VLA Council Meeting 2/9/01

Northside Branch, Jefferson Madison Regional Library

Charlottesville, VA

President Cy Dillon called the meeting to order at 10:04 AM.  Present were Cy Dillon, Iza Cieszynski, Ruth Arnold, Janis Augustine, Jeanette Friedman, Carolyn Barkley, Linda Hahne, Greta Lowe, Libby Lewis, Mary Mayer-Hennelly, Connie Gilman, Ellen Wertman, Harriett Edmunds, Barbara Rittinger, Skip Auld, Ted Hostetler, Steve Preston, Olivia Osei-Sarfo, Susan Paddock, Peggy Burgess, Susan Brown, Theresa Johnson, Barbie Selby, Colette Macin, Zanne Macdonald, Marianne Ramsden, Steve Matthews, Karen Dillon, Anne Davis, Sharon McCaslin, Jan Rowley, Sherry Pearson, and Andrea Kross.

Janis Augustine handed out the minutes of the last Council meeting, which took place at the Annual Conference on Oct. 18, 2000.  The minutes were approved.

Conference Committee Report:

Chair Harriett Edmunds reminded Council that the Annual Conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Koger Select in Chesterfield County, on Oct. 18 & 19.  The theme is “Virginia Libraries: Where Readers Connect”. Speakers include Dr. John Cole, Henry Wiencek, and Dabney Stuart.  The conference will be advertised in the VLA Newsletter, the website, and Virginia Libraries.  Other highlights of the conference will be a Jefferson Cup breakfast, a Thursday night reception at the Library of Virginia (with transportation provided), and a preconference tour on Oct. 17 of new libraries in the Richmond area.  The tour will start at 11 AM on Wednesday, with bus transportation provided by the Chesterfield County Public Library.  The tour will end at one of the new Chesterfield libraries in the evening where dinner will be served.

Executive Director’s Report:

Linda Hahne asked that Council members check their addresses on the Council list and let her know if any corrections need to be made.

VLA currently has 1251 members, but that is an overlap from one year to the next.  638 have renewed; 186 are new members, and 427 have not renewed.  Linda reminded Council members to renew their memberships because she wants to publish the new directory by the end of March.

Linda has mailed out 24 scholarship applications.  VLA has budgeted for three scholarships of $2,000 each, and will award three every year.

Treasurer’s Report:

See attached reports for fiscal years 2000 and 2001.  Jeanette Friedman said that VLA was able to transfer $35,474 to the reserve fund from FY 2000.  The investment fund now has $136,918.  The net proceeds were as follows:

·        VLA Jobline                      $11,050

·        Annual Conference              $24,240

·        Paraprofessional Conference        $15,995

·        Programs                            $5,947

The big expenses were the mail server, Capital Wiz, and the audit review.

The 2001 operating budget has been adjusted up or down depending on past history.  On the expense side, the following items were noted:

·        Membership Incentive Mailing                $2,000

·        Executive Committee incidental expenses      $500

·        Capital Wiz                            $1,000

·        Jefferson Cup award                        $1,000

·        Webmaster’s stipend      10% of all jobline revenue will be directed to the Webmaster’s stipend.

There was a question about the amount of the stipend given to the Virginia Libraries and VLA Newsletter editors as compared to the Webmaster’s.  ($500 for each print editor; $1500+ for the Webmaster)  Cy suggested that the Publications Committee make recommendations about the levels of the stipends.  Also, it was noted that $6,000 is the correct expense for the scholarships.  After these discussions, Council unanimously approved the budget for 2001.

Jeanette summarized the financial review of the last two full fiscal years, 1998 & 1999.  VLA is following generally accepted accounting procedures.  The management letter accompanying the review recommended that the dues structure be altered and that the reserve fund should be increased to cover dual contingencies.  Cy complimented Linda Hahne on her financial skills.

Executive Committee Report:

Cy reminded Council members that only 1 vote per unit is allowed, so if a unit is represented by more than one person at a Council meeting, the unit representatives must decide which one will vote.

