VLA Council Meeting
June 13, 1997
Northside Branch, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Charlottesville


Present: Lis Chabot, President; Tom Hehman, Vice President; Caroline Parr, Past-President; Pat Howe, Secretary; Linda Hahne, Treasurer and Interim Executive Director; Steve Helm, 
Webmaster; Cy Dillon, Virginia Libraries; Sue Trask,  VLA Newsletter; Libby Blanton, Region II; Carolyn Hughes, Region III; John Twombly, Region IV; Susanne Glass, Scholarship; Virginia 
Johnson, Intellectual Freedom; Debra Diane Moore, Paraprofessional Forum; Jeff Clark, Media Roundtable; Linda Gosnell, CYART; Chuck Koutnik, Public Library; Virginia Dunn, Library Instruction; Barbara Severin, Trustee; Terry Sumey, Finance; Rebecca Laine, Publications; Linda Farynk, VA Coalition for Open Government; Sandy Heinemann for Microcomputer Interest Forum; Judith Robinson, Library Development and Cooperative Programs; Robin Benke, College and University; Gail Tatum for New Members Roundtable; Mary Clark, Public Documents; Sandra Beeson, Community College; Carol Kiehl, Collection Management Roundtable; Karen Cary, TSAR; Scottie Cochrane, ALA Chapter Councilor; Oakley Pearson, Outreach; Carolyn Tate, SELA Representative; Gail McClenney, candidate for Second vice-president. 
 

Guest of Tom Hehman, Chuck Anderson. 



 

1.   With a quorum present, the meeting was called to order at 10:13 A.M. 
 

2.   Council minutes from April 11, 1997: Under Unit reports, #4, Region III was changed to 

The Paraprofessional Forum will host a mini conference... Cy Dillon moved, with Libbie Blanton seconding, approval of the minutes as changed. 
 

3.   Treasurer's report: Linda Hahne reviewed VLA's revenue and expenditures to date.  Total cash on hand is $90,462. The credit card account will also be a checking account.  Linda moved $32,551 from the checking account into a money market account which will generate more interest over a short term. Although the Paraprofessional Forum's Conference generated revenue, bills are still outstanding and she does not have the final figures to report whether or not the Conference made a profit. Membership is at 976 so far. Renewal notices are sent to everyone. The next VLA Newsletter will only be mailed to current members. Linda will contact members who have not yet renewed. Membership cards have not been sent out and the Executive Committee decided not to send them out this year because of the transition with the Executive Director's position and lateness in the year. However, if anyone wants a card, they are available from Linda's office. The 
Membership Directory  is out-of-date and members are asked to use last year's. The Directory will be available early next year. To keep printing costs down, the question of who wants a Directory, may appear on the membership renewal form. The best usage of 
the Directory may be the list of sections, forums, etc. The Jobline is $25 per posting and as of March 15, has generated $250. Each posting will run as long as someone wants, until the closing date or the job is filled. Linda should be notified when a posting is no longer necessary. 
 

4.   Conference Report: Linda mailed 580 Conference "Invitations to Exhibit" hoping to sell 110 booths. There were 83 booths at last year's conference. The Conference Committee has begun to fill in program sessions. Members were urged to consult Linda Hahne as soon as possible about scheduling a presenter because few slots were left or if any committee is planning an official meeting so she can block a space and provide a room. At the committee's July 10th meeting, they will finalize the program for the printer. 
 

     Keynote speakers: 

  • Judith Krug - Thursday
  • Charles McClure - Friday
  • Dale Henry - a humorous motivational speaker, will be the Luncheon speaker
  • Tom Feelings -  (The Middle Passage) Saturday
  • Jean Thesman - (The Ornament Tree) was the Jefferson Cup winner.
 

The Preconference will be run by CAPCON with possible topics about the Internet in Public Libraries or Staffing issues for the year 2000. The schedule will be posted on the VLA WEB page as soon as information is available. 
 

5.   Finance Report: Terry Sumey reported that the Committee reviewed the final draft of VLA's Management Services Contract and recommended approval of the contract. They recommended extending the current arrangement with Association Management, Inc. from July 1 through April 30, 1998. They recommended, with an attorney's advice and the Executive Committee's approval, payment of $12,000 of unpaid fees to P.S., Inc. In December of 1996, the Executive Committee requested from P.S., Inc., a list of unpaid bills. The list was received May 1997. The Finance Committee recommended establishing a contingency reserve of $15,000 for 1996 invoices that may be forthcoming. 
 

