Minutes November 8th, 2007

Present: Diane Batemarco, Aurora Cruz, Ann-Marie Cutul, Maxine Grandison, Jodie Hopkins, James Leftwich, Opal B. Lindsay, Srivalli Rao, Jennifer L. Ransom, Sara Rodgers, and Karen Zielinski

Excused: Tim Baird, Zahra M. Baird, Tata Canuelas, Harriet Huang, Dulce Juarbe, Craig McMahon, John Monahan, Cathy Paulsen, and Carolyn Reznick

The meeting came to order at 10:15 A.M. Motion (Rodgers/Cruz) to accept the Minutes from the September 12 and October 25, 2007, passed with one minor correction.

President’s Report:
·    Lindsay noted that we now have a Chair person for the Public Relations Committee, Craig McMahon, who was excused from today’s meeting.

Treasurer’s Report:
·    Rodgers reported that as of September 28, 2007, WLA had $14,376.82 in the Checking account and $19,795.17 in the Investor’s Choice account.

Membership Report:
·    Rao has mailed membership renewals to 2006 and 2007 members together with the flier for the WLA December 6 Winter Social. She volunteered to copy the WLA logo on light weight paper for more economical mailings. Board members were unanimously in favor of this proposal. Cutul will order lighter weight letterhead next Spring.

Support Staff Section:
·    Grandison reported that she will be attending a Customer Service workshop and a Metro meeting and hopes to get ideas and make contacts for a workshop at our Annual Conference in 2008.

Professional Development Committee:
·    Zielinski reported that last year’s winner Martha Alcott can not take advantage of the award and cannot, therefore, accept it.
·    The deadline for this year’s award is February 29, 2008. Publicity will be needed. Rao will post flier to Waldo and Metro listservs. Zielinski will send fliers to WLS libraries.

Listserv:

·    Leftwich has set up a listserv for WLA Board members. Listserv will be expanded to include all WLA members. It was noted that most Board members have not been using the WLA Wiki, and, therefore, the method of communication between Board members will still be via the e-mail distribution list. 

WLS Winter Social:
·    All appears in order for the December 6 Winter Social at the Azzurri’s Restaurant in Thornwood.  Azzurri is charging $35 per person. The fee for attending the Social is $10 with WLA making up the difference.  Food will be served buffet style, and the first 10 bottles of wine will be free. Cruz is receiving registration responses. We will give an honorarium or food basket to speaker Ben Cheever. Rodgers will make up a small program hand out which will include essential WLA information. Cruz will fax the sign up list to Hopkins who will make up name tags. We will have WLA membership packets ready for potential sign ups and copies of the Professional Development Award application.

WLA Annual Conference:
·    The Board discussed the importance of location and parking at the Annual Conference. An alternative to Yonkers Riverfront Library is preferable, particularly since there is more money in the WLA accounts. Board members suggested several venues for Cruz to investigate as conference locations. Date will be either April 25 or May 9, 2008.

Expenses:  The Board agreed to keep the Conference expenses to a maximum of $21,000. It was suggested we develop a form for equipment needs to be signed by speakers and presenters. In the past, additional charges were levied for last minute equipment requests.

Conference theme: Finding your Place in the Changing World and So Many Books, So Little Time were suggested themes. Ransom will e-mail the Board about additional suggestions.

Workshops and Speakers: Leftwich suggested a panel workshop with librarians of different age groups to show different focus and work skills. Rodgers will contact Sara Nelson from Publishers Weekly as a possible keynote speaker.

The meeting adjourned (Ransom/Leftwich) at 12 Noon.

                        Respectfully submitted by Ann-Marie Cutul

Next WLA Board Meeting:
Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Place: Gloria Gaines Library
Marymount College
100 Neperhan Road, Tarrytown