January 18, 2002 -- SCLS Blue Room

Present: R. Dressler, J. Clemens, J. Olney, J. Loughren, P. Bornstein, T. Simon, C. Farrugia, D. Jones, J. Carhart, V. Antonuccci, C. Gray, K. Baudouin, F. Altemose, C. Guzzo, S. Ketcham, R. McEneaney, S. Johnson, F. Byrne, L. Clark, L. Tesoriero, D. Bucher, A. Lehner, A. Tiffany, K. Minschke, E. Cichanowicz, S. Ingram, S. Holden, E. Hayes.

J. Clemens called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. After a correction was made, R. McEneaney moved to accept the December minutes. K. Minschke seconded the motion. None were opposed.

TREASURER’S REPORT: J. Loughren reported a fund balance of $11,843.23. This reflected a savings account balance of $4,632.34, a checking account balance of $8,220.47 and outstanding checks totaling $1,009.58. J. Olney made a motion to receive the Treasurer’s report. S. Ketcham seconded it. None were opposed.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT: R. Dressler discussed the proposed 2002 budget. D. Bucher moved to approve the budget. F. Altemose seconded the motion. None were opposed.

Fundraising: Rona reported that Angela Richards of Northport Public Library had agreed to organize a fundraising SCLA walk-a-thon for April 20th, with a rain date of April 27th. Rona also mentioned that D. Engelhardt had reserved 200 L.I. Ducks tickets. Debra said the game would be August 20th. SCLA will sell the tickets for $10 each, and realize a profit of $600 if all the tickets are sold. Edana Cichanowicz reported on another summer fundraiser at a winery. She has arranged to buy a block of tickets to the “Voices on the Vines” author series at Palmer vineyard. Lisa Scottoline is one of the authors participating in the series. J. Olney pointed out that SCLA does not have liability insurance for this type of event, and suggested we investigate that. After some discussion, it was suggested that we reserve 50 tickets (at $5 each) for the Palmer series.

R. Dressler reported that the Legislative Bus Trip would be Tuesday, March 19th. She introduced NCLA President Tracey Simon. A discussion followed on how to educate SCLA members on legislative issues. Tracey hoped to run and informational meeting before the trip.

DIVISION REPORTS:

DASL: S. Ketcham reported that the Serials workshop date had been changed to March 15th, and a speaker from TD Net had been added to the agenda. It would either be held at SUNY Farmingdale or Farmingdale Public Library.

RASD: J. Carhart reported that the Executive Board had met on Jan. 15th. C.A.R.E. is working on 13 career-related bookmarks which will be available online for downloading and printing. They will be sponsoring a “school to work” program at the LILC.. The Health Care Concerns Committee is working on picking a topic for 2002. L.I. History is planning a trip in April to the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Farmingdale with lunch at the 56th Fighter Squadron restaurant. They will sponsor a program on lighthouses at the LILC. O.A.R.S. is meeting soon to compile a list of successful programs for seniors. Reader’s Advisory will meet soon to discuss mainstream African-American authors. Jo-Ann Carhart is the Suffolk contact for the “L.I. Reads” program. Preliminary packets have gone out, and a second packet (with promotional materials) will also be sent out. The related program on running a book discussion was well-attended. Some Nassau Community College professors have volunteered to run book discussions on The Great Gatsby . RASD members hoped that PLDA could be the contributing sponsor from Suffolk County for this program. A consolidated purchase of copies of the novel is being made.

CATS: A. Tiffany reported. CATS will be doing a program on Windows XP. They have planned a Technical Services Roundtable for April 12th. Other possible programs include a trip to a New York City museum library. The 4th annual library tour will tentatively include Sachem, Comsewogue, and Emma Clark libraries, with lunch in Port Jefferson. People can now e-mail the division at cats@suffolk.lib.ny.us. Aurora expressed interest in helping to support or co-sponsor the Continuing Education Committee’s workshop on “Creating Newsletters,” and planned to discuss this with her Board.

SSSD: F. Byrne reported that the Executive Board had met on Jan. 16th. The division is planning to co-sponsor a LILC program with the NCLA Clerical Division which addresses handling confrontational situations and problematic patrons. The division plans to conduct another Round Table meeting for support staff, like the one they ran in the autumn. They are planning their first annual meeting for June (possibly a dinner/theater outing). They hope to have their website up and running soon, as an important part of their outreach program. 

YASD: D. Jones reported that they were working to resolve some banking problems. They had met with the Nassau YASD and held a mock Printz award workshop. There will be another joint meeting soon to discuss Summer Reading Clubs. The division is working on putting together a program on local youth organizations and public libraries. 

Rona Dressler asked that all Division heads submit a monthly budget report .

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

ARCHIVES: S. Johnson reported that she and D. Engelhardt would meet soon, and that approximately 5 members had volunteered for the committee this year. They will be needing some funding for supplies.

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS: No report.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: C. Gray and K. Baudouin reported that the “Creating Newsletters” program was going to cost $200. She invited the divisions to contribute money towards this unanticipated speaker’s fee. She said the committee was planning a visit to the Newsday library in the autumn. R. Dressler encouraged divisions to help the committee pay the speaker’s fee. The committee did not want to charge for the program, since it had already been advertised as free. Treasurer J. Loughren stated that, in general, divisions and committees should try to run self-sustaining programs by charging small fees, as the CATS division has done many times, in order to cover speaker’s fees. A general discussion of fundraising and the SCLA budget followed. The lump sum of $1,000 for “Programs(New)” in the 2002 budget is an amount to be disbursed at the discretion of the Board, especially for committees that do not have funding, such as Long-Range Planning, Public Relations, Continuing Education, Professional Concerns, etc. Vice President J. Clemens said the Executive Board would like to institute a new practice of Board members asking for funding first, before spending money on meetings or programs. In the past, the Board had been presented with many bills after the fact, which made budget planning difficult. Committee heads are now asked to bring proposed ideas to the Board before committing any money.

