BOARD MEETING

December 4, 1998
Federal Way Regional Library

Members Present:
Joan Weber, President
Cindy Cunningham, Vice-President/President Elect
Carol Gill Schuyler, Secretary
Patty Duitman, Treasurer
Diane Cowles, Coordinator of Continuing Education
Mary Carr, Coordinator of Communications
Susan Odencrantz, 2000 Conference Coordinator
Jan Walsh, ALA Councilor
Linda Pierce, PNLA Representative
Kathleen Ardrey, WLFTA Representative
Gail Willis, Association Coordinator
Linda Rhines, WLA LINK Editor
Ginny Rabago, LINK Assistant Editor
Martha Parsons, Webmaster
Louise Saylor, ALKI Editorial Committee
Kim Hixson, Fiscal Impact Committee
Kristy Coomes, Organizational Structure Committee
Lynn Kanne, ARGH! Interest Group
Don Willis, ARGH! Interest Group
Michael Wessells, Intellectual Freedom Interest Group

The meeting was called to order at 9:45 a.m. by President Joan Weber.
Joan welcomed the Board members, who then introduced themselves.
There were no additions or corrections to the agenda.

Approval of the minutes of the September 25, 1998 meeting: Carol Gill Schuyler

The minutes were approved as posted on the Web Page.

Treasurer's Report: Patty Duitman

Patty Duitman distributed the WLA 1998/1999 Budget as of November 30th and the 1998 WALE Conference treasurer's report as of November 20th. Membership applications have been mailed, but the dues are not expected until after January 1st. The Association is currently living on its reserve; this is to be expected and we are where we budgeted in terms of revenue. Expenditures for the Association are "on target". The WALE Conference revenue was budgeted at $27,325 with a probable net revenue of $7500 when all of the expenses have been paid. Joan Weber commended all those with budget responsibilities. A few years ago, the Association was spending its reserve fund, but with the projection of revenues for conferences, workshops, etc., this has turned around.The budget was accepted as presented.

OLD BUSINESS:

Continued discussion of member benefits for sustaining members: Mary Carr

The Board had requested that the PR Committee discuss membership benefits. During their meeting in November, they decided to recommend at least a $10 differential between members' and non-members' conference and workshop fees to prompt people to join the Association.

MOTION: Move that there be a minimum $10 differential between member and non-member registration fees to prompt people to join the Association.
Moved: Mary Carr.
Seconded: Patty Duitman.
Discussion: Don Willis suggested that a one sentence explanation be added to registration forms to promote the idea. Joan Weber noted that if a conference or workshop does not meet their budget, the Association makes up the difference. The ILL group lost a substantial amount of money because they budgeted at a different rate than appeared on the workshop registration fees. Gail Willis said that even a self-sustaining workshop cost the Association with the expenses of time, printing, mailing, etc. Mike Wessells said that it is very common to have different fees for members and non-members. Diane Cowles had discussed this with the Interest Group chairs; they are not all enthusiastic, but can accept it. Kristy Coomes asked if there would ever be an instance when this would cause a problem. Patty Duitman responded that the combined WLA/OLA conference could, but that it could be addressed by having the proposed rates presented to the Board. Even combined conferences or workshops are sponsored by WLA. Martha Parsons stated that WALE annual conferences have traditionally made a substantial differential between members and non-members and that this has caused spikes in membership. This could be resolved with a calendar-year membership.
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: "A discounted registration rate is a benefit of membership in WLA." be added to all conference and workshop registration forms.
Passed unanimously.

ALKI advertising rates, revisited: Louise Saylor

Louise Saylor reported that the ALKI Editorial Committee had discussed the rates for advertising in ALKI and recommended that the rates be: $300 for a full-page ad, $175 for a half-page ad, and $100 for a quarter-page ad.

MOTION: Move to bring back to the table the motion of the September 25th meeting.
Moved: Cindy Cunningham.
Seconded: Marry Carr.
Passed unanimously.
MOTION: Move to charge $500 for a full-page advertisement, $300 for a half-page, and $175 for a quarter-page with sustaining members receiving a 20% discount.
Failed.
MOTION: Move that the proposed ALKI rates for advertising be accepted: $300 for a full-page ad, $175 for a half-page ad, and $100 for a quarter-page ad with sustaining members receiving a 20% discount.
Passed unanimously.

