Minutes February 5th, 2009

WESTCHESTER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting
February 5, 2009

 

Present: Aurora Cruz, Ann-Marie Cutul, Ed Falcone, Dan Glauber, Marybeth Kendrick, James Leftwich, Opal B. Lindsay, Srivalli Rao, Carolyn Reznick, Sharon Rothman, Judith Rovenger, and Karen Zielinski

Excused: Tim Baird, Zahra M. Baird, Diane Batemarco, Kate Colquitt, Karyn DeLuca, Harriet Huang, Michelle Meltzer, John Monahan, and Cathy Paulsen

The meeting came to order at 10:10. Motion (Cruz/Zielinski) to accept the Minutes from January 8, 2009, passed.

President’s Report:
Leftwich announced our address for tax exempt purposes: P.O. Box 8322, White Plains, New York 10602. Rao and Leftwich have keys, and use will only be internal.

Treasurer’s Report:
Falcone reported that as of January 30, 2009, the WLA Checking Account had $18,615.47 and the Savings Account $19,861.03. The Board authorized Falcone to move money from the Checking to the Savings account as he sees fit in order to earn more interest. Falcone also showed the Board the new tax exempt form which can be reproduced.

Membership Report:
Rao reported that we currently have 116 members. 152 members from 2008 and 78 from 2007 have not renewed their memberships. She will send out renewal forms by email next week to those members for whom she has an email ID.

Web Administration Committee:
Leftwich mentioned that he had received notices for out of state activities. The Board agreed that he should use his discretion when authorization any postings for the web page.

College Section:
Leftwich reported on behalf of Batemarco who was excused. The College section has engaged Susan Acampora from the College of New Rochelle to speak on the topic Second Life and Libraries: Getting Started in Virtual Reality during the 10:15 – 11:15 slot. Batemarco has sent Acampora’s bio and her program description along with her photo to Meltzer for publicity. Batemarco has informed Cruz of Acampora’s AV requirements and the time frame for set up and testing of equipment. Batemarco wants to know if speakers pay to attend the conference and pay for their lunches. The board’s answer is no. The honorarium of $250 includes travel expenses.

Youth Services Section:
Rovenger reported that the Mock Awards Program at the Scarsdale Public Library was well attended and a great success. 
Kendrick reported that two programs are in place for the Annual Conference. The Committee has engaged John Sexton, WLS Teen Consultant, to do a morning session on “Tweens, Teens, and Technology: Kids 2day and Web 2.0. Mr. Sexton will also do an afternoon session talking about the WLS Learns Web 2.0 training program.

Public Relations Committee:
Michelle Meltzer, newly recruited chair, could not be present. Cruz, on her behalf, urged section chairs to forward bios and pictures of Conference speakers to Meltzer A.S.A.P.

Legislation Committee:
Glauber, newly recruited Legislation Chair, has been in contact with Elise Burke at WLS about the arrangements for Leg Day, March 10. WLS will pick up the tab for the bus. A flyer with a sign up form and a budget information sheet have been uploaded to the WLA website. Glauber will also distribute these documents via e-mail to public library directors. Rao will send email notification to WLA members.

Professional Development Committee:
Zielinski reported that the recipient of the Robert Trudell Scholarship is Melissa Iamonico. James Mahoney will present her with the award at the O’Malley’s Social this evening. Deadline for next year’s award has been set for December 1 this year.

O’Malley’s Social:
Reznick reported that 42 people have signed up for the event which will cost $1300. WLA’s outlay will be $970 after sign up fees are deducted from the total cost. We will distribute flyers about upcoming programs (Bowling Soiree and Lobby Day) and a “Save the Date” notice for the Annual Conference at tonight’s gathering.

Annual Conference:
Registration: Rothman reported that there will be fewer handouts in the packets. Many information sheets will be by the registration tables so attendees can help themselves, and wristbands will be used instead of tickets. Rothman presented two registration options, one for attending the conference all day, the other for attending either half day or all day. The Board voted unanimously for option two listed below. Pricing is tentative. Cruz will email the Board for final pricing decision.

All day registration (including breakfast & lunch)
                      Early Bird (by April 1)             After April 1
                            
Library Student             $30.00                $40.00
WLA Members                $45.00                $60.00
Non-Members                $65.00                $85.00

Morning Half Day            
(Breakfast, Kickoff Speaker,
Exhibits & Program Sessions I & II)
Library Student                $15.00                $25.00
WLA Members                $25.00                $35.00        
Non-Members                $35.00                $45.00

Afternoon Half Day    
(Program Sessions II & III,
Lunch, Keynote Speaker &
Exhibits)
Library Student                $20.00                $30.00
WLA Members                $35.00                $50.00
Non-Members                $50.00                $65.00

Vendor tables will cost $250 each which includes one free lunch. Additional lunch is $35.00 per person.
Each speaker honorarium will be a maximum of $250 which includes transportation and lunch.

Schedule:
The Board agreed to the following schedule:
Registration & Exhibits 8-3 p.m.
Breakfast 8 -9 a.m.
Exhibits 8 – 9 a.m.
Business Meeting 8:45 – 9 a.m.
Kick-off Speaker Roger Panetta 9 – 9:45 a.m.
Exhibits 9:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Program I 10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
   Session A, B, C, and D
Exhibits 11:15 -11:45 a.m.
Program II 11:45 – 12:45 p.m.
   Session E and F
Lunch & keynote speaker Lee Child 1 – 2:15 p.m.
Exhibits & Book Signing 2:15 – 3 p.m.
Raffle in Exhibition Area 3 – 3:15 p.m.
Program III 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
  Session G, H, I and J

Speakers:
Slots will be finalized for individual speakers listed below:
Kick-off Speaker: Roger Panetta
Keynote Speaker: Lee Child
College: Susan Acampora and Leslin Charles
Youth Services: John Sexton (two sessions)
Support Staff: Ma’lis Wendt and Carrie Mason-Draffen
Reference: Janie L. Hermann 
General speakers: Pam Schiller Socolow and Michael Borges
Washington Irving Book Awards Authors

Legislators:
Glauber will invite legislators to the luncheon.

Giveaways:
The Board voted to let DeLuca spend a small amount of money for freebies, such as pens in conjunction with the Washington Irving Authors program.

Vendor publicity:
Rothman proposed a large poster board on an easel to advertise the exhibitors. Cutul suggested we should put up a similar poster board for the raffle donors.

Rothman will email worksheet forms to program chair persons. Cutul suggested to Rothman that she write up the registration process for the next registrar. Zielinski offered to assist Rothman with the registration.

Newsletter:
Glauber will look into producing an online Newsletter for WLA members.

Post Conference Survey:
We will do an after Conference survey using Survey Monkey. The survey will be e-mailed to all Conference attendees the day after the Conference.

WLA Slate 2009-2010:
Board members were urged to think about candidates.

The meeting was adjourned (Kendrick/Glauber) at 11:45 a.m.

                          Respectfully submitted by Ann-Marie Cutul

Next Meeting:
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009
Place: Eastchester Public Library
Time: 10 A.M. – Noon

Upcoming Meetings:
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009
Place: Yonkers Will Library
Time: 10 A.M. – Noon

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009
Place: Yonkers Will Library
Time: 10 A. M. – Noon