ALA Executive Board,
Spring 2003 Meeting
Budget management dominates Spring Meeting.
Sidebar: Allied Professional Association—Board Moves Business Plan Forward
Maintaining support for ALA’s numerous ongoing initiatives was the top priority at the spring meeting of the American Library Association’s Executive Board, April 5–6 in Chicago, with ALA President Maurice Freedman presiding.
Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels said the proposed FY 2004 budget is aimed at "sustained program and service capacity, membership growth, and investment in technology, marketing, and development." He said that among the potential "issues and challenges" ALA faces are significant reduction in general-fund reserves, balancing operations with programs, lower interest rates, a volatile investment environment, and the rising cost of employee benefits. One goal, Fiels said, is to increase e-commerce, including a centralized job source, an electronic newsletter, and one-stop shopping for all ALA products. The budget also includes an accelerated plan for the repayment of the $447,000 in reserves used for the Children’s Internet Protection Act lawsuit, and increased joint marketing for membership, publishing, and conferences (EBD#3.4).
The board committed to funding Spectrum Initiative minority scholarships in the coming year, but Treasurer Liz Bishoff warned that it takes $100,000 in investments to earn the $6,500 required for each scholarship. Board member Camila Alire opined that Spectrum fundraising cannot be left to volunteers and that it needed to be a top priority for the Development Office.
Associate Executive Director for Finance Gregory Calloway talked about the Association’s financial history and outlook, noting that the general-fund portion (excluding divisions and round tables) of the FY 2004 $42.8-million projected budget is down $251,000 from FY 2003 (EBD#14.6). He observed that ALA has $1.14 in assets for every dollar of liability and assured the board that this was a healthy situation.
In a discussion of whether ALA is milking its members for money, Associate Executive Director for Publishing Don Chatham told the board that 50 to 60% of ALA Editions sales were to nonmembers. AED for Communications Gerald Hodges reported that the largest membership growth area is students, and that although ALA is behind its own goals for membership retention, it remains ahead of the national average. Calloway noted that rates for early-bird conference registration will remain the same in 2004, but regular advance Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting registration will increase by $5, and on-site registration for Annual will increase by $10 and Midwinter by $5.
Fierce fundraising climate
Development Office Director Susan Roman said she has begun a strategic plan (EBD#12.35). Roman noted that "it’s pretty fierce out there" for fundraising (EBD#6.2). She and Fiels led a brainstorming session and collected written suggestions, among them board member Nancy Davenport’s that ALA is spending a lot of money to protect readers’ rights and that booksellers and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union should be bearing the cost as well.
The budget’s next stop will be the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (EBD#4.20). Bishoff suggested that BARC look at the rising cost of conference equipment, which Calloway pointed out was a major dent in conference revenue (EBD#4.20, #14.6). Even though the 2003 Midwinter Meeting will generate more revenue than was budgeted, ALA spent $240,000 over the budgeted $163,000 for meeting equipment and setup.
By speakerphone, Endowment Trustee Rick Schwieterman reported that the national economic downturn has brought ALA’s investment portfolio down to $10.7 million from $11 million at the end of 2002 and $12.4 million in 2001. He also pointed out that the 40 East Huron property has been put up for sale by the general partnership that controls it, and ALA has a number of options for the portion of the building it owns, including the possibility of participating in a new investment group. Bishoff said the Association stands to gain as much as $5 million. Schwieterman said the trustees were looking at alternative real-estate investments in Washington, D.C, since the Washington Office lease expires in 2005.
News from Washington
Washington Office Director Emily Sheketoff presented a report (EBD#12.28) and updated the board on recent activity on the Hill. She said the Justice Department refuses to acknowledge that the USA Patriot Act poses any problems for libraries. "We’re having better luck with the FBI," she said, which is cooperating with ALA by offering workshops for chapters. She said she had met with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller and is negotiating with the FBI for a double-blind survey of librarians that would enable ALA to "accurately report on what law enforcement is going on in the library."
