Chair's
Preliminary Report to the Executive Board
July 19, 2002
The Annual Conference Study Committee (Pauletta Bracy, Nancy Fogarty, Carol
Freeman, Ross Holt, Elisabeth Leonard, Patrick Valentine, John Via) has not
yet met, but individual members have offered their assessments of the Association's
move to annual, rather than biennial, conferences.
Background
It is generally accepted lore that the North Carolina Library Association has held biennial conferences in order to alternate conference years with the Southeastern Library Association, which also meets biennially. Although other state associations in the southeast may have had the same custom in the past, all now meet annually except North Carolina. (And even in North Carolina, the NCLA's largest division, NCASL, met annually in recent years.)
Although there may have been reasons other than tradition and inertia keeping NCLA from moving to annual conferences in the past, there are good reasons to consider a shift to annual conferences now.
It is almost certain that a minority of NCLA members will attend SELA conferences, whether or not the Southeastern Library Association regains its former vitality. Therefore, SELA's meeting elsewhere in the same year need not be a factor in deciding whether NCLA should have annual conferences.
In fact, SELA has, for a number of years, held joint conferences with almost all other state associations except North Carolina, rather than meeting independently, and cannot presently meet with North Carolina because of the alternating conference years. If NCLA meets annually, a joint conference with SELA is possible. (SELA has not signed meeting sites beyond 2002, and would probably welcome an invitation to share NCLA's first "annual" conference.)
Advantages of Annual Conferences
Beyond any consideration of SELA conferences, annual conferences may make sense for NCLA because of the potential for increased revenues, better communication and broader member participation. More specifically:
1. The Association will grow stronger, because member interest in the association and its activities will be more consistent and continuous, rather than peaking in conference years and waning in off-years.
2. Members will be more likely to keep current with their annual dues if conferences occur annually. They are offered tangible opportunities for their membership dollars.
3. At annual conferences members will have more opportunities for communication and professional development, and can keep more up to date on developments in technology, knowledge expansion, demographics, state and federal legislation and the latest service initiatives in the libraries of North Carolina.
4. More association members will have opportunities to participate in conference planning and programming. This is consistent with the Association's goal of providing leadership development.
5. Annual conferences will challenge officers and members of sections and round tables to be more active.
6. Because conferences generally succeed in producing profits for the Association, annual meetings should provide additional revenue.
7. The association will be more likely to consider a greater variety of conference sites if it meets annually, bringing the conference closer to members in various parts of the state.
Reservations about Annual Conferences
Committee members have mentioned some reservations about having annual conferences, including:
1. The tremendous amount of work involved in planning and presenting a conference. The vice president/president-elect is not likely to want to, or be able to, mount two conferences in his or her term. This will almost certainly necessitate changes in the organizational structure.
2. The possibility that attendance at conferences might, at least initially, be smaller than at biennial conferences.
3. The possibility that vendor participation in exhibits might, at least initially, be less reliable with annual conferences.
4. The possibility that conference quality might be diluted with a move to annual conferences.
5. In at least some instances, the present practice of having "off-year" workshops and other programs may be better than having an annual conference.
Potential Organizational Changes Necessary To Facilitate Annual Conferences
Holding annual conferences will continue the trend away from the "biennial mindset" that the Association began when it started collecting dues on an annual basis several years ago and began to encourage "off-year" programming with grants from conference profits.
There are a number of change options that can facilitate the shift to annual conferences. The Association may decide to elect most officers to one-year terms. It may retain the two-year cycle, but reassign the conference planning responsibilities, currently residing in the office of the vice president/president-elect, to others, either by election or appointment.
Sections and round tables may likewise decide to elect officers on an annual basis or may choose to continue two-year terms, at least for the time being.
The NCLA Constitution and Bylaws will require revision in order to put these changes into effect.
The Next Steps
The Annual Conference Study Committee's next steps will be guided by discussions and actions at the July 19, 2002, Executive Board meeting.
Submitted by
John Via
viaje@forsythlibrary.org