ALA Annual Conference, Chicago
Saturday, July 10, 2000, 2:00-4:00 PM (CST)
Hotel Intercontinental, Chicago, IL
Present:
Stephanie Jones, Nancy Davenport, Andrea Gruhl, Janet Ormes, Joan Taylor, Maria Pisa, Fran Perros, B.J. Fox, Carol Bursik, Mary-Deirdre Coraggio, Wil Danielson,
Visitors:
Norman Horrocks (ALA), Linda Resler (AFLRT), Pam Doffek (AFLRT)
- President Stephanie Jones called the meeting to order at 2:10 PM
- Merger. Stephanie introduced Norman Horrocks from ALA. Draft bylaws were reviewed with Mr. Horrocks, who recommended changes for clarity and consistency with ALA procedures. He also clarified that the merger will take place as soon as ALA Council approves on Wednesday. Our representative can request that we take the next year to work out the details. Mr. Horrocks suggested that, while we could propose Co-Presidents, ALA might prefer that the Presidents elected for FLRT and AFLRT each serve for half of the year, so that there will be a single point of contact at any given time.
The FLRT draft resolution on revising minimum library standards was discussed. Mr. Horrocks suggested that references to SLA documents be removed and that it might be wise to approach the Standards Committee of the Public Library Association before taking it to ALA Council.
Stephanie moved that the resolution be returned to Arlene Luster for revision before submitting it. Motion was seconded and adopted.
- Literacy Assembly Report - Stephanie Jones. The Literacy Assembly discussed potential partnerships with non-ALA organizations. Stephanie is in favor of partnerships, but cautioned that legality must be considered.
- AFLRT (and SLA) Liaison - B.J.Fox. B.J. reported record attendance at the SLA Military Librarians Conference. Sessions on new technology were well attended - especially those on digitization projects. All information will be posted on the Military Librarians Division website. Other sessions included one on copyright issues, and a cosponsored session on NTIS. B.J. reported that there is no bill currently in Congress regarding NTIS. Ultimately, even if NTIS does not continue as separate entity, it is likely that its functions will continue to be performed. B.J. passed out copies of the Military Librarians History recently published by SLA.
AFLRT recommended that Round Table information be extracted from the ALA Handbook and be put up on Web as a separate document. AFLRT has a History Committee. New AFLRT Officers are: Linda Resler-President, Christie Vernon-Vice President, Carolyn Eaton-Outgoing President, Secretary/Treasurer-Arthalene Gordey (San Antonio). Lucille Rosa volunteered to work on the Nominating Committee.
- Website Committee: Janet Ormes. Janet reported that James King deserves credit as Webmaster and recommended that we cite the Webmaster as well as Web Site Committee on the Committee page. Andrea suggested that the statement that minutes have not been approved be placed at the top of minutes at the Website.
Maria Pisa suggested that we draft a statement giving the date of the merger and use it on the Website and in all correspondence.
- RTCC Report - Nancy Davenport. Nancy reported a reminder of the injunction by ALA Council that ALA speaks with one voice. Divisions have been given an exception: they may speak for ALA on the subjects where they have the expertise. Especially during this election year, groups within ALA are cautioned to be extremely careful about whom we partner with, whom we honor, and whom we invite to speak, so as not to jeopardize our tax-exempt status. Stephanie will be the Round Table representative to TRACKS, which is the initiative for putting all ALA programs into program tracks.
- PER Report - Fran Perros. She is still pursuing getting an affinity credit card that would benefit (FA)FLRT. FLRT had voted to pursue this earlier. It was recommended that this be tabled until the new organization is functioning. GEICO requested the FLRT Mailing List to offer an 8% discount on insurance. Others pointed out that they already have this discount through membership in ALA, so a separate FLRT mailing is not necessary.
- Membership - Joan Taylor. Joan attended the ALA Membership meeting, where the. benefits of ALA membership were discussed. Gerald Rogers stated that ALA has a very good retention rate - 84%. The Membership Committee is looking at membership rates for international librarians, and may restructure these. ALA membership has been growing and now stands at 60,309.
- Other Business: AFLRT members joined the meeting to continue discussion on the merger. The two groups agreed that we would like to operate with co-Presidents for the next year, in spite of ALA's preference for a single point of contact.
Incoming President Nancy Davenport presented Stephanie with gifts on behalf of FLRT.
- Adjournment. Stephanie declared the meeting adjourned at 4:10 PM and turned the gavel over to the incoming president, Nancy Davenport.
Respectfully submitted, Janet Ormes, Secretary