Carolyn Barkley announced that the Virginia Genealogical Society will fund a scholarship for a Virginia librarian to attend its annual conference at the Roslyn Center in Richmond.  Carolyn, Steve Preston, and one other person chosen by Carolyn will promote the scholarship among the VLA membership, and then review and choose one among the applicants.  VLA will publicize the VGS conference, and the VLA website will link to the VGS site.

The Executive Committee has authorized Steve Helm to spend up to $1,500 to fix the mail server problems.

Cy will sign a reciprocal agreement with the District of Columbia Library Association so that each will pay member rates at each other’s events.  Cy will approach Maryland about reaching the same agreement, and it was suggested that the other neighboring states, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, be contacted also.

The VLA Committee Chairs will be invited to have lunch with the Executive Committee after the April 6 Council meeting.

Cy asked for a motion to commend Ruth Kifer for her work with UCITA.  Skip Auld made the motion; Carolyn seconded it, and Council unanimously approved.  Cy explained that JCOTS offered an amendment to UCITA which allows data stored on DVD, CD ROMs, and possibly on paper to be loaned in the same manner as books.  The amendment does not address nontangible storage, such as the Internet or content servers.  VLA agreed not to push for any other change for two years.  Other organizations, such as Va. Law Library Association, may lobby for other amendments.  It is expected that the General Assembly will almost automatically approve this amendment.

Cy asked for Council action on the 2002 Conference.  If VLA is to meet in Williamsburg next year, the contract must be signed by Feb. 16, 2001.  The room rate is much higher than this year’s or last year’s--$129 per night, single or double at the Marriott.  Council unanimously authorized Linda to negotiate an acceptable room rate (up to $129.00) in Williamsburg, and sign a contract with the Williamsburg Marriott for the 2002 conference.

Legislative Committee Report:

Janis Augustine outlined the top legislative issues for the 2001 General Assembly session:

·        Continue fullfunding of State Aid to Public Libraries by adding $724,000 to the budget.

·        Restore $2.2 million to the LVA budget.

·        Restore $300,000 to the VLA budget for the first installment on a new automation system.

·        Monitor the JLARC study of the formula for State Aid to Public Libraries.

·        Propose amendments to make UCITA more accommodating to libraries.

The General Assembly’s budget supports the fullfunding of State Aid in the House, but not the Senate.  Both houses restore $800,000 to $1.2 million to the LVA budget, but it is money that will most likely be taken out of the Infopowering funds and be used for LVA operations.  One house added $288,000 to the LVA budget for its automation system, but the other didn’t, and one house directed $70,000 for two specific construction projects, but the other had included no funds for construction.  The budget conferees are now working to reconcile the budget differences.

JLARC is still in the information-gathering phase of its State Aid study.  Both VLA and the Virginia Public Library Directors Association have sent statements to JLARC about the formula.  JLARC will be interviewing public librarians from around the state soon.  Their preliminary report is due this summer.

Cy has already reported on UCITA.

VLA Designated Agenda:

Cy went over the modifications to the designated agenda.  (See attachment.)  Clarifications and suggestions were as follows:

·        The Legislative Committee will recommend how to fund the liaison so that VLA will not have to ask for donations every year.

·        Scholarship financing was moved to the financial goal section.

·        If VLA obtains a 501(3c) designation, the proportion of the budget devoted to lobbying activities has to be closely monitored.

·        There was concern that formal reporting of intellectual freedom challenges may be lost in the new agenda.  Intellectual freedom challenges reported in the VLA Newsletter should also be featured on the VLA website.  Cy directed the Intellectual Freedom Committee to study the reporting mechanism and what exactly constitutes an IF challenge.

·        Cy also directed the Publications Committee to recommend where the “State of the Association” speech given by the President at the Annual Conference ought to be published.

·        The Continuing Education committee will determine what information is to be included in the speaker’s bureau and facilities directory.

After these issues were settled, the Council unanimously approved the agenda.