The Finance Committee completed a review of VLA's 1996 financial records. VLA had paid about $1800 for an audit in the previous year, but it was not a valid audit check because of the way the books were kept. VLA could not get all the paperwork and the books were not kept according to accounting order/procedures. Part of the $1800 was the tax report which Linda Hahne completed this year at no cost. The Finance Committee will decide who will audit in the future, hopefully someone who will alert VLA if there is a problem. The Finance Committee adopted the 1996 financial review and recommended to the Executive Committee to set up a plan to review all the fiscal operations of conferences, the Paraprofessional forum, publications, advertising, legislative advocacy, and dues. It was recommended that the Finance Committee review VLA's 1997 records, consider an audit in 1998, discuss plans for future cash flow and types of audits for the future. The Finance Committee Chair is receiving timely reports and accountability is being well-handled for future audits. Terry complimented Linda Hahne for her work as Treasurer, getting VLA's membership in order, renegotiating with the hotel for the 1997 Conference, and putting VLA's finances in order.  The Executive Committee approved  the Finance Committee's recommendations and report. 
 

6.   Association Management report:  Lis announced that the Executive Director's contract would be for one year extending through April with six months termination notification by either party. The contract includes a self-evaluation by the Executive Director and an annual evaluation with the Executive Committee at their January retreat. The evaluation will take into consideration Annual Conference management. Having the contract through 
April will allow a 2-3 months period to make changes if necessary. 
 

Lis announced that Linda Hahne is resigning from the Treasurer's position and Caroline    Parr has "graciously" agreed to fill-in as Treasurer through VLA's 1997 Annual  Conference. 
 

7.   Administrative  Services Committee: Lis reported in the absence of both Iza Cieszynski and Carolyn Barkley. The proposal to establish a new Federal Legislative Committee was 
tabled until the September Council meeting when Council structure will be discussed.  Iza had notified Lis that she was resigning as chair of the Legislative Committee due to increased work responsibilities. In order to better understand the chair's activities, VLA needs, in writing, Iza's activities as chair and what her plans were for the future. Linda Hahne and Lis will attempt to meet some people in Norfolk to discuss the possibility of someone taking over Iza's position as chair. 
 

Tom relayed Iza's VPLDA report. VPLDA discussed the need for technology and focused on full-funding. If libraries had full-funding, then they would have money for technology. Phil Abraham's topic of a PAC at last Council's meeting was also discussed at VPLDA. 
There is a possibility that a PAC for VLA is still in existence. It may be necessary to have Iza's successor research the VLA archives. We would also need to ask Phil to clarify the political implications of a PAC. It was announced that all certified financial  records of libraries must be received by September in order to calculate the full-funding formula. It was suggested using the previous year's records to make the calculations which might 
adversely affect those whose budgets are increasing. One full-funding strategy was a three-year phased  funding of $1.4 million 1999, 1.4 million in 2000, and 2.5 million in 2001. Other strategies were brain stormed. 
 

It was agreed that the number one legislative agenda was support for the full-funding initiative. Second was continued support of VIVA. It was suggested that we ask Phil Abraham to keep VLA informed when this initiative is started and of its continuous status. 
Lis hopes VIVA will provide literature and information as they did at the last Legislative Day. 
 

     Lis asked that Council members contact her or Linda by mid-July if there are any ideas or suggestions for other initiatives. 
 

8a.  ALA Resolution on No-Fee Access to Government Information: Scottie Cochrane asked if VLA would support ALA's resolution and then moved for VLA's endorsement of the resolution. Chuck Koutnik seconded. Passed. (Resolution filed with official minutes) 
 

Scottie Cochrane received a message from Carolyn Caywood (ALA Council member) inquiring  VLA Council's feelings about a resolution supporting  Bob Costa in  his Federal case against Baker and Taylor. Scottie (chapter ALA Councilor) wanted a sense of VLA Council's opinion. Caroline Parr moved that VLA take no position. Passed. 
 