Louise said that the next themes for issues of ALKI would be school libraries, conferences, and "libraries as place". Dated material should be directed to LINK. Martha Parsons places all current information on the website. Gail Willis sends all announcements to the website, ALKI, and LINK and lets the editors make the choice as to what is appropriate to be included in the resource. Linda Rhines asked that the Board let her know when they receive the next issue of LINK so that she can get a sense of the time that it actually takes for mailings to be received. Louise said that Kathy Bullene, the WLA scholarship recipient was delighted to be asked to participate on the ALKI Editorial Committee. The December issue of ALKI is at the printer. Louise is pleased with the amount of content in this issue. Following the discussion at the September meeting, Wilson was contacted. Beginning with this issue, full-text will appear in Omnifile. WLA does not need to own the content, but contributors give up their electronic rights.

Possible dates for Conference 2004, Ocean Shores: Cindy Cunningham

Cindy Cunningham reported that she had spoken with the Shilo Inn at Ocean Shores and that both the Inn and the Conference Center were available in April of 2004 for the annual conference. Meeting rooms at the Inn would be free if the hotel rooms were filled. Patty Duitman said that the rates were reasonable. Because the 1999 WALE Conference is scheduled to be there, both Cindy and Martha Parsons have been working with the Shilo Inn; experience can also be gained through WALE. Martha and Kim Hixon have recently negotiated with the Ocean Shores facilities.

MOTION: Move that Cindy Cunningham be authorized to establish dates and work with the contract for the 2004 Annual Conference, April 21 - 23.
Moved: Cindy Cunningham.
Seconded: Jan Walsh.
Passed unanimously.

Cindy will contact the hotel and negotiate a contract for those dates. Patty will also work with her and they will use Mike Wirt's expertise. He has a wonderful "boiler plate contract" that can be massaged for future conference sites. Mike Wessells volunteered to work with the contract and with the facilities and said that he will invite Judy Stull to assist with the conference planning.

Graduate school scholarship money cap, revisited: Patty Duitman

Patty Duitman said that there was confusion now that there are other graduate schools available to students in Washington. She was asked if $6000 was enough money for the scholarships for two students. It was adequate in 1997 and 1998, but independent tuition varies from school to school. Before budgeting next year, we need to make sure that this amount will meet the needs. Gail Willis asked if it would not be fiscally responsible to put a cap on the scholarship funds available to students. Patty said that the billing for tuition depends on the schools' cycles and requirements, i.e. on-site and distance learning. It was recommended that a cap be put on each scholarship and then it would be the students' discretion on how the tuition would be used.

MOTION: Move that up to $3000 be awarded for tuition per scholarship per year.
Moved: Mary Carr.
Seconded: Cindy Cunningham.
Discussion: Patty asked if we were working with the WLA fiscal year or the school year. The scholarship is awarded at the annual conference in April and must be used within five years. Patty and Kim Hixon both stated that a contract should be worked out so that the recipient knows exactly what the Association is giving and the time frame. Mary Carr asked about the consequences if the recipient does not complete a paid for quarter. Gail said that a contract should include the submission of a transcript for each quarter. Joan Weber directed Gail, Patty, and Kim Hixson to draft a letter and contract for the scholarship recipients and present it to the Board for approval at the February meeting. Louise Saylor asked what the consequences would be if someone decided that the profession would not work once the scholarship had been received. Lynne Kanne said that there is a responsibility to commit to Washington State, but that the Association has not asked for proof that this has been done. Cindy Cunningham suggested that we initiate a support network for graduating scholarship winners. Don Willis said that we should encourage people to seek work in the state and thus payback the scholarship with service, but there are often circumstances when this does not work. We are still recognizing people's potential in the profession and their success is ultimately our success. Susan Odencrantz concurred with Don. The Association is supporting the profession which is changing; we need risk takers and those with a global vision.
Passed unanimously.

WALE Merit Award Revision: Sherry Braga and Amy Ravenholt

Gail Willis presented the revision to the Board. The revision incorporates the changes that had been recommended at the September meeting. The award was approved in September; the nomination form is ready for distribution for this award cycle. Sherry Braga will serve on the Awards Committee until a WALE member is appointed by Cindy Cunningham as President in April. The written report of the WALE Annual Conference was also presented to the Board. Joan Weber, who participated as a speaker at the Conference, pronounced it "dynamite".

