Connecticut Library Association

Executive Board Meeting

Plainville Public Library

February 3, 2005

 

1.         The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am. F. Gagliardi and P. Chase welcomed the board to Plainville.

 

II.         Board Introductions: The board was introduced.

 

III.       Public Comment and Notes from the CLA Office: None.

 

IV.       Additions to the Agenda and/or Action Items:

                        Discussion of CLA Web Site

 

V.        Votes Taken:

 

J. Johnson moved to accept the minutes of January 13, 2005. N. Wood seconded. A correction was noted under the Legislative report.  The date of the next legislative committee meeting is February 16th, not the 6th.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

A. Burgan moved to accept the Nominating Committee’s proposed slate of officers, effective July 1, 2005, following a vote by the membership at the annual meeting in April.  Tom Geoffino, Vice-President/President-Elect; Bridget Quinn-Carey, Region 5 Representative; Tracy Ralston, Region 1 Representative. H. Keeler seconded.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

P. Ciparelli moved that the CLA Executive Board support the revision of State Statute 11-25 sub-section(s) a, b, c and d – Reports by Libraries – Confidentiality of Records.  A. Burgan seconded.  MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

VI.       President’s Report:  1/ M. Moran, P. Ciparelli and B. Williams have arranged several meetings at the Legislative Office Building, during the past month, with newly elected legislators. 2/ The CLA Committee for Quality Library Service will meet monthly at 1:00 pm. following the Executive Board Meetings.  The primary goal of this committee is give libraries the tools to provide quality library service. A preliminary report will be made to the board in January 2006. Serving on this committee are: C. Bradley, A. Knapp, L. Kozerowitz, L. Goodgion, T. Conley, M. Jensen, N. Lushington, J. McGinn, S. Brettschneider and K. Wiggin. 3/ Connecticut Library Consortium: C. Bradley noted that the CLC is sponsoring a workshop on March 8th on defending your library budget. This will be held at the Wallingford Public Library from 9:30-12:30.

 

VII.      Treasurer’s Report:  The report circulated at today’s board meeting has not been reconciled.  The checking account balance is $29,535 and the investment account balance is $109,000.

 

VIII.     Past President’s Report:  L. Kozerowitz announced the slate of officers for the coming year.  Vice-President/President Elect will be Tom Geoffino, Fairfield Public Library.  The current Region 5 representative, Tracy Ralston will be filling the Region 1 position and Bridget Quinn Carey will serve as the Region 5 representative. A motion was made to accept these nominations.  See vote above.  

 

IX.       Vice-President’s Report: None

 

X.        Committee/Section/Roundtable Reports:

 

Editorial: J. Smith displayed the current CLA web page for discussion of revisions and updates. It was noted that the host site, UCONN, provides us with free service.  Some of the comments offered by the board were: a/ that the first page is too large for viewing on one screen, b/ putting group forms and applications into a submenu, c/ a member only site for reading CT Libraries, d/ links to other state library groups, e/ the use of rollovers to divide the page, f/ a search window, g/ a slide show under the CT Library Association title on page 1, h/ a link to the State Librarie’s Continuing education calendar, and the addition of the CLA logo to the web page.  The committee will also be looking at other servers and will get back to the board.

 

ACLB: The date of the 2005 Leadership Conference has been changed to Friday, October 14th. The next ACLB Board meeting will be held on March 8th in Guilford.

 

ADA: This committee will be meeting on February 23rd.  A program will be held at the Russell Library on March 15th on Reference Services for People with Disabilities.  More information is available on the CLC website.

 

ALA: J. Johnston submitted a report from the recent ALA Conference in Boston. Highlighted in this report were: 1/ ALA/APA initiative for national certification, 2/ Many ALA offices, committees and roundtables along with the ALA/APA are working on recommendations related to support staff from the Committee on Professional Education (COPEIII), 3/ There was debate about the closing of the Salinas, CA Libraries, 4/ ALA is accepting applications for the We The People Bookshelf on Freedom Grants.  For guidelines and applications go to www.ala.org/wethepeople. National ALA Legislative Day will be held May3-4, 2005.  A full copy of this report is available in the CLA office.

 

Awards: The application due dates are on the CLA website.

 

Business and Economic Development: This committee has been working on conference programs.

 

Conference: H. Dutcher and N. Wood reported that the program in the February issue of CT Libraries is not the final one – changes are still being made. Mary Ann needs contact information for all speakers and program chairs are asked to get this information to her if they have not already done so. The brochure will be mailed out sometime next week.  Please be reminded that two garages are available for “day trippers”.  If you park in the Omni Hotel garage, CLA will not pay for parking.

