American Library Association Midwinter Conference
January 15, 2005, Boston
Present: Victor Lynn Schill (Chair), Sylva Natalie Manoogian, Ani Matosian, Homa Naficy, Sarah Smith, Vladimir Wertsman, Bosiljka Stevanovic, Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Carole McCollough, Susan Freiband, Monica Camso, Jordan Scepanski, Doris Gebel, Alma Ortega, Tamiye Meehan, Toni Bissessar
Victor Lynn Schill welcomed attendees. Attendees introduced themselves.
David Cohen’s wife, Evelyn passed away. A fruit basket will be sent to David from EMIERT as a unit (see #1 of motions proposed and passed). Vladimir spoke on David and Evelyn. They met when they were sixteen and Evelyn was 96 when she passed away unexpectedly during a pacemaker adjustment period. MultiCultural Review will run a memorial article. [Note: David would like to thank everyone for the fruit basket. It was a heartwarming and extraordinary gift.]
A memorial dinner will be held Saturday night for ALLIC member, Arleen St. Aubin (Boston Public Library). She passed away August 15, 2004.
Minutes from the 2004 Annual meeting were approved (see #2 of motions proposed and passed).
Reports
Coretta Scott King Task Force – Carole McCollough gave a verbal report.
- Payment to EMIERT was made in December.
- Working on CSK membership joining EMIERT.
- Will give press release Monday morning about the awards (as soon as the information is available).
Membership – Homa Naficy gave a verbal report
- There are 648 members.
- Changes to the membership form need to be made.
- Affiliate memberships are not allowed. One must join ALA to be able to join a round table.
Freedom to Read Foundation – Lyn Miller-Lachmann, EMIERT liaison to the Freedom to Read Foundation, gave a report on the meeting and passed around brochures and a handout. They are particularly concerned with access to government documents with the Office of Civil Rights Draft Report that was deemed too critical in its citation of the failures of the administration to provide equal access, among other things. The director was removed and the information suppressed.
New Business
Bulletin/Newsletter Publication – EMIERT must find a new publisher for the EMIE Bulletin. Olga Kuharets researched various options and recommended the Goldman Group publication MultiCultural Review (MCR). Lyn Miller-Lachmann, a member of EMIERT and editor of MCR, presented the proposal.
Miller-Lachmann passed around an example of the insert. There is the potential to sell advertising to help defray some of the publications costs. EMIE would have complete control over content. Miller-Lachmann cannot be the Bulletin’s editor, due to conflict of interest, but she will edit before it goes to press. Reviewers published in MCR receive a complimentary subscription to the journal. An editor for the Bulletin is needed, as the previous editor stepped down.
Bosiljka Stevanovic inquired about the content option of including bibliographies for non-English languages, as Booklist is not longer publishing it. Another content option would be a Nigeria bibliography by Pamela Salela. Miller-Lachmann was asked if EMIERT could get back issues of MCR to show members what they’d be getting. She was also asked whether it would be possible to get a few hundred copies of just the insert in order to send to those who might not choose the membership that includes MCR. Miller-Lachmann will check and report back.
The deadline for the winter issue is the beginning of October. March 1st is the deadline to announce in the summer issue. In addition to subscriptions, the journal is available on newsstands and at Barnes and Noble.
A motion to approve the new publisher was made and withdrawn due to confusion over cost. EMIERT was under the impression that the extra money from increased dues would go towards helping defray our publishing costs (i.e., it would go into EMIERT’s account). In reality, the “extra” $20 received from subscribing members would go to MCR as a reduced subscription rate. (The normal subscription rate is $29.95 per year.) Therefore, EMIERT would need to spend approximately $3800 per year more on the publication of the Bulletin. Raising dues by $5 per person/organization would potentially net upwards of $3000. The Coretta Scott King Task Force contribution would help to some extent, as would sales of advertising for the insert. Raising dues by $10 per person was discussed, as was the general affordability and feasibility of publishing under MCR/the Goldman Group at all.
After much debate, the board approved the selection of the Goldman Group as publisher and of the new bulletin format, as outlined in the proposal (see #3 of motions proposed and passed).
Postage Funding Request – Marty Goldberg requested $100 for postage expenses related to the mailing of books for book reviews. Since the EMIERT Bulletin will no longer have book reviews after the next issue, the request needs further discussion. Victor Schill volunteered to talk to Marty.
Co-Sponsorship of Día de los Niños/ Día de los Libros – REFORMA invited EMIERT to co-sponsor the Día de los Niños/ Día de los Libros event. No monetary contribution is needed. Participation approved (see #4 of motions proposed and passed).
EBSCO/JIC Award – The EBSCO/JIC Award cannot happen. ALA recently signed an agreement with a private individual for a $100,000 endowment for a Jewish literature award with the stipulation that there is no other Jewish literature award.
Annual 2005 – Chair and Vice-Chair elections to be held. Candidates are Myra Appel and Plummer Alston “Al” Jones, Jr. The individual receiving the most votes will be Chair, and the runner-up will be Vice-Chair. The executive board will meet only once. Programs: Coretta Scott King Breakfast, Diversity Fair, others.
Annual 2006 – All programs must go through Myra Appel. Budget requests need to go to Tamiye Meehan as soon as possible. OLOS will be having a 35th Anniversary event.
Jordan Scepanski – Representative of the twelve smaller round tables’ views and interests on the ALA Council, including EMIERT. There will be a report from the Membership Committee about the overall dues structure coming up in the next six months. The strategic plan is out for comment from membership. Scepanski welcomes EMIERT input on those as well as other needs/issues/suggestions.
Motions proposed and passed:
- Fruit basket will be sent to David Cohen. Motioned by Tamiye Meehan and seconded by Ani Matosian. The motion was passed unanimously.
- Minutes approved. Motioned by Ani Matosian and seconded by Sarah Smith. The motion was passed unanimously.
- Dues and publication of the EMIE Bulletin and changed as follows:
- The Bulletin will be published as a semi-annual insert in the summer and winter issues of MultiCultural Review.
- EMIERT membership dues will be raised to:
- $20 for basic individual membership (i.e., no subscription),
- $40 for individual membership with subscription (to all four issues), and
- $25 for organizational membership.
- Organizations/institutions do not have a subscription option.
- A PDF of the EMIERT Bulletin/insert will be posted on the website after the issue comes out.
- EMIERT will give MultiCultural Review $20 per subscription.
- Co-Sponsorship of Día de los Niños approved. Motioned by Tamiye Meehan and seconded by Sarah Smith. The motion was passed unanimously.
Sarah Smith, Secretary, recording.