Intellectual Freedom Statement Revision (Draft): Cher Ravagni and Jan Walsh

Jan Walsh stated that she and Cher Ravagni had both reviewed the 1959 and 1971 Intellectual Freedom Statements. The basic concept is still there although the wording may have changed. She recommended postponing the discussion until the February Board meeting so that the documents can be digested. Should we introduce an Intellectual Freedom Statement at the 1999 Annual Conference or have open forums for a year and affirm a statement at the 2000 Conference. Mike Wessells will meet with the Intellectual Freedom Committee; filtering is a major issue. Linda Pierce said that any statement would be controversial; Joan Weber said that the issues needed to be addressed in the future regardless of the controversy. Discussion centered on how to begin a dialogue with libraries throughout the State. Website? Susan Odencrantz said that this issue would attract the interest of non-librarians as well. Joan will talk to Steve Duncan to see if he would advise open access to the discussion. Don Willis recommended an informal meeting at the 1999 Conference to discuss intellectual freedom in Washington with materials available for attendees. Cindy Cunningham will talk to Tom Moak to see if a room could be made available. The Board should appoint a group to draft a resolution for presentation at the 2000 Conference. Jan, Mike, Cindy, and Cher will be involved in planning a meeting for Pasco. Joan suggested an announcement on the website of the discussion, but not to include the documents or dialog. At the conference meeting, badges should be checked so that people who are actively involved in the issue are conference registrants. Don Willis asked if the Association has a policy on audio/video recording of meetings or programs. Kristy Coomes was asked to draft meeting and program rules to present at the February Board meeting. "At the discretion of the presenters, it will/will not be allowed." Mike reminded us that we deal with behavior, not content, and that we want to hear all points of view.

WLA mailing labels, further discussion: Gail Willis

Gail Willis said that she frequently gets requests for sharing mailing labels for workshops, etc. that offer opportunities reasonable for members. Gail has supplied them, for a one-time use, do not duplicate, requesting a signed agreement to that effect. She does not want to limit access to continuing education. She asked if she should keep the Board informed when these requests are made. Linda Pierce said that PNLA policy states that lists of members may be given to library associations or associated organizations. Lynn Kanne suggested asking members if they wanted their names distributed. Gail said that this could not be done before the 2000 membership drive.

MOTION: Move that any requests for labels will be decided on by the Emergency Executive Committee and then reported to the Board. Any request will include a form to be signed by the requestor -- "one time use, no sharing". The form will be developed by Gail and approved by the Emergency Executive Committee.
Moved: Cindy Cunningham.
Seconded: Patty Duitman.
Discussion: This will give us an idea of how often requests are being received.
Passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

ALA Councilor: Jan Walsh

Jan Walsh distributed a written report to the Board. Sarah Long, President-Elect of ALA has selected as her theme "libraries as the hearts of their communities" and is holding a planning meeting at Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia. Due to a Councilors' meeting, Jan cannot attend the session, but Patty Duitman and Mike Wessells will represent WLA. They will report to the Board in February on this meeting.

PNLA Representative: Linda Pierce

Linda Pierce distributed a written report to the Board and said that the focus of PNLA has been their strategic plan. Copies are available through the WLA office and Joan Weber. A highlight of their planning is the concept of consortial advertising with a regional perspective, i.e. advertise in four journals and receive a break on the fees. The 1999 Annual Conference is scheduled for Calgary in August. The 2000 Conference will be a joint conference with the British Columbia Library Association and the British Columbia Trustees Association.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m. for lunch.

The meeting was reconvened at 12:13 p.m. by President Joan Weber.

Coordinator of Continuing Education: Diane Cowles

Diane Cowles reported that one request for continuing education funds had been received and funded: a CAYAS supported multi-cultural story program scheduled for March 12th in Seattle. Funding request: $1600. Expected income: $2100. Continuing Education now has a website link thanks to Martha Parsons. Diane distributed a draft survey that will be made available through the 1999 Conference registration and attendance for feedback on future planning. The Board made a few recommendations for changes and additions so that more information could be gathered.

1999 Conference Coordinator: Tom Moak

Tom Moak could not be present, but Gail Willis distributed his written report to the Board. The conference planning is on schedule: Sherman Alexie will be the banquet speaker; William Gordon, Executive Director of ALA, and Dr. Michael Eisenberg of University of Washington SLIS will be keynote speakers. 35 to 40 programs will be offered during the conference with two pre-conferences, one on genealogy and one on intellectual freedom.

