VLA Council Meeting

Northside Branch, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library

June 7, 2002

The VLA Council meeting was called to order by President Iza Cieszynski at 10:05 AM. Present were Morel Fry, Harriett Edmunds, Janis Augustine, Andrew Morton, Linda Hahne, Susan Deaton, Mary Mayer-Hennelly, Connie Gilman, Ellen Wertman, John Moorman, Laurie Preston, Zanne Macdonald, Sam Clay, Carolyn Barkley, Mary Buckley, Mari-Jana Phelps, Mary Clark, Laurie Roberts, Jim Sanderson, Ann Mathews, Peggie Barker, Helen Sherman, Steve Helm, and Lisa Payne.

The minutes, which had been previously e-mailed to Council and corrected, were approved.

Executive Director’s Report:

Linda Hahne announced that VLA presently has 1107 members. 233 have not renewed, and as of right now, they will cease to receive VLA publications. Linda also reminded Council members about their dues, and she will check to see if any haven’t paid.

She noted that if Council members plan to have business meetings at the Annual Conference, they need to let her know immediately, as the preliminary program is being printed soon.

Treasurer’s Report (see attachment):

Andrew Morton reported that the budget is on target, but income from the jobline is down, and probably will remain so.

The Legislative Liaison fund is also behind, but donations are ahead of last year’s.

Linda Hahne said that VLA has received $853 in misdirected checks from the State, and $79.99 in royalties has been received from H.W. Wilson for viewing of VLA publications in their databases.

Executive Committee Report:

Iza Cieszynski announced that VLA would formulate a resolution in memory of Christie Vernon. Iza recounted to Council many of Christie’s accomplishments.

VLA will write letters of support for Carolyn Barkley’s nomination to the LVA Board. If any other candidates are found by VLA or other library groups, VLA will write letters for them also.

2002 VLA Designated Agenda review (see attachment):

Iza Cieszynski and the various committee chairs made the following observations about the Agenda:

Legislative Activities:

Legislative Committee Chair Sam Clay will report later, but commented here that VLA was very influential in getting the legislature to support libraries.

Library Staff Advocacy:

Iza said that the Paraprofessional and the Administrative and Management Forums need to complete the survey of paraprofessional salaries. It was suggested that some of this information could be obtained from the Library and Networking Development Division of LVA.

The Information Officer job description will be done by September.

Continuing Education:

The Continuing Education press release format will be completed by September.

Continuing Education Chair Laurie Preston said that the Committee is intending to link to other partners on the VLA website, rather than develop a speakers’ bureau.

Effective Organization:

Awards Chair Connie Gilman noted that the April 15 deadline for nominations needs to be advertised more prominently on the VLA website.

Membership:

Iza said that the succession procedure will be in place by September, and that the Membership Committee will be formed by then also. The Membership Committee will review the Membership and Retention Strategic Plan drawn up several years ago.

The Finance Committee and Paraprofessional Forum will review the dues structure.

New Revenue:

The Finance Committee will review a planned giving proposal from First Union.

Iza will determine if the Scholarship Committee has found any new sponsors for scholarships.

The Legislative Committee and the Treasurer will discuss Legislative Liaison funding during a June 10 conference call.

Legislative Committee Report:

Chair Sam Clay noted that the Committee has two new members, Donna Cote and Jerry McKenna.

The VLA Legislative Agenda for 2003 will be similar to the one for 2002.

VLA has the best chance it has ever had to influence LVA Board appointments because the Secretary of the Commonwealth is a former partner of VLA’s Legislative Liaison, Phil Abraham.

Sam reminded libraries about the LSTA hearings to be held around the State later in June. All voices need to be heard.

A subcommittee of the Legislative Committee will review the LVA budget and present their findings to the whole committee.

Another legislative workshop is being planned in December at LVA. Should this be an annual event?

The Legislative Committee will work with the Finance Committee to regularize funding of the liaison.

Nominating Committee Report:

In the absence of Chair Cy Dillon, Iza Cieszynski presented the slate of candidates for the upcoming elections. The candidates are:

Vice President/President-elect: Sam Clay and John Moorman

Secretary: Ann Friedman and Susan Paddock

ALA Councilor: Mary Mayer-Hennelly

Conference Committee Report:

Chair John Moorman reported that the Committee has scheduled programs so that similar types of conference programs will not be held at the same time. The Committee has a goal of getting 800 people to attend.

They will ask vendors to sponsor events.

