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hi - theresa liedtka here again, i will be live blogging ala's membership meeting #2 tomorrow, monday, july 13, 2009, follow the meeting here.

jim rettig called the meeting to order. the quorom, of 75, was established. proposed meeting rules, membership document #3, were circulated and adopted. a parlimentarian, eli mina is present. resolution committee members are present to help with resolutions. rettig introduced the platform: camila alire: president-elect, keith fiels: ala executive director. one resolution on the war in iraq and afghanistan. no new business. the agenda is set.

memorials for: jane shaw, kate mcclelland, kathleen krasniewiez, james joseph michael, judith krug, margaret lane, minnie lou lynch, coleen cole salley, e.j. josey.

a memorial for judith krug was read. two members spoke to e.j. josey.

two tribute resolutions: acrl arts section, 100 anniversary of the national library of china.

dicussion of libraries in hard times
carol brey-casiano and john windhausen, speakers

casiano showed the web site for the ala office of advocacy. the office is intended to support libraries throughout the country with training resources. ala is updating the crisis protocol. ala president will issue a national statement and use media outlets. casiano highlighed "advocacy university" and alire's new initiative. new site on coalition building, a rettig ecosystem initiative. "add it up" libraries making a difference to developing youth. the connection between libraries and education. another resource is the "advocating in a tough economy" toolkit, also "getting a job in a tough economy", aasl's "crisis toolkit". highlighted the "i love libraries" web site, close to 2000 subscribers to the newsletter, ~11,000 hits daily. casiano described past presidential initiatves regarding advocacy and gave an example of using advocacy steps in her own library: communicate with the media, work closely with friends, kep staff informed, get staff out from the desk, use every opportunity, work with decision makers.

john windhausen is a consultant on broadband issues, people are aware that libraries are receiving budget cuts while demand for services is increasing. windhausen sees the role of libraries changing, broadband is an additional took in a library's toolkit. the stimulus makes a large sum of money available for technology infrastructure. libraries were identified as one organization that could take advantage of this. the united states does not have a national broadband plan, we are far behind many other countries, and we are incresingly falling behind. we got 7 billion, which is not enough, but we will make the most of it. departments of agriculture and commerce are distributing the money. 5 priorities for commerce, # specifically identifies libraries. we are waiting for the rules to come out. created new coalitions for anchor organizations. the rules were released in july and we were disappointed as anchor organizations were not highlighted. there is paperwork, it is a bit complicated. for libraries that are striving to serve their communities this program provides an enormous opportunity.

questions from the audience

ala member - the school district i work for decided to eliminate all school library positions, i stand before you unemployed, i contacted the office of instruction in washingtom state, stimulus required 2006 levels, i assumed this included librarians, but that was not the case, it is only money not programs, it occurs to me that this is an interpreation of the law, i think ala should come forward and insist that programs be looked at.

ala member - it appears to me that there is a systematic attempt to eliminate librarians from libraries: ny, stanford. i think ala should do a study and see what is happening. library directors in these institutions are saving money by replacing librarians with support staff. it is a threat to the profession. i think ala has an obligation to do this. i think something should be said and ala should speak up.

ala member - i was in a program planning committee and i was asked to ask this question. apparently there is a policy about honorariums. rettig that the quesiton be moved to the "talk to the leaders" section.

casiano agreed the study would be of value.

rettig asked members to make suggestions for upcoming program committess warlicse@gmail.com

resolutions

resolved, that the ala reiterates its call for the ending of its occupation in irag and the withdrawl of all u.s. troops, calls for the withdrawal from afghanistant of all u.s. military forces, and the return of full sovereignty to the people of afghanistan, and urges the u.s. government to shift its budgetary priorities from both wares to an improvement in support for its vital domestic programs, includes u.s. libraries, and calls upon the u.s. goverment to provide materials assistance through the united nations for the reconstruction of both irag and afghanistan, including its museums, libraries, school, and other cultural resources, and send this resolution to all members of congress, the secreary of defense, the secretary of state, the president of the united states, the united states ambassador tothe united nations and the press.

the resolution passed.

talk to the leaders

ala member - progam planning meeting a concern came up that only non-librarians can receive an honorium to speak at ala, this seems to be a stumbling block. would ala please review the policy. fiels agreed to undertake a review.

ala member - the practice is not that librarians do not get reimbursed, but rather members of ala do not get reimbursed.

ala member - spoke to the resolution, and asked that ala thanks the military for their service.

ala member - costs and greening, can we recycle name badges. it will be passed on to conference services.

ala member - i heard that the online access to the meeting was not a total success, could you consider lowing the cost, the cost is over 200 dollars. fiels replied they are looking at virtual conferences, this is our first offering. acrl has offered them for the last three years: 100, 200, and this year over 300 about 10% of total attendees, pla offered a virtual conference for the first time, again about 100. there is a concern among the divisions and ala that if virtual conferences are too inexpensive they create a disincentive to attend. this is very early and we will be discussing the outcomes and continue to experiment. we do understand the current economy is impacting attendance as well. as to the success we have only 50 attendees but that is not due to cost, initially the web site did not have a list of programs, the web site came up late, these things could have been avoided. all attendees will have access to the virtual conference after the conference is over.

ala member - i have been a member of ala since the 70s, this has been a great conference, i want to comment on honorariums, they are different then expeneses. there is a difference. i suggest you think out of the box about these, maybe work with state chapters on teleconferencing. i also want to say as a librarian that we do have an obligation to teach our fellow colleagues, and we need to think carefully about honoraiums.

no further comments or suggestions. fiels will move these items.

no new business.

announcements from the executive director, fiels
as of sunday, 22,000 attendees and 6,000 vendors, a total of 28,256 almost a 1,000 more than DC.

the meeting adjounred at 12:30.

