CONNECTICUT LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Executive Board Meeting

March 6, 2008

Willington Public Library

 

 

I.                    Call to order:  The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am by President Carl Antonucci.  Roberta Passardi, Director of Willington Library welcomed the Board.

 

II.                 Board Introductions:  Members of the Board introduced themselves.

 

III.               Public Comments/Notes from CLA Office: none.

 

IV.              Additions to Agenda:

a.       Vote on Attorney Robert Shea Lobbying Contract (see Votes Taken)

 

V.                 Votes Taken:

An electronic vote was taken February 10th to confirm 2008 Conference Registration fees as required by the by-laws. The vote was unanimous to set the fees as follows: CLA member $95/day; $170 2/days; $250 3/days.  Non-member rates are $115/day; $220 2/days; $325 3/days; $50 for students (on Tuesday), Friends and Trustee CLA members, non-members $75.  BCALA and CASL member rates are the same as CLA members.

 

Jay Johnston moved to accept the contract of Shea Law, Inc. to serve as CLA lobbyist to replace Barry Williams who retired after 24 years of service.  Jan Fisher seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

Kathy Leeds moved to accept the minutes of the February 7, 2008 meeting.  Ted Wilmot seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

           

VI.              President’s Report:  Carl reported that he continues to work with the conference committee and securing sponsorship funding.  He also informed the Board that the recent legislative breakfast was a success. (see Legislative Committee report).

 

VII.            Treasurer’s Report:  Jan Fisher distributed her written report which included the $8,000 in the checking account transferred from the investment account. She indicated that the balance is rising with funding coming in through conference vendor fees.

 

VIII.         Past President’s Report:  Barbara Bailey presented the slate of nominations for 2008-2009 as follows: VP/President Elect: Randi Ashton-Pritting;

Region 2 Rep: Hal Bright; Region 3 Rep: Siobhan Grogan; Region 6 Rep: Theresa Conley

 

IX.              Vice President/President Elect:  Kathy Leeds reminded Board members that the CLA annual meeting will take place during the conference and that there will be no Board meeting in May.  The June meeting will take place on the 5th in Wilton.

 

X.                 Committee/Section/Roundtable Reports:

 

ACLB: Carl read Stan Siegel’s report which thanked CLA staff for its help in scheduling the ACLB conference program.   His report indicated that the Leadership Conference is scheduled for Friday, October 31, 2008 at Water’s Edge in Westbrook.

 

ALA: Jay Johnston reported that CEUs will be available at the conference.

 

Sandy Brooks added that ALA/APA is offering chapters is working to help establish national standards for support staff through an on-line Library Salary Database for public and academic libraries in the US.

 

Awards: Barbara Bailey informed the Board that the deadline for nominations is tomorrow.

 

CLASS: Sandy Brooks announced that the CLASS on-line survey is closed and that there were 600 responses – up 1/3 from past years.  The committee will know begin analysis.

 

CSL: Ken Wiggin distributed the Connecticut State Library report.  In addition to the written report, Ken also discussed 2 important legislative issues:

1.      Connecticut Health Care Partnership- all municipalities are now eligible to buy into the State of CT employees insurance.

2.      Bill #5790 – Internet and Protection of Children:  Attorney General Blumenthal is supporting this bill that is aimed at protecting children from sexual predators on social network sites.  Ken stated there is a need to rewrite the definition because they have a negative impact on libraries.  His office is suggesting new language for the bill.  He also asked Board members who are interested to submit written testimony to the State legislature.

 

Career Recruitment:  Debbie Herman reported that they have 12 highly qualified applicants for the CLA scholarship to be presented at the annual conference next month.  She reported on a meeting of the Career Recruitment and Mentoring Committees.  Those in attendance strongly favor a merger of the Career Recruitment, Mentoring and personnel Committees.  The belief is that this merger would enable the Association to better serve the needs of the membership by providing the support mechanisms necessary to negotiate successful professional transitions at every state.  They agreed that this committee would be primarily responsible for administering the following programs: MLS & LTA scholarships, mentoring program (to include librarians at any stage of their careers, not just entry level), leadership training, and establishing annual salary guidelines.  Debbie Herman agreed to oversee the approval process for the merger as the acting chair.    It was determined that the President appoint an ad-hoc committee. The committee would submit a formal, written proposal that would be voted on at the 2009 Annual Meeting. In the meantime, CLA Mentoring and Personnel Chairs could serve together as co-chairs.

 

Conference: Paula Cook reported on the conference planning and distributed a listing of program that still need volunteer reporters.  She reminded the Board that reporters do pay registration fees.

 

Pam Najarian gave an overview of the conference program contents and that it will be distributed via Ccar thanks to the State Library. She also reported that the conference committee has secured over $10,500 in sponsorship.

 

Editorial: Carol Abatelli reported that she is retiring from her position as chair of Editorial and that Tom Newman will serve as the new chair.  She proudly announced that Connecticut Libraries has remained within budget this year.

 

Legislative Committee:  Peter Ciparelli discussed the success of the March 5th legislative breakfast held at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.  He reported that there were approximately 60 in attendance: 25 legislators; 35 librarians and staff.   The legislators present pledged to restore the $50,000 cut in the State Library budget from the CLC request.  They also pledged to work with CLA ass related to our agenda for this session.  Peter informed the Board that former CLA lobbyist Barry Williams was honored at the breakfast and presented with a plaque in appreciation of his 24+ years of service.

 

Procedures: Sandy Brooks followed up with a mention of the “CLA regions” by informing the Board that a map is on the CLA website.  She suggested not spelling out the regions by town so that it may remain flexible in the event that we want to move a border.  She also suggested a link from the Executive Board list to the regional rep section to help those identify the towns of the various regions.

 

YA: Ann Marie Naples announced that co-chair Katie Bunn will be resigning her post and that Christine Kazack of _______ will replace her.

 

XI.              Old Business: none

 

 

XII.            New Business: Ron Walsh reported that New Members Roundtable will be hosting a Technology Sandbox featuring IM, blogging, FaceBook, etc. during the 3-day conference.  They are looking for evening activities to be held during the conference.

 

With no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 11:20 am.

 

Attendance: Jan Fisher, Alison Wang, Jay Johnston, Peter Ciparelli, Gerald Seagrave, Paula Cook, John Leonetti, Debbie Herman, Karen DeLoatch, Rob Walsh, Ted Wilmot, Kendall Wiggin, Ann Marie Naples, Katie Bunn, Hali Keeler, Theresa Conley, Elizabeth McKay, Gail Zieba, Margaret Gankofskie, Roberta Passardi, Tom Schadlich, Sandy Brooks, Carol Abatelli, Barbara Bailey, Kathy Leeds, Carl Antonucci.

 

                                                      Respectfully Submitted,

 

                                                      Pamela Najarian          

                                                                        Recording Secretary