Linda Hahne will send presenters their confirmations next week, and she wants replies within 48 hours, so that the preliminary program can go out soon.

ALA Councilor Report:

Councilor Mary Mayer-Hennelly reminded everyone that the ALA Conference will start June 14 in Atlanta. As VLA’s donation to the ALA scholarship fundraiser, she will contribute a Virginia Diner gift certificate. Mary also noted that ALA’s new president, Mitch Freedman, is focusing on increasing the salaries and status of librarians during his term in office.

Federal Legislative Day Report:

From a report forwarded by Skip Auld, Iza Cieszynski told Council that 3 congressmen, Schrock, Moran, and Wolf attend the May 7 luncheon, and that Senators Allen and Warner sent aides. There were 50 attendees in all, and 22 came on the bus.

Mary Mayer-Hennelly wants suggestions on how to increase ridership on the bus, especially from Richmond. Next year she may contact Friends’ groups directly.

Roundtable Reports and Announcements:

On behalf of Region IV Chair Audrey Kelly, Mary Clark reported that plans are underway to host a training class called “The Invisible Web” in Region IV. To be taught by Mary Dessypris of LVA, the class will cover effective methods of searching for (and finding) information on the web.

As chair of the Public Documents Forum, Mary announced that the May 1 workshop on the US Census website was very successful, and made $700 for VLA.

Region III Co-chair Jim Sanderson said that 17 librarians from his Region staffed telephones on April 24 for the Public Radio fundraising campaign. VLA was mentioned every hour during their stint on the phones. Region III will help with the Public TV campaign in August, and as a result of this may develop a list of volunteer opportunities for Region III librarians.

Awards and Recognition Chair Connie Gilman has received nominations for the George Mason, Friends of the Library, and Trustees awards. Also nominations for Life Membership have been received, and they have all been sent to the Committee members for their votes which will be returned to Connie by June 28. (See attached report.)

Paraprofessional Forum Co-chair Mary Buckley reported on the Paraprofessional Conference held in May. There were 409 attendees. According to the online evaluations, most sessions were rated 4 or 5 out of 5. Mary thanked Steve Helm for putting the evaluation on the VLA website. Co-chair Mari-Jana Phelps announced that as an example of support for paraprofessionals, she would be attending ALA through a scholarship.

VLA Newsletter Editor Helen Sherman reminded everyone that there is no July issue of the Newsletter and that the deadline for the August issue is July 15. She requested summaries of the various workshops held, and she will publish these summaries as space is available.

Intellectual Freedom Committee Co-chair Zanne Macdonald said that the Intellectual Freedom Newsletter will now be published by the Committee as a whole. Doug Henderson is planning to meet with the new director of the Chesterfield County Library System to discuss Chesterfield’s filtering policies.

ALA Councilor Mary Mayer-Hennelly is planning to have Christie Vernon recognized at ALA Council. (See attached resolution.)

Webmaster Steve Helm reminded everyone that to post messages on the VLA listserv, members must use the e-mail addresses they registered with, or the messages won’t be posted.

Youth Services Forum Chair Lisa Payne reported that the Forum chose Storm Warrior by Elisa Carbone as the Jefferson Cup Award winner. She noted that the Virginia Young Readers list is being distributed now. The Forum will promote Read Aloud Week, which is Oct. 20-26. LVA will focus on the Family Literacy initiative.

Continuing Education Committee Co-chair Laurie Preston announced that the Program Planners Workshop will be held in Charlottesville on Dec. 6. Harriett Edmunds and Paranita Carpenter will conduct the workshop. It is very important that Council members attend. Also, the facilities survey is online and is being reviewed.

Technical Services and Technology Forum Co-chair Peggie Barker said that an Advanced Serials workshop is being planned after Chapter 12 of AACR2 is published.

Special Libraries Section Chair Ann Mathews reported that the Section is interested in establishing a consumer health information website specific to Virginia. (See attached report.) LVA, Infopowering, and Fairfax County Public Library may be able to assist.

Region I Chair Laurie Roberts stated that Region I held two workshops in the spring. Each workshop was presented in two locations, Abingdon and Roanoke, and there were about 50 people at each session, most of whom were public librarians. The workshop topics were Library Security and Time Management. They were funded with LSTA money.

Collection Management Forum Chair Ellen Wertman reported that the Core Business Resources Online workshop had 40 participants and made $570 for VLA. The Forum is planning two sessions for the VLA Conference.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:35.

Respectfully Submitted,

Janis Augustine

VLA Secretary