Hi, I'm Theresa Liedtka and I'll be live blogging the Membership Meeting today starting at 3:30pm CDT. Please follow this thread for updates from the floor.

jim Rettig calls the meeting to order. quorum is 75 members, there is a quorum. rettig provides rules to attendees on participation. no objections to rules. there is a parlimentarian-eli mina. members of the Resolution Committee are available to assist with drafting resolutions. introductions of others on the poidum: camila aire-president-elect, keith fields-executive director. one resolution is on the agenda on civil marriage. question from the crowd on the budget. budget is on the agenda.

member question : i submited a question on the war in iraq, not on the agenda. resolution is on the agenda for membership meeting 2.

introduction of panel for libraries in hard times

patrica wong, first speaker, ala resources available to libraries and library stakeholders. ala office on advocacy in 2007, the role of the office is to support library advocates at local, state, and national levels. there is an advovacy training subcommittee and an advocacy coordinating group. advocacy university, coalition building web site, part of advovacy university, an ala initiative. a number of advovacy tool kits are available. ilovelibaries.org, initiative of past ala presidents, burger, articulate the success stories of libraries making a difference. 12,000 hits daily. wong provided a list of advocacy events at the conference. advocacy office is working with rettig on the ecosystem initiative, that all libraries are related.

wong did a survey of california lin ibraries, how are they coping with resources and community needs: in irwindale they give irwindale dollars to develop a fiinancial literacy program. in napa city they have a combined homework and workforce development center. at saratoga they collaborated with west valley college on a series of workshops to jump start your job search. in yolo county recruiting high impact volunteers. examples of other programs in california where provided.

in summary: more partnership, assessment of community needd, coontributing to community capital, integration of existing resources, communicating to staff about the budget (furloughs, budget cuts), eliminating service hours.

alire presidential initiative - libraries: the heart of all communities, www.camilaalire.com

chris mclean, ala washington office consultant, second speaker. libraries more important than ever. libraries provide accessibility and are almost becoming job centers. interesting opportunities for libraries to pursue stimulus dollars. one strategy is to work other organizatinos who might be securing funds. hopeful that a number of libraries will apply to be computer centers. know your stimulus office web site focus on how to find opportunities. beyond broadband there are other opportunities, one is green economies.

questions from the audience.

library trustee - senator durbin says libraries missed out on the stimulus money - please respond to that - chris - look at broadband and see the clear opportunities, e-rates too. there are general opportunities, but there is no specific library money. another opportunities is the creation of green jobs, but there might be a role here.

lynne bradley, from ala washington office, we were mentioned in the original piece of legislation, but imls was pulled by the white house. no increase in lsta or school library. we need to be active and determine how to get involved.

ala member - taping into computer money and staff money - get connectivity to your library by going to likely applicants, a separate program exists for computer centers, a third program is inivative broadband adoption, a fourth opportunity is a specialized network serving community. really four pathways to dollars. a fifth is broadband mapping.

the "library hard times program" will be presented again, monday at 11:30 in w-375

resolutions:

resolved that ala affirms that civil marriages and other civil rights protections are essential to making all families safer and more secure; resolved that ala opposes civil marriage discrimination in the federal or in state constitutions; and resolved that ala supports the right of every person to marry, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples, wherever they reside.

larry romans spoke to the resolution and clarified the definition of civil marriage.

vote on resolution:
the motion passes.

speak to the leaders:
no questions

new businesss:
treasurer report - there is a revenue shortfall, publishing down the most, conference and dues below budget, etc. adjustments were made but there was still 1.6 difference in the negative. used reserves to cover the deficit, we do not expect to do this again. 2010 budget - final projected expenses, include staff reductions, to balance the budget.

questions to the treasurer:

question
1. 9.6 position eliminated, but nothing was specified as to what services will be cut or reduced 2. it seems that perks have increased, like paying for executive board travel and reimbursement, are these being eliminated or cut back.
answer
keith fiels-five positions in publishing were eliminated. other five on general fund side, one in member services unit out of 12, one position in conference services which has just been added, in general everyone else will work harder. we have scaled back on travel to ifla, i can't speak to the board reimbursement issue, suites do function as meeting rooms, nor does ala charge for them. fiels noted if the economy continues to falter, there will be further reductions.

question
ala endowment strategy
answer
ala endowment strategy is conservative

question
no one answered the executive board travel question
answer
executive board travel has been reimbursed

statement
perks should be looked at

meeting adjourned at approximately 4:50.