2000 Conference Coordinator: Susan Odencrantz

Susan Odencrantz said that Tom Moak had been very helpful and supportive in sharing conference information. After the Pasco Conference, the 2000 Conference will have a site connected to the website. Barbara Scott, conference treasurer, has a lot of conference experience. Susan also has several other staff members who are detail-oriented who she has enlisted for help.

Coordinator of Communications: Mary Carr

Mary Carr reported that the membership applications have been mailed out. One goal of the PR Committee is to revamp these forms for the 2000 mailing. The sustaining membership form and brochure are going through their final revisions and are nearly reading to be mailed. The letter by Nancy Collins-Warner encouraging Interest Group participation was approved to go out to the membership. The legislative public relations' pieces have been revised. The Publications' Council will meet in June.

Vice President/President-Elect: Cindy Cunningham

Cindy Cunningham said that the Legislative Day forms have been approved by the PR Committee and are ready for mailing. They include: agenda, tips on working with the day, suggestions for networking on library issues. There will be no on-site registration and no refunds. The registration deadline is February 16th. Letters will be sent to the Legislators requesting them to schedule time to meet with their constituents. Handouts will be ready to distribute on the issues in this session. Linda Pierce asked about those districts that are not represented by attendees. Cindy will work with Gail Willis and Steve Duncan to identify those needs. Mike Wirt has massaged the "paperwork" on issues to that it can continue to work in the future. Tom Mayer, Candace Morgan, Nancy Zussy, and Steve will present to the attendees in the morning. Mary Carr said that it is absolutely necessary to send "thank yous" to legislator for spending time during this day. Kathy Ardrey suggested an "on-site calling card" and Patty Duitman said that a "rolodex card" is very effective. Joan Weber will check with the Legislative Planning Committee on the best way to do this.

President: Joan Weber

Joan Weber stated that the Legislative Planning Committee would be meeting on December 14th. Steve Duncan has identified property tax for district libraries and intellectual freedom as key issues in this legislative session. The committee will also meet on the Monday before Legislative Day to focus on the issues that Legislative Day attendees will be discussing with their legislators.

Awards Committee: Amy Ravenholt

Amy Ravenholt was unable to attend the Board meeting. Gail Willis distributed the awards announcements; they are ready to be mailed the first week of January. The deadline for nomination is February 12th. Awards will be presented for: WLA, WLFTA, WALE, and CAYAS. Award recipients are accepted at the April Board meeting; in keeping with the past, Joan Weber will not announce the President's Award until the luncheon.

Organizational Structure: Kristy Coomes

Kristy Coomes announced that the ALA Councilor needed to move to a three-year term following the change in ALA. The by-laws must be revised to reflect the change in the nomination schedule. This requires a vote at the business meeting at the Conference. She is also collecting the final Interest Group by-laws; Nancy Collins-Warner is working with this as well.

Interest Group Coordinator: Nancy Collins-Warner

Because Nancy Collins-Warner was not at the meeting, Gail Willis presented her written report. Nancy needs final leadership reports from the Interest Groups and the official signatures that allow reimbursements to members. Any newsletter requests must also be received so that they can be incorporated into the budget. LINK and the website will include deadlines.

WLFTA: Kathleen Ardrey

Kathleen Ardrey reported that the group now has a Steering Committee instead of a Board with each member having assigned tasks and responsibilities. The by-laws of the group have passed. Kathy thanked Kristy Coomes for her help. Their programs for the 1999 Conference are in place; they plan on using the conference as an outreach opportunity. Kathy said that Patience Rogge has worked hard on conference planning. The "Share Your Wares" program is on the road and generating excitement. They have revised their policies and procedures and the "Friends' Handbook" will be ready for the WILL Conference. WLFTA plans on contributing $100 to the "pr" advocacy program at the end of the year.

Nominations Committee: Jan Ames

Joan Weber reported for Jan Ames who was unable to attend the meeting.
The Board positions open are: Vice President/President, Strategic Planning, Treasurer, PNLA Representative, and Coordinator of the 2001 Conference (in Spokane). Nominations are needed. Martha Parsons will put the information in the banners on the website.

