count ballots the week of June 7 and notify the president of the results by June 11, 1999.
Non-Conference Year Event Planning Committee
Ideas brought to the Board focused on off year mini-conferences, an NCLA leisure/social retreat, and a technology mini-conference. Mini-conferences could be held in the east and west and follow major topics of interest to the membership. A leisure event would provide opportunities for recreation with fellow members along with possible literary program themes. A technology mini-conference could possibly be built into existing conferences as a pre-conference.
A request was made for Board members to take the information distributed back to their sections and give feedback to Dave Fergusson.
Publications and Marketing Committee
There was no report.
Scholarship Committee
Committee minutes are posted to the web.
Special Projects
Project Grants Committee
This committee has been charged to look at grant applications and determine if they are aligned with NCLA objectives. Sections, round tables, or committees of NCLA are eligible to apply for a grant. Single libraries or single members are not. The limit for a single grant is $1500 and conferences, publications, web projects and workshops are fundable through grants. Chairs must sign grant requests before being submitted.
Grant applications can be found on the NCLA web site. Grant application deadlines are May 1, June 1, July 1, August 1, September 1, and December 1, 1999.
Home school ad-hoc committee
Committee members were noted for this new task force. The committee will meet over the summer and formulate a report prior to the Biennial Conference. The committee is charged with considering library service to charter schools and determining the impact on public libraries.
Other Reports
North Carolina Libraries
The projected mailing date for the Spring issue of North Carolina Libraries, Outreach, is May 1. The journal received its first royalty check from H.W. Wilson. Although it was only $19, it is significant in that it is another revenue source, helpful since universities began cutting periodical budgets.
Upcoming issues:
Summer 1999 – North Carolina Writers, Alice Cotton, Guest Editor; Fall 1999, Life and Limb, Page Life, Guest Editor; Winter 1999 – Conference Issue; Spring 2000 – Back to the Future: Digitizing Resources, David Ferriero, Guest Editor; Summer 2000 – Preserving Local History; Fall 2000 – Research and Librarianship; Winter 2000 – The Call of Story.
ALA Councilor
This report covered events of the 1999 ALA Midwinter Conference. President Symons’ resolution on "Libraries: An American Value" was passed. NCLA had endorsed this resolution. Resolutions endorsing the Government Secrecy Reform Act of 1999 and supporting increased funding for the GPO were passed. A resolution directing ALA units to report on implementation of the 1990 policy on "Library Services to Poor People" was passed. A resolution asking that ALA withdraw its support of National TV Turn-off Week passed. Mention was made of the review of the ALA Endowment investments.
Much discussion was held at ALA regarding the Outsourcing Task Force report.
SELA Councilor
There was no report from the councilor. However, discussion was held regarding continued membership in SELA. Nominees for the position of SELA councilor have been notified that the position could possibly be abolished. NCLA has already paid SELA dues for 1999. It was decided that our SELA councilor will help determine the long-term viability of the organization and report back to the NCLA board at the April 2000 Executive Board meeting. Withdrawal from SELA will take a by-law change. It was also suggested that NCLA invite the president of SELA to the Biennial Conference.
North Carolina State Library Commission
There was no report.
Old business
The July Executive Board Meeting will be held July 30 over the web. Reports are to be submitted to the web site 2 weeks prior to the meeting.
A suggestion was made to restructure the meeting agenda, placing items that require Board action at the beginning of the meeting. President Gass will investigate this idea.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:20 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Liz Jackson
Secretary