 

Connecticut State Library:  S. Brettschneider reported: 1/ In December2004, the Advisory Council on Library Planning and Development (ALCPD) formed a Task Force for Review of Public Library Statutes.  The task force will be examining the statutes for outdated language or content and will be considering new statutory language. Three forums will be held on March 22, 23 and 24th.  2/ Equal Access Libraries: The CSL will be working with Libraries for the Future on a program that provides an integrated approach to transforming public libraries into community centers for information and education.  3/ iCONN: the upgrade to the new federated searching portal will take place February 7th. This will necessitate shutting down the access to the reQuest statewide catalogue from Feb 2nd thru no later than Feb. 7th. 4/ Winners of the Connecticut Excellence in Public Library Architecture Awards 2005 are the Cragin Memorial Library, Greenwich Library and the Cornwall Free Library.  A full copy of this report is available in the CLA office.  S. Brettschneider also talked briefly about the State budget which will be released next week.  Feb. 28th may be the day that the State Library testifies at the public hearings. Also, all library projects were approved at the State Library Board Meeting.

 

Development: Please return the questionnaire distributed last month if you have not already done so. M. Etter attended ALA in Boston and has been looking at Executive Director job descriptions from other associations.

 

Friends: M. Engels reported this month for the Friends and was pleased to see the friends in the spotlight of this month’s CT Libraries. The winter newsletter is in the mail and a promo packet is being put together for Friends month in April.   The Friends 25th anniversary will be celebrated on June 4th at the State Library. Regina Barrecca will be the featured speaker.

 

Legislative: 1/ The CLA Executive Board approved the revision of Statute 11-25.

Reports by Libraries - Confidentiality of Records.  See motion above and Statute appended to these minutes. Representative Lawler will sponsor the bill. 2/ The legislative committee report noted meetings with Senators Harp and  Herlihy, and Representatives Gsbriola, Fleischmann, and Merrill – all of which were facilitated by CLA lobbyist Barry Williams.  The Committee learned that hearings on library budget issues will take place on Tues. Feb. 22nd at 10:00 am. for State Library testimony.  At 6:00 pm. public testimony will be heard.  An ad hoc subcommittee, chaired by Les Kozerowitz, was convened to develop and educational campaign in support of increased Connecticard funding.  Sharon and Les handed out a Connecticard FAQ sheet and there was some discussion.

 

Membership: There are 1,126 members with 5 new members for the month.

 

NELA:  1/ Rob Favini, NELINET, will be presenting the Evolving Web on Tuesday at the CLA annual conference.  2/ The NELLS application deadline is February 5th. 3/ The NELA Educational Assistance Committee have sent packets to the library science schools, soliciting students for scholarships. 4/ April 1st is the date of the NERTCL Stand Alone Conference at Foxwoods. 5/ NETSL will meet at Holy Cross on April 8th.  The next NELA Executive Board Meeting is scheduled for March 15th.

 

Public Libraries – H.Keeler reported that the January issue of Library Mosiacs was devoted to library technical training.  Her article on the program at Three Rivers was included in this issue.

 

XI.       Old Business: none

 

XII.      New Business: none

 

XIII.     M. Hasskarl made a motion to adjourn at 11:40. J. Fisher seconded.

 

Attendees: J. Johnston, M. Hasskarl, D. Higginson, M. Simpson, J. Rabin, M. Etter, A. Richetelle, M. Engels, H. Dtucher, N. Gillies, M. Foyt, A. Wang, A. Barney, N. Disbrow, C. Abatelli, K. Jacobi, J. Smith, D. Kapp, L. Kozerowitz, F. Nadeau, A. Burgan, P. Chase, G. Seagrave, H. Keeler, T. Conley, N. Wood, P. Ciparelli,  F. Gagliardi, J. Fisher, C. Bradley, a. Knapp, F. Aloisa

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Zoller, Recording Secretary

 

Return to Minutes menu

Return to Main Menu

 

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE PROPOSAL:

 

Current Statute:

 

§  11-25. Reports by libraries.  Confidentiality of records

 

(a) The libraries established under the provisions of this chapter, and any free public

library receiving a state appropriation, shall annually make a report to the State      Library Board.

 

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1-210, personally identifiable information

      contained in the circulation records of all public libraries shall be confidential.

 

Proposed Statute:

 

§  11-25. Reports by libraries.  Confidentiality of records

 

(a)     The libraries established under the provisions of this chapter, and any free public library receiving a state appropriation, shall annually make a report to the State Library Board.

 

(b)    Public libraries and their staffs have an obligation to protect the privacy of library

users. Thus, notwithstanding the provisions of section 1-210, records maintained by libraries that can be used to identify any library user, or link any user to a library transaction, regardless of format, shall be kept confidential, except that the records may be disclosed to officers, employees, and agents of the library to the extent necessary for the proper operation of the library. This obligation applies to all libraries regularly open to the public, whether public or private, maintained by any school, college, or university, or by any industrial, commercial or other group or association, or by any governmental agency.

 

(c)     Information contained in such records shall not be released to any third party except under the following circumstances:

i.                     Pursuant to a court order;

ii.                   With the written permission of the library user whose personal information is contained in the records.

 

(d)    Nothing in this statute shall prevent a library from publishing or making available to

the public reasonable statistical reports regarding library registration and use of library materials where those reports are presented so that no individual is identified therein.