Sheketoff said the redesigned Web site of the Department of Education threatens to make some documents in the ERIC database unavailable. In international trade there’s good news, she said, since GATS may be modified to include language protecting public nonprofit organizations. She also noted that laws related to Head Start may change in a way that would allow public libraries to be direct grantees.
Evaluation of the campaign
Setting the stage for a discussion of how the "@ your library" Campaign for America’s Libraries (EBD#12.25, #12.29) will be evaluated, Fiels quipped that his "hidden agenda" for the Association is the need for program evaluation. ALA needs a framework for the evaluation of programs aimed at the wider world. "It’s easy to measure activities," he said, but "more difficult to measure the impact on others, with the public being the most difficult."
Board member Ken Haycock suggested that ALA should partner with state associations and other institutions that may already be collecting data. Public Information Office Director Mark Gould said the campaign is resulting in a lot more media coverage, which is being tracked. The way you measure impact has to do with the objectives, the board agreed.
Board member Barbara Stripling raised questions about the extent to which the campaign is disseminating information about the proven value of school library media specialists to student achievement. Jennifer Sosin, president of KRC Research, which is working with ALA on the campaign, said the campaign is about public relations and the promotion of findings like these, but that measuring public impact would take time. Haycock observed that the campaign should be conducting focus groups with superintendents and school board members.
"This program has given us a lot of exposure and needs to go forward," said Camila Alire, and Bishoff reminded the board that although the campaign may need to shift focus to non-librarian key people and to funding, "this is still one of our top priorities."
Action wrap-up
In other actions, the board:
- Watched with approval a preview of ALA’s new Web site (which debuted April 7) presented by Sherri Vanyek, director of IT at ALA.
- Received an information and status report from the Task Force on Electronic Open Meetings/Virtual Members (EBD#12.30, #12.34) and discussed where the responsibility for enforcing related rules will fall.
- Agreed that the development of a 2010 strategic plan (EBD#12.31) would begin at a fall 2004 retreat.
- Received a report on the development of an advocacy business plan from Hodges (EBD#12.32), who emphasized the Internet tools that ALA can give local advocates trying to pass referenda.
- In closed session, instructed Executive Director Fiels to develop a diversity plan for ALA and report back to the board, the impetus for the discussion apparently being a workforce analysis presented by the Human Resources office (EBD#12.26).
- Discussed with Senior Associate Executive Director Mary Ghikas what needs have been expressed by members regarding continuing education (EBD#12.33). A clearinghouse has historically been recommended, she said, "and technology has finally caught up with that recommendation." She noted that CE and Publishing functions often overlap. Board members noted the need for a coordinated approach.
- Approved written reports from President Freedman (EBD#7.5), President-elect Carla Hayden (EBD#7.6), and Executive Director Fiels (EBD#12.27).
Other board members present were John W. Berry, Kathleen Bethel, Nancy Davenport, Kent Oliver, and Molly Raphael. Patty Wong participated in the second day’s session by speakerphone. —Leonard Kniffel
Allied Professional Association: Board Moves Business Plan Forward
The ALA Executive Board reconvened briefly April 6 as the board of the newly formed Allied Professional Association (AL, Mar., p. 68). In their dual management role, board members examined a preliminary FY 2004 APA budget of $155,500 and forwarded it to the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (APABD#3.0). BARC will report on its analysis at the Joint ALA/Canadian Library Association Annual Conference this summer in Toronto.
Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels announced that a plea from President Maurice Freedman for donations to support the APA’s pay-equity mission would be sent to ALA members. He added that “creative pricing” designed to retain subscribers may make the revamped Library Personnel News a better source of revenue. He also noted that the search for an APA director has been delayed until June 2004.
The board also approved the formation of an APA Bylaws Committee, which will mirror the ALA Constitution and Bylaws Committee and bring the APA committee total to four—the others being BARC, Salaries and Status of Library Workers, and Certification.
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