ALA Councilor Report:

Mary Mayer-Hennelly gave a report on the ALA Midwinter Meeting (see attachment).  She called attention to ALA’s Open Meeting Policy and will seek comments from the VLA membership prior to the ALA Conference in June.  Also Mary wanted suggestions for a Virginia-made item not costing more than $125.00 for the ALA Scholarship Auction.  No decision was made, but it was suggested that whatever is chosen should be easy to carry.

Federal Legislation:

Skip Auld reminded Council about ALA Federal Legislative Day in Washington, DC, on May 1, 2001. He handed out a draft of the registration form (see attachment), and noted that buses will be leaving Norfolk and Richmond for DC on that day. Linda Hahne and Skip will work on the pricing of the lunch and whom to invite. Skip will work on getting a speaker, preferably a Congressman or Senator, for the luncheon.

Unit Annual Reports:

17 units have not turned in their annual reports which were due in Oct. 2000 by the time of the annual conference.  According to Cy, the nonreporting units are:

Virginia Libraries

ALA Councilor

VLA Website

Academic Library Section

School Library Section

Regions I, II, III, & IV

Local History Forum

Multi-cultural Forum

Paraprofessional Forum

Trustees and Friends Forum

Youth Services Forum

Conference Committee

Continuing Education Committee

Legislative Committee

Ruth Arnold reminded everyone that the reports should come to her, and the form is on www.vla.org under the Manual section.

Unit News:

Intellectual Freedom Chair Ted Hostetler said that his committee is co-sponsoring with Region VI a workshop entitled, Copyright Law and UCITA: Impacts on Libraries.  It will be held on April 13 at the Northside Branch of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in Charlottesville.

Youth Services Chair Sherry Pearson announced that the first meeting of her forum will be this afternoon.  The Forum is working on Annual Conference Programs and also continuing education programs for the coming year.

Public Library Section Chair Sue Brown said that they will present a program at the Annual Conference on CIPA.  The section also wants a public library presence at VEMA.

Jan Rowley, Chair of the Volunteer Management Forum, reminded Council that nominations are needed for the Volunteer of the Year award.  The form can be found at www.vla.org.  Also, more forum members are needed.

The Paraprofessional Conference will take place May 20-22 in Richmond.  Chair Susan Paddock reminded Council members that there is some funding to help a few people attend the Conference.  Information is on the VLA website as noted above.

Continuing Education Chair Barbara Rittinger noted that their section of the VLA Manual had changed somewhat.  The Committee is working on the facilities directory, and it will be in the Excel format on the VLA website.  Also, she asked for suggestions for building the speakers’ bureau.

The Collection Management Forum is sponsoring a workshop on April 20 at the Library of Virginia entitled, Evaluating Electronic Resources, according to Chair Ellen Wertman.

Sharon McCaslin, Co-Chair of the Technical Services & Technology Forum reported (see attachment) that the Forum is surveying interested members about upcoming programs topics.  Also the forum is co-sponsoring a workshop with the Academic Section called Those Nasty Little Numbers: Gathering and Using Library Statistics.  The program will be held at LVA on March 30.

Barbie Selby, Publications Committee Chair, reminded members to contact Helen Sherman, editor of the VLA Newsletter with news and announcements.

The Public Documents Forum is planning a program with the State Depository Librarians.  Chair Peggy Burgess said the program will be held in the eastern part of the state in the spring and possibly in the western portion in August.

Steve Matthews, School Library Section Chair, is planning sessions at the Annual Conference for school librarians in the Richmond area.  These will take place on Friday afternoon.

Carolyn Barkley, who as Past President, is head of the Nominating Committee, is looking for academic library nominees for President/VP elect.  Also, nominees are needed for Second Vice President and Treasurer.  The slate is needed by April.

Olivia Osei-Sarfo, Chair of the Multi-cultural Forum, announced the formation of the Minority Library Network in Tidewater.

Constance Gilman, Awards and Recognition Committee Chair, announced that publicity and application forms for Awards and Recognition have been sent to Linda Hahne, the VLA Newsletter, and to www.vla.org. 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:20 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Janis Augustine

VLA Secretary