8b.  1997/1998 Legislative Advocacy Plan: No advocacy plan was presented today. 
 

8c.  VLA Conference and Continuing Education activities: Some changes are being made with the 1997 Conference which necessitates changes in the VLA manual. The Conference 
Planning Committee has taken over more of the programming and encouraged more cooperation among units. Each unit is not required to have a session at the Conference. Some session rooms had to be given up in order to bring the hotel room numbers down. 
Food functions cost a lot and last year VLA lost money on the dessert social at the Library of Virginia. The Conference Committee expected a larger attendance. This year about 350 
people are expected to attend a party on Friday, Halloween night. 
 

Lis announced that VLA is still holding the 1999 contract with the Homestead, but would like to bring the number of rooms down since it was drafted a number of years ago. 
 

Tom Hehman and Linda Hahne met with representatives from VEMA for the 1998 Annual Conference. They are still working on the structure, how to share profits, etc., since VLA's contract with Association Management requires Linda Hahne to manage a lot of 
the Conference. 
 
Lis asked Council about the future structure and programming of VLA Conferences while she distributed the discussion focus sheet for annual conferences. Tom discussed some differences with VEMA s Conference structure. Last year VEMA had about 800 attendees with 180 individual 45 minute sessions. Their workshops are expected to be self-supporting and a fee is charged. Due to the logistical strain of conference planning, on a trial basis VEMA contracted with Virginia Tech's Conference Management for 1997. VEMA will be billed a $15 surcharge for every attendee. The surcharge covers printing, mailing, and registration. Other possible changes in conference structure included: just a Thursday and Friday conference, no author luncheon, no Saturdays, biennial conferences or every third year a joint VEMA/VLA Conference, more specialized conferences such as LITA or LAMA, partnering with other associations although it could be a difficult financial arrangement, hosting at a university such as the Paraprofessional Forum have been doing, letting vendors provide box lunches for attendees then showing their wares to attendees, include more sessions and presenters for new librarians, and include more 
technical services programs/sessions, 
 

Why people don't attend conferences was discussed and produced more questions - how many of the organization or libraries support VLA's conferences and allow staff to attend? 
Does Library Administration support staff attendance financially or with time off? Does the Administration belong to VLA? It was suggested that VLA have a telephone bank asking people why they did not attend the conference,  collect evaluations before the 
Conference is over, and have telephone follow-up to individual members for their opinions of the conference. 
 

Chuck Anderson volunteered to chair the 1998 Conference Planning Committee at Tom Hehman's request. 
 

9a.  Election/nomination process: Lis reminded members of the election/nomination process and that nomination forms and appointments were due by July 1, particularly if there is 
to be an election.  Caroline Parr introduced candidates Cy Dillon and Sandy Heinemann for President-elect; Gail McClenney for 2nd vice-president (Stella Pool's library was upgrading the day of Council); Terry Sumey for Treasurer. 
 

9b.  ALA /PBS Teleconference: "Maximizing your E-rate" was telecast at seven sites across the state. The Library of Virginia paid for four sites. The Library of Virginia Networking and Development Division will conduct workshops in those regions to help libraries on how to write plans. Steve Helm suggested looking at the link on VLA's homepage for informational updates. Discounts take effect in January. This local initiative aids public 
libraries, schools and rural hospitals. Check with the Library of Virginia for the list of the Regional sites and information about future workshops. 
 

Unit reports: 
 

1.   Virginia Librarians: Cy Dillon announced that the editorial board met and mapped out the rest of the year. Virginia Book Reviews will post articles on the VLA web site. 
 

2.   Publications Committee: Becky Laine announced they were meeting this afternoon. She thanked editors Cy Dillon, Sue Trask, and Steve Helm, Webmaster, for their ongoing efforts. 
 

3.   Steve Helm announced that the VLA Manual and Publications Manual are on the web. Links to updated information about the Communications Decency Act and the SCC E-rates for schools and public libraries are also available on the VLA web site. 
 
 

4.   Region II: Libbie Blanton announced that they will be cosponsoring, with the Collection Management Roundtable, the program "Making the most of your collection: how to use analysis and evaluation" on  September 24. 
 

