Suffolk County Library Association

Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting

February 21, 2003

Location: SCLS Auditorium

Present: C. Guzzo, P. Thomson, J. Loughren, J. Clemens, E. Cichanowicz, S. Holden, S. Ingram, S. Atlas, H. Biblo, J. Barr, P. Bornstein, K. Minschke, C. Gray, D. Bucher, B. Hoffman.

C. Guzzo called the meeting to order at 10:18 a.m. After a review of the Jan. 17th minutes, C. Guzzo moved to accept them. D. Bucher seconded. None were opposed. 

TREASURER’S REPORT: J. Loughren distributed copies of the monthly financial statement for January 2003, which showed a fund balance of $26,912.15. P. Bornstein moved to accept the financial report. D. Bucher seconded. None were opposed.

J. Clemens’s report noted that the LDA brochure was printed and asked what the cost was. P. Bornstein reported that it was $175. Paula asked if that figure will be included in the SCLA Financial Statement, and J. Loughren stated that it will.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT: J. Clemens acknowledged that NYLA recently passed a resolution on the USA PATRIOT Act. Joan said that SCLA may or may not want to think about coming up with a position for SCLA. She recognizes that there are many issues that are involved, including issues of privacy and security. S. Ingram added that ALA also has guidelines regarding the USA PATRIOT Act.

DIVISION REPORTS:

DASL: K. McCoy was not in attendance. P. Thomson read his report on his behalf. DASL met on February 14th, 2003 at Suffolk County Community College , Ammerman campus. It was a DASL business meeting, and 12 people attended. One upcoming program is a tour of the library and archive at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington , NY on March 28th. Breakfast is at 9:30 and the tour begins at 10:30 . Elyse Hayes, Director of Library & Information Services, will be the speaker. Another future program is scheduled for September 26, 2003 at SCCC, Ammerman Campus. Tracy Mitrano, Co-Director of the Computer Policy and Law Program at Cornell University will be speaking about the PATRIOT Act in Libraries. 

RASD: D. Cunningham was not in attendance. P. Thomson read the report on her behalf. There was a RASD monthly meeting held at the Longwood Public Library on February 4th. Fourteen people attended to discuss programs offered at the Long Island Library Conference. Also, the Membership Chair has been filled. Mary Soergel from Harborfields will be filling the position. 

The annual meeting for RASD Health Concerns has been scheduled for October 29th, 2003 . It is tentatively scheduled to be held at SCLS, and the topic will be Multiple Sclerosis. The speaker is to be announced at a later date.

Upcoming committee meeting dates and topics, as well as upcoming programs are still in the planning stages. Some specifics regarding RASD Committees are as follows: Reader’s Advisory, led by Grace O’Connor, has chosen Asian Literature as the topic for several meetings. Health Concerns, led by Rona Dressler, has chosen Multiple Sclerosis as their topic for the 2003 bibliography as well as their annual meeting. Electronic Resources will meet on March 5th to discuss publicizing electronic databases to the public and Millennium Access Plus.

CATS: L. Hawrey was not in attendance. P Thomson read her report on her behalf. The CATS board met on February 11th. CATS has not had any programs since the last SCLA meeting, but they are planning on future programs. At this time, there are no dates to report, but Laura will have dates for the March SCLA Executive Board meeting. Some topics to be addressed at future meetings include a 2 hour session on beginner’s Excel, a tour of Recorded Books in New York City combined with an afternoon library tour, an open forum for Technical Services, and a library tour of three public libraries in Suffolk .

SSD: M. Mueller was not in attendance. P. Thomson read her report on her behalf. The SSD board met on February 21st at the Sachem Public Library. A program is scheduled on April 3rd from 9:30am-12pm . The topic is carpet maintenance and the meeting will be held at the Sachem Public Library. Specificlly, how to prolong the life of carpets through basic maintenance procedures and spot removal techniques will be discussed. A message will be posted on the listserv and fliers will be distributed. A tentative date of September 25th was chosen for SSD’s Annual Roundtable program. This year, SSD has identified the need to promote membership. Many of the current board members will not be able to serve on the board next year. SSD’s next meeting will be held at the Sachem Public Library on March 18th at 9:30am .

J. Clemens mentioned she had received information that she thought would be of particular interest to M. Muller. Judith Andrew will be offering a presentation locally that might be of interests to library staff. Joan will forward the details to Marie

YASD: No report.

J. Clemens had just received 2 fliers that were worthy of noting. The first was an announcement for the 2003 joint meeting of NCLA & SCLA Young Adult Librarians. Mel Glenn will be at the Farmingdale Public Library on February 27th from 9:30am-12pm . Also, NCLA Young Adult Services Division printed a calendar of events for 2003. Joan commented on how helpful that seemed to be.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

ARCHIVES: No report.

