Draft Minutes
August 11, 2009
New York Library Association - Public Library Section
Board Meeting – Mohawk Valley Library System
Present: Matthew Bollerman, Karen LaRocca-Fels, Beverly Choltco-Devlin, Geoffrey Kirkpatrick, Lisa Hewel, Carol Clingan, and Barbara Madonna.
I. Call to Order, Approval of Agenda
President LaRocca-Fels called the meeting to order at 10:37 am
II. Approval of Minutes.
Minutes of the previous meeting were approved on a motion by M Bollerman, second by C Clingan.
III. Financial Report
G Kirkpatrick presented the current 2009 treasurer’s report. He was able to work out the $1500 discrepancy in the conference line to PLS’ favor. A question was raised about establishing a line time for teleconference expenses in addition to the mileage line item. The report was accepted as present by a motion from C Clingan, seconded by L Hewel.
IV. President’s Report
K LaRocca-Fels stated the next NYLA Council meeting would be May 14.
A discussion concerning Michael Borges recommendation that NYLA pay NYSUT $20,000 to act as our lobbying firm was held. The board voted unanimously to support this proposal.
V. Vice-President’s Report
M Bollerman spoke about the 2009 conference in Niagara Falls.
A career program about preparing for the job market and changing careers in times of economic hardship has been eliminated. PLS was offered the opportunity to host a section reception either Thursday or Friday evenings. With Author! Author! on Thursday and the banquet on Friday, the board decided to pass. Carol suggested a coffee time during the trade show.
A/V needs are in the works. Johanna’s deadline for the final program is July 31st. Author! Author! will receive a full page ad. K LaRocca-Fels will work with the same PR firm to develop an ad. Author! Author! tickets will be $35. The program will start with a talk about the history of the falls, food, talk by Carol Goodman. Books will be on sale before and after, and a shuttle will be available.
A full day CE with Libby Post about campaigns will be ready for the prelim.
VI. Committee Reports
Awards.
S Considine reported that the award announcements are out (Synergy, PLS website, memberclicks). Deadlines for all of the awards except the Post MLS are June 29th via the PLS Awards Google email – . The Post MLS award has several deadlines throughout the year with the closest being June 1.
Civil Service Task Force.
G Kirkpatrick reported committee has met with the State Commission who has accepted the proposals for Librarian I and II. They will be moving forward to get the tests online. They will also work with the local municipalities for continuous recruitment if the municipalities want that. The Task Force is moving on to work on the Director I
Legislative Committee.
No report.
Library District Task Force.
No report.
Membership.
B Choltco-Devlin reported that PLS has 1,268 members as of the March report. 1,025 basic members, 243 as an additional section. 25-30 have expired. She will send us the list before contacting them. There have been no meetings, so there in no report.
Nominating.
C Clingan reported the current slate as:
Vice President President Elect - Geoffrey Kirkpatrick, Bethlehem Public Library
2nd Vice President - Patrice Hollman, Albany Public Library
Secretary - Barbara Madonna, Gloversville Public Library
Suggestions for 1st Year Director included Alyssa Oakley, Kim (Intern at MVLS), and Evelyn Butrico. Additional names should be sent to Carol by May 20th. The electronic voting runs from June 15-July 15.
VII. NYLA Conference
M Bollerman reviewed the fall 2009 conference programs in his Vice-President’s report.
NYLA Continuing Education Committee:
This was discussed under the Vice-President’s report related to conference.
IX. Old Business
L Hewel discussed booth ideas for Niagara Falls. Booth volunteers will be encouraged to wear tie dyes, jeans, any 60’s like clothes and accessories. PLS still has about 500 ribbons and a lot of “flashback” flashdrives for giveaways. Raffle suggestions included a kindle, a turntable that will convert LPs to MP3 and a spa treatment to LaTourelle where the Spring CE is being booked. L Hewel will begin contacting volunteers August 1st. The Ithaca Chamber of Commerce as offered a lot of tourism materials to promote the Spring CE location. iPod, Woodstock compilation DVD set were suggested.
The spring 2010 conference will be held on Friday, April 30, 2010 in Ithaca at the LaTourelle Spa and Resort (http://www.latourelle.com). There are 52 rooms with a Country Suites adjacent to the property. Meeting rooms have a capacity of 150 and would be free. There is a large meeting area and breakout spaces as well as a terrace.A Wine and Wellness reception is being offered for Thursday night. Room rates are pretty reasonable with a cut rate for Thursday and a discount rate for folks wishing to make a weekend of it. A 10% off spa treatments has been extended and there are seminars on relaxation available. The committee is working with a representative of the local Chamber of Commerce on other activities such as a tour of the Cornell Library or having a speaker for Cornell University and the wellness center. The White Eagle in Hamilton is Plan B.
The theme would be “Growing Your Library, Growing Yourself.” It was suggested we get Post-Its will that theme for the conference booth to promote it and start registration in January.
Suggested programs on library wellness:
The Institute of Museum and Library Services and Florida State University have been working on a grant for a web-based evaluation tool to determine the ‘health’ of libraries and to promote public services. It includes evaluation based decision making.
L Hewels attended a training of the LARC. The program about branding and marketing was really geared to very large libraries like NYPL or Queens. Andrew Pek, author of Stimulated!: Habits to Spark Your Creative Genius at Work was very engaging. He is very high energy and challenges people to take a leap of faith with big bold moves. His presentation includes small group work.
Judy Rosner, president of the Rosner Group, does a lot of coaching and counseling related to customer service and would be happy to offer a program about working with stressed out patrons. “How to deal. How to get out of the stress mess.”
Questions:
Would we had to guarantee a minimum number of reservations?
What is NYLA’s fee schedule for something like this?
Would we want a luncheon speaker, a local author?
What sort of fees to the presenters have? Would they require accommodations, travel expenses, meals?
Though Cooperstown would be a great draw, the Otesaga is very expensive.
K LaRocca-Fels extended kudos to L Hewel, S Constine and B Choltco-Devlin for all their work on the conference.
X. New Business
B Choltco-Devlin brought up concerns about the NOVEL databases. Having an April to April subscription year is problematic for libraries who are promoting use of the databases for students. The change from EBSCO to Proquest in April created many issues for students who were left without database access during the change over and who have to learn new resources at the end of their academic year. She also reported that the subcommittee who makes the subscription decisions, MECAP, has no public librarians on it. She is suggesting that PLS advocate with the new state librarian for public library needs related to NOVEL and to bring this issue up at NYLA council.
Next meeting:
June 12th at 10:30 am at MVLS.
L Hewel moved to adjourn. Seconded by B Choltco-Devlin.
Adjournment: 12:13 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Madonna, Secretary