5.   Region IV: John Twombly announced that their program "Your library's new annex: full-text resources on the WWW" had 48 attendees with 25 on a waiting list and 25 additional inquiries. He was able to get a second instructor to accommodate the overflow. 
Evaluations were highly complimentary. 
 

6.   Region VI - had to cancel a planned program for May 6 because the VLA Newsletter was late by two weeks. They are trying to schedule another date. 
 

7.   Library Development and Cooperative Programs: Judith Robinson announced that the Committee has started to work on the Consultants' database. 
 

8.   Media Roundtable: Jeff Clark announced that they cosponsored the program "To lend or not to lend nonprint media" with the ILL Forum. They received  60% of evaluations from attendees. 
 

9.   Library Instruction Forum: Virginia Dunn announced that they sponsored a joint program with VIVA titled "Teaching in the electronic environment." There were 97 in attendance and 92 were academic librarians. Their Conference program will present two librarians from the University of Maryland speaking about techniques for evaluating web sites. 
 

10.  CYART: Linda Gosnell announced that their April 25th workshop, "Internet access for children and young adults," had  85 attendees and generated a $660 profit for VLA. The workshop was held at the Library of Virginia with excellent facilities. However, parking spaces are limited and their new policy no longer makes parking spaces available for meetings. Jean Thesman (The Ornament Tree) is this year's Jefferson Cup winner. Calvin 
Ross will be their speaker for the Annual Conference. He will discuss the best software for school libraries. 
 

11.  Paraprofessional Forum: Their 2-day conference "Today's Vision, Tomorrow's Reality, was held in May. There were 493 attendees from 14 states and Washington, D.C. Their keynote speakers were Carolyn Tate and Ed Martinez, editor of Library Mosaics. Most sessions had 80-100 in the audience and only a few with 40 attendees. They are in the process of planning a program for the Annual Conference and, with Region III, a one day conference at ODU on October 6 about the"Internet." 
 

12.  ALA Chapter Councilor: Please inform Scottie Cochrane of any ALA-related issues you have before ALA's  Annual Conference. 
 

13.  Intellectual Freedom: Virginia Johnson announced that there will be a panel discussion about electronic issues along with the VLA/SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award at the Annual Conference. She is still accepting nominations for the award. 
 

14. TSAR Forum: Karen Cary announced that they sponsored "Access points and links: cataloging electronic resources" which also included an introduction and discussion of cataloging guidelines for VIVA resources. There were 56 attendees. Forty-three evaluations were returned which stated a need for continuing efforts in this area. 
 

15.  Collection Management Roundtable: Carole Kiehl announced that they are available for cosponsoring or partnering for the Fall Conference. 
 

16.  Scholarship Committee: Susanne Glass announced that they no longer need to fill out any paperwork to hold raffles due to changes in State Gaming regulations. 
 

17.  College and University Section: Robin Benke announced that their speaker for the Annual Conference will be Scott Brandt from Purdue University and his topic will be "Online tutorials." The program is also being sponsored by the  Community College Section and Personnel Practices Forum. 
 

18.  Public Documents Forum: Mary Clark reported on their May 28th joint program with the Regional Documents Librarian. The program included Mary Alice Baish from the American Association of  Law Libraries, on the revision of U.S.C. Title 44; Ginger Stanley from the Press Association and Preston Huff from the Library of Virginia on indexing guidelines developed by DIT and LOV, for state agencies that store their public records in computer databases; Denise Stephens from UVA on establishing a geographic information service in a library. 
 

19.  SELA: Carolyn Tate reported that SELA was in a period of transition. The Executive Secretary resigned. Ballots were sent out to members to vote on either joining with SOLINET or having an Office Manager.  Results were not in yet.  Carolyn encouraged members to join SELA. 
 

20.  VCOG - Linda Farynk distributed their latest newsletter with articles on indexing guidelines for state records and a legislative study commission to look at Virginia's Freedom of Information statute. VCOG has a  web site and an E-mail discussion list. Josh 
Wheeler from the Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Expression attended the "ALA Lawyers for Libraries Training Institute." He agreed to present "Libraries and the First Amendment" at the Annual Conference and to write an article for Virginia Libraries. 
 
 

Judith Robinson moved for adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 12:50 P.M. 
  
 
 

Patricia Howe 
Secretary, Virginia Library Association