ELSA: 2001 Chairperson E. Hayes reported that the ELSA winner, Fran Johannemann of Riverhead Free Library, had been featured in Newsday’s “Winners” column.

FALL DINNER: C. Guzzo reported that the committee had begun to look at two new places to hold the Annual Dinner: the Meadow Club in Port Jefferson, and the Aquarium in Riverhead. She passed around sample flyers. Cost of the dinner would have to go up to $55 per person. The committee favored the Aquarium, but planned to continue looking at different sites. Board members gave her feedback on the ticket price. Tentative date is Nov. 8th. 

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM: No report.

LDA AWARD: L. Tesosriero said she would be meeting soon with the NCLA committee member. NCLA is responsible for the flyer this year.

LEGISLATIVE: L. Tesoriero reported that the flyers for the March Legislative Bus Trip would be sent out the following week. She gave details on the two buses that had been booked for the trip. J. Clemens remarked that a stop in Western Suffolk County should be added (exit 49 of the L.I.E.). Each bus costs $825. In response to a question, R. Dressler said that LILRC’s offer to pay for the SCLA bus last year was almost certainly a one-time favor. Discussion followed on gifts for legislators, and how much to charge attendees to cover food and a tip for the driver. D. Bucher made a motion to charge each attendee $7. K. Minschke seconded it. None were opposed.

LISTSERV: R. Dressler thanked members for using the listserv, and encouraged its continued use.

L.I. LIBRARY CONFERENCE: S. Johnson reported that all program slots are full. The next committee meeting will be a walk-through at the Crest Hollow. 30 vendors are committed so far. Postcards went out. The online version of the conference brochure will be available very soon – before the print version. Letters have gone out to associations, and they should reserve tables as soon as possible.

LONG-RANGE PLANNING: S. Holden reported that the dates for the library school visits were Jan. 24th and 25th (different from what was originally reported). Committee members will also participate in Career Awareness day at Queens College on May 4th. She and S. Ingram handed out samples of brochures profiling the different types of librarianship. These will be used as handouts when visiting the library schools. The committee may need to ask for money for supplies. 

MEMBERSHIP: R. McEneaney reported that close to 400 members had renewed for 2002, and that total membership was now 644. She said reminders had gone out to people who had not renewed in the past couple of years. In March, people will be notified that they will be dropped from the membership list as of May 1st if they have not sent in their 2002 dues. A short discussion on membership cards followed.

NEWSLETTER: R. Dressler said that all copy for the newsletter should be sent to Barbara Hoffman by the end of February.

NOMINATING: No report.

PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS: No report.

PUBLIC AWARENESS/PUBLICITY: (covered earlier in meeting)

SCHOLARSHIP: C. Farrugia reported that she is in the process of recruiting committee members. She said it is an exciting year, since it is the first year we will be awarding the newly created SCLA Continuing Education Award for Library Support Staff, in addition to our SCLA Scholarship for a library school student. She is in the process of revising the flyer, and plans to announce the new award on both the SCLA website and the SSSD division website.

STATISTICAL SURVEY: No report.

SUFFOLK COUNTY JAILS LIBRARY SERVICE: No report.

WEB PAGE: No report.

LIAISON REPORTS:

CLASC: L. Clark reported that the Dec. 4th annual meeting had featured a program on “Pre-Adolescent Programming.” She mentioned programs in upcoming months. For the LILC in May, CLASC would be presenting a program on writing biographies for children. Julie Cummins will speak. The annual children’s literature conference has been changed from Spring to Autumn and will be held Oct. 4th at the Water Mill Inn in Smithtown. 

BOCES: J. Barr reported on a meeting held at SUNY Stony Brook where students demonstrated research projects integrated with technology. After a liaison’s business meeting, a Model Schools Conference was held. Janet is working with Edana Cichanowizc on a March 15th program on “Library Advocacy,” to be held at SCLS. The speaker will be Linda Todd, from the Division of Library Development. 

LILRC: V. Antonucci reported that they were working on updating their calendar of events. The Conservation & Preservation Committee is working with DASL on a program, “Conservation and Repair of Your Circulating Collection.” 

LVA SUFFOLK: No report.

NCLA: President Tracey Simon, who had been participating in discussions throughout the meeting, stated that she hoped for renewed cooperation this year between NCLA and SCLA.

PLDA: D. Engelhardt reported that the Board had met on Jan. 9th. Their LILC program will be an EAP mini-workshop on Stress Reduction, with speaker Neva Hacker. A committee is looking at the dues structure. The history of the PLDA will be published soon in booklet form with the help of SCLS staff. J. Carhart asked if anything had been decided on PLDA contributing to the “L.I. Reads” program. Debra said no.

SCLS: No report.

SLA: No report.

OLD BUSINESS: R. Dressler thanked Angie Lehner for sending out folders to the Board promptly. Each committee and division head will be receiving copies of the old SCLA handbook, so that the wording can be revised.

NEW BUSINESS: The Board congratulated Debra Engelhardt on becoming the new Director of the Rogers Memorial Library . R. Dressler summarized a letter from Kristina Farmer of the Inter-library Loan Department at SCLS. Rona mentioned that LILRC was looking for co-sponsors for an April 5th meeting at the DeSeversky Center , “Managing and Licensing Digital Resources.” It was decided that SCLA could not afford to contribute.

R. Dressler asked for a motion to adjourn. F. Altemose made a motion, seconded by J. Carhart. None were opposed. The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.