Minutes September 19th, 2007

Present: Tim Baird, Zahra B. Baird, Aurora Cruz, Ann-Marie Cutul, Maxine Grandison, Jodie Hopkins, Harriet Huang, Dulce Juarbe, James Leftwich, Opal B. Lindsay, Cathy Paulsen, Srivalli Rao, Carolyn Reznick, and Judith Rovenger

Excused: Karyn De Luca, John Monahan, Jennifer L.Ransom, and Sara Rodgers

The meeting came to order at 10:10 A.M. Motion (Rovinger/Reznick) to accept the Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors from July 12, 2007, passed.

President’s Report:
·    Lindsay welcomed new Board members Maxine Grandison (Co-Chair, Support Staff Section) and Carolyn Reznick (Co-Chair, Reference Section). Lindsay showed off our new WLA banner which was displayed recently at a library school orientation. 

Treasurer’s Report:
·    Lindsay reported on behalf of Rodgers who was excused. Authorized signatures for the bank accounts are now in order. Lindsay reported that as of July 31, 2007, WLA had $15,108.54 in the Checking account and $19,774.14 in the Investor’s Choice account. She also reported that as of August 31, 2007, WLA had $15,022.61 in the Checking account and $19,785.75 in the Investor’s Choice account. $10,000 has been transferred from the Checking to the Investor’s Choice account to get better interest.

Membership Report:
·    Rao reported that WLA has 284 members for 2007. Fifty members did not renew from 2006. 2005 members have been deleted from the database. Rao will insert the WLA url as a footer on membership renewal memo and form. 2008 membership renewal notices will be mailed 11/1/07. Any information to be included with this mailing should be delivered to her 10/29/07. Anyone signing up for membership after WLA’s Annual Conference will have free membership during the following year.

Privacy Policy:
·    Privacy Policy drafted by Rao was distributed. Motion (Huang/Juarbe) to accept the policy was accepted with a few corrections and changes. After its final revision, the Privacy Policy will be posted on WLA’s website. Possible access to membership file by all members will be revisited in the future.

Web Administration Committee:
·    T. Baird reported that the WLA’s website gets many job announcements and encourages Board members to continue to feed him information.
·    A link will be posted to nominations for the upcoming Youth Services Mock Awards program.

Public Relations Committee: 
·    Z.M. Baird reported that she has a person in mind for the Chair position. Baird would work with the new person who would have the option of working with Srivalli who is also willing to help. A listserv was also mentioned as a possibility.

Youth Services Committee:
·    The Youth Committee is planning a mock awards program the first week of January. The event will be held at the White Plains Public Library and will be free to WLA members.
·    The Board agreed to help pay for refreshments. Non-members will pay a nominal fee to attend.

Fall Workshop:
·    Lindsay has been in contact with popular speaker Tracie Hall, Assistant Dean at Dominican University.  A program had tentatively been arranged for the beginning of November with Tracie speaking about the changing needs of the library and the changing community. After a lengthy discussion, this program was tabled since there would not be enough time for publicity. A suggestion was made that Tracie be invited at a keynote speaker at WLA’s Annual Conference.
·    Another early evening workshop will be planned for either November 29 or December 6. The event will be held at a museum in Westchester, and refreshments will be provided and paid for by WLA within a $1500 budget. A local speaker will be invited. Reznick, Cruz and Paulsen will be in charge of organizing the event.

Annual Conference:
·    Cruz reported that she had not found any public venue that could accommodate our needs for the Annual Conference. There are a few more venues that she will explore. We are still booked at the Yonkers Riverfront Library for both April 25 and May 9, 2008.

The meeting adjourned (Z.M.Baird/Reznick) at 12:10 P.M.

                        Respectfully submitted by Ann-Marie Cutul

Next WLA Board Meeting:
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2007
Time: 10 A.M.
Place: Eastchester Public Library