Intellectual Freedom Interest Group: Mike Wessells

Mike Wessells announced that Colleen Wilson, a police trainer, is going to present a program at Pasco and would like anecdotes and situations that have occurred in libraries so that she can react to "real" incidents and how to avoid them or handle them if they occur. Abandoned children and Internet terminals that are guarded were two immediate suggestions.

LINK: Linda Rhines

Linda Rhines requested that anyone who is interested should submit articles for LINK. She also suggested that she include in LINK a list of the committees and their chairs so that if anyone wanted to participate in them, they would know whom to contact.

ARGH!: Don Willis and Lynn Kanne

The co-chairs announced that their programs were in place for the 1999 Conference.

Webmaster: Martha Parsons

Martha Parsons asked if we wanted to discontinue "Members Voice" which is not being used. She suspects that its lack of use is due to its being difficult because people have to go to it rather than using a listserve which comes to them. She thinks that a listserve would be better. The Board supported "Members Voice" to be deleted from the website. With Board approval, she will investigate servers. The listserve will be limited to paid WLA members, "closed, but not moderated".

ALA Spectrum Scholarship: Joan Weber

ALA is sponsoring a three-year project to encourage diversity in the library profession. It includes scholarships, mentoring, and recruitment. WLA is being encouraged to participate. The question was raised as to whether this was a Board action or should be referred to the University of Washington. Gail Willis will let them know in case they have not received the information. The Board decided that its focus would be on nurturing and mentoring, the encouragement of people of all races and backgrounds to enter the profession and work in Washington. "Consider Washington State as a career move." Jan Walsh said that the Ohio Library Association has a video designed to encourage young people to consider librarianship as a career. Martha Parsons will link our website to ALA; the website can also be used to highlight librarianship, schools, career opportunities, etc.

ALA/ABA Lawyers and Libraries II: Gail Willis

Gail Willis presented a brief report from Stephanie Delaney, an attorney who attended the "Lawyers and Libraries" conference in November. She was very enthusiastic and wants to share the information that she gleaned with others in the State. The question is how best to use her. Stephanie has offered to work both with the Association and the University of Washington. The 1999 Conference program is full. It can be used to train attorneys on intellectual freedom issues and working with law enforcement as well as increasing staff awareness. Susan Odencrantz said that it is vital that attorneys are brought up to speed on library issues including confidentiality, intellectual freedom, and filtering. It was thought that attorneys might not attend an annual conference, but that either a pre-conference or workshop might be effective, perhaps one co-sponsored by the SLIS and the University of Washington Law School Continuing Education. Include the Attorney General's office? One on the East-side and one on the West-side? Cindy Cunningham will contact the University. Diane Cowles will also work with Cindy to coordinate programs.

Request from NGEN (New Generation Educational Network: Cindy Cunningham

Cindy Cunningham received a request from Bob Fortner from NGEN. The organization's goal is to help those people who do not have access to on-line products by offering computers and otherwise unavailable on-line resources through libraries and schools. The target audience is disadvantaged children. Companies are being asked to supply their products for free to this group who would be identified through welfare agencies. Washington is one of the pilot states for this project. Patty Duitman said that the better places for him to request support would be the public libraries' directors and WLMA. There is an issue of equitable access to information that is supported by public libraries and this could be a conflict depending on how it is presented. The Connectivity Project and the shared database project from the State Library are other avenues. If the concept is one that can be supported by libraries in Washington, the program could have a booth at the 1999 Conference so that the goals could be explained. There could also be an article in ALKI.

PLA preferred dates for a possible conference in Seattle in 2008: Joan Weber

Joan Weber reported that she had received a request from PLA for help with a possible conference in Seattle in 2008. The dates that they prefer are March 11 - 15 and March 25 - March 29. If we continue to follow our location pattern for conference sites, 2008 would feature an East-side conference for WLA. However, we could potentially look at a joint conference for that year. The Board will be "charming and gracious" in working with the PLA conference planning committee.

Items identified for the February 24th Board Meeting:

Items identified for the April 28th Board Meeting:

The meeting was adjourned at 1:53 p.m.

Approved (date): _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Carol Gill Schuyler, Secretary
______________________________________________________________
Joan Weber, President
 Submitted by: 
carol@linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
Carol Gill Schuyler
Kitsap Regional Library
1301 Sylvan Way
Bremerton  WA  98310
360-405-9127
FAX 360-405-9128
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