J. Clemens mentioned that S. Atlas will be submitting copies of the Statistical Policy Surveys for the Archives to Suzanne Johnson for archival purposes. Joan also reminded everyone that there is a desk and storage area for SCLA at SCLS. There are additional welcome packets available there as well.

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS: No report.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: C. Gray reported that the Continuing Education Committee met on January 28th at the Middle Country Public Library, Selden Branch. Three people were in attendance. Karen Baudoiun offered a recap of the program at the SUNY Stony Brook Health Sciences Library and said that it was very successful. Carol reported that the Continuing Education Committee will be sponsoring a program at the 2003 Long Island Library Conference titled I Love My Boss, But…Dealing Effectively with Your Supervisor/Employer. They have been in touch with Newsday trying to get a speaker for this topic. Carol also asked everyone about a speaker that offered a similar program in the past who was affiliated with Cornell’s International Labor Relations program. C. Guzzo recognized it as a CATS program and said that L. Hawrey coordinated that program. Carol will touch base with Laura about the possibility of a speaker from Cornell’s ILR to speak on the topic as well. Carol is also going to check with Helene Hertzlinger from NCLA to see if there’s an interest in co-sponsoring the program. Upcoming programs include a private tour of the library at the Museum of Natural History in late September or early October. Other topics being considered are a web design workshop on “Marketing Your Library through Displays, Presentations, and Exhibits” to be offered in Winter 2004. Carol said she’d get possible meeting dates to Sheryl Sessa. S. Ingram reminded everyone that he is working with Sheryl in coordinating SCLA event dates, and stressed the importance of getting meeting dates on the SCLA web site as early as possible to avoid conflicts and increase program attendance. A short discussion ensued, and everyone agreed that it is important and that we should make it a goal to improve upon the present method to keep the SCLA page current.

ELSA: No report.

FALL DINNER: C. Guzzo reported that she is still looking into the possibilities of the Meadow Club, the Irish Coffee Pub, and the Bellport Country Club. No further details are available at this time.

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM: K. McCoy was not in attendance. P. Thomson read the report on his behalf. He reminded everyone of the meeting sponsored by DASL scheduled for September 26th regarding the US PATRIOT Act. Kevin said he wants to be more active regarding intellectual freedom with the new legislation that has been passed. He inquired as to the availability of a list of people that indicated an interest in the Intellectual Freedom Committee on their SCLA membership.

J. Clemens said she would talk to R. McEneaney and get the appropriate list of interested people for each committee to each chair as soon as possible.

LDA AWARD: P. Bornstein reported that the LDA Award brochures were printed and that the fliers for Suffolk County staff have already been sent. Paula gave the appropriate brochures to the NCLA representative. Those who work in Nassau and those who receive SCLA mail at home should receive their brochures within the next week. The deadline for applications is April 1st. D. Bucher complimented Paula on the great job she has done.

LEGISLATIVE: L. Tesoriero was not in attendance. P. Thomson read her report on her behalf. The Albany Bus Trip for Library Legislation Day is March 18, 2003 . At present, there are 15 confirmed reservations (checks have been received), 13 unconfirmed reservations (checks not yet received). Checks are required to reserve a seat on the bus. $105 will be forwarded to J. Loughren next week for deposit. A $100 check is requested from Joseph, payable to J. Clemens to be cashed ahead of time to be used for the tip for the driver, and Laurene e-mailed Joseph with the information to pay the balance of $675, which is due March 3rd. Flo Denny will be handling the food and refreshments, as she has in past years. David Jones of Patchogue will be bringing along a camera as per B. Hoffman’s request for newsletter pictures. Jerry Nichols wrote a legislative summary for the upcoming SCLA newsletter. The summary will also be used as a handout on the bus trip. There is a strong possibility that there will be no gifts for Legislators this year. Last year, Legislators reported that they could not accept gifts. A suggestion was made by James Olney to purchase a copy of the book 1984 for each legislator to use as a segue for our discussions with legislators to urge them not to bring us back to 1984 funding levels but rather to offer the support that is needed. This suggestion was met with applause from the SCLA Executive Board, and the suggestion will be brought back to the LILRC Legislative Committee. Two listserv announcements have been made already about the trip. A third will be made shortly on the listserv. The next LILRC Legislative Committee meeting will be on Thursday, February 27th.

J. Clemens apologized for not getting the information about the price increase that was voted on at January’s meeting to Laurene in time. All announcements that Laurene released reflected the 2002 price of $7, rather than the $8 price approved at January’s SCLA Executive Board Meeting. Joan said she’s trying to find a sponsor for the trip, and she asked if anyone wanted to help make up the difference in the amount not collected by the registration fee to please feel free to do so.

LISTSERV: K. McCoy was not in attendance. P. Thomson read this report on his behalf. There are currently 729 subscribers. There was discussion about how some people are choosing to unsubscribe to the listserv, and that we should encourage people to delete messages but to not unsubscribe to the listserv altogether.

L.I. LIBRARY CONFERENCE: No report.

LONG-RANGE PLANNING: S. Holden reported that the Spring Orientation for MLS students at the Palmer School at CW Post on January 16th was very successful. Everyone in attendance enjoyed themselves. Sue’s only regret was that they couldn’t stay for lunch, because the tour in between was too time consuming. Sue is going to suggest that lunch follow the presentations, so visiting librarians can stay longer and mingle with the students. John Bosco, eva efron, and Mamie Eng represented Nassau County , and Sue, S. Ingram, Sheryl Sessa and James Olney represented Suffolk County . Some of the issues discussed were Civil Service and practical issues relating to the field of librarianship. The same presentation offered at Queens College on January 23rd proved to be a little more difficult, as people (including professors) would get up and leave during the presentation. But at both locations, students asked lots of questions, and Sue and Steven both agreed it is well worth having representatives there. Sue received a letter from Mary Westermann from the Palmer School thanking her for their attendance at the New Student Orientation. The letter will be placed in the archives. 

D. Bucher relayed how she has a few friends who are library science students and how helpful the listserv is to them in both keeping current with issues and events and in locating possible job information. 

MEMBERSHIP: No report.

J. Clemens brought extra copies of the membership form and reminded everyone present to be sure they have paid their annual dues for SCLA membership.

NEWSLETTER: J. Clemens complimented Barbara on the fine job she is doing with the newsletter. B. Hoffman says she loves doing it. The March/April/May newsletter is in progress. The blizzard held up production slightly. The lead story will be Jerry Nichol’s article about the proposed NYS budged and the Save SuffolkWeb campaign. Barbara does not have themes for the next 3 issues. She asked for ideas from anyone, and specifically from Joan if nothing was suggested. She asked that Division Presidents send articles to her. Barbara is going to call Lorraine Squires, as an article for YASD is missing. She will be asking Regina McEneanney for labels for newsletters, and Barbara asked everyone in attendance if anyone had a picture of any of the award winners from the 2002 SCLA Dinner. Barbara reported that there were many winners to the last trivia question…all winners will receive a button that states “I Knew The Answer” that Patchogue Medford’s Graphics Department is creating. The Executive Board seemed to really like that idea. 

NOMINATING: C. Guzzo is looking for volunteers for the 2004 slate. She asked that anybody having any interest to contact her directly.

PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS: K. Minschke reported that she is making an effort to revive this committee. There was a meeting last week and 3 other people attended. They decided to eliminate the questionnaire format and replace it with a roundtable discussion. Possible dates for the roundtable include April 7th and May 21st. There were 4 others that expressed an interest but weren’t able to attend the February meeting. Flyers will announce meeting specifics, and points of concern will be sent ahead of time to get people thinking of issues to discuss. Kris feels much better about the relevance of this committee, as compared to a few months ago. She asked that any concerns be brought to her attention, and asked for suggestions from the Executive Board.

J. Clemens commented on the relevance of the USA PATRIOT Act and that discussion might be appropriate in this committee. Joan commented that it might be difficult, but that it’s probably necessary to define the mission of the committee and identify concerns to be addressed. Joan also stated that the nature of the Professional Concerns meeting may be similar to the Long Range Planning Committee, which tends to generate work for others. H. Biblo relayed how, years ago, LILRC identified the problem of low starting salaries. LILRC addressed this by requiring a certain minimum salary in order to post a job on their jobline. Herb reported that some libraries did actually change their minimum salaries to be posted. Joan relayed a story how, in Baltimore , she saw an advertisement for a volunteer with an MLS to fill a position without pay. Everyone reacted strongly to that, as to the sad state of our profession. S. Ingram suggested using LISNews.com as a good source for current concerns in the field. Joan mentioned the Google versus Librarians debate; at Johns Hopkins, the library staff is taking an active role in having students and staff use the knowledge of librarians rather than relying on search engines for assistance. B. Hoffman said that this issue has many implications. At present, Patchogue-Medford Library is presenting a vote to their community, and there’s a small group of people that ask why libraries should continue to be funded when there’s the Internet and Blockbuster. Joan commented that this is great fodder for consideration for this committee.

PUBLIC AWARENESS/PUBLICITY: S. Ingram reiterated that the New Student Orientation went well. Steven again stressed the need to maintain the SCLA web page. There are many dates that have already been set that are not posted on the page. Also, many people are announcing meeting dates at our Executive Board meetings and those dates are not on the SCLA page. Steven then handed out an article about Mick Foley, the keynote speaker for the 2003 Long Island Library Conference, that appeared in January 27th Publishers Weekly. Steven expressed concern that people may not recognize the name Mick Foley, and he thinks they may not know that he is a best selling author of both children’s and adult books. Steven is concerned that attendance for the conference may be affected by this lack of awareness. He suggested that Mr. Foley’s publicist be contacted for press information. P. Thomson said that she had worked on the Library Conference in the past, and it’s common procedure to get publicity releases from the keynote speaker’s PR team. Patty suggested that Suzanne McGuire (Commack Public Library, Programs Committee Suffolk County representative) be contacted. A suggestion was made to include an article in the SCLA newsletter about Mick Foley. Barbara said she’d contact Suzanne for information to be included. 

SCHOLARSHIP: Angela Richards was not in attendance. P. Thomson read her report on her behalf. Thanks to Regina , Angela now has a list of all the “students” in the database who may be eligible for a scholarship. A special e-mail will go out to them asking if they’d like Angela to send an application to them. A fact sheet about the scholarship was part of the packet for the New Student Orientation at Post and Queens College . Angela will reproduce the same fact sheet for all the Suffolk County libraries so they can be posted in break rooms. Angela planned on having the revised Scholarship application in the system bag by today’s meeting date for Joan so that Joan could hand deliver the application to the printer. Angela doesn’t anticipate needing more than 50. Angela asked if anyone had a lead on an “entity” that would donate to the raffle at the SCLA Dinner, she would be grateful for any suggestions. Angela has to print up the raffle booklets and she doesn’t know what the prizes will be yet. D. Bucher volunteered to put a basket together for a prize at the dinner.

STATISTICAL SURVEY: S. Atlas reported that she has already collected $600 from the sales of the SCLA Statistical Survey (both personal sales and additional copies for libraries). She is expecting $60 more. Sandy anticipates sending out the request for information to each library in May. She’ll be printing it on brightly colored paper so that it catches people’s eye easily. She thought that, last year, approximately 52 libraries responded. J. Clemens showed everyone the NCLA Salary & Personnel Benefits booklet. There was discussion as to how the information provided in NCLA’s survey is very useful, and the suggestion was made that perhaps we could change our survey to collect additional data. Sandy will contact the coordinator of the project in Nassau County . She also said that changing the survey to include requests for additional information would take time. Sandy needs assistance with data entry and, if changing the format, could use help in composing the survey. She also expressed that the project, as it exists right now, is very time consuming and requires a lot of work. Joan suggested that Sandy talk to people who have been involved with the statistical survey in the past. There was also discussion about how to encourage all libraries to complete all aspects of the survey and how that information can be helpful for everyone in Suffolk libraries, as well as those working in Nassau .

SUFFOLK COUNTY JAILS LIBRARY SERVICE: No report.

WEB PAGE: No report.

LIAISON REPORTS:

CLASC: No report.

BOCES: J. Barr reported that Eastern Suffolk BOCES District Superintendent, Gary Bixhorn, is hosting a State-sponsored meeting on Library Advocacy. Long Island library directors, educators, community members, Parent Teacher Associations, etc. have been

invited to attend this meeting at Sachem Public Library on February 26th at

9:30 (registration). From 10AM-noon Commissioner Richard P. Mills and Regent Robert M. Johnson will be speaking about New Century Libraries. Also in attendance from the

State Education Department will be Janet Welch, Carole Huxley, Carol Desch,

and Jean Hargrave. Lunch will be provided at noon followed by an Advocacy Workshop, presented by Carolyn Giambra, Mary Jo Ketchum, and Donald Van Cleef. Janet encouraged everyone to attend this very important meeting. 

LILRC: H. Biblo reported that the Annual LILRC Dinner will be held on October 16th & 17th at Dowling. The theme will be Reference in the Digital Age. Four high level speakers have already agreed to speak. The Opening Session will feature Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and Long Island native. Herb reported that the digitization pilot program at Roslyn’s Bryant Library has been very successful thusfar. The postcards that have been digitized should be posted on line very soon. A survey will follow to assess interest in this project. Herb also reminded people that anyone interested in a copy of the teleconference in December 2002 regarding the USA PATRIOT Act is available through LILRC. Herb also mentioned that similar legislation, including UCITA and a second USA PATRIOT Act, is still present on state and national levels and deserves our attention. 

LVA SUFFOLK : No report. Maxine left material to be distributed.

NCLA: L. Tesoriero was not in attendance. P. Thomson read her report on her behalf. At present, NCLA has 20 people registered for their bus trip for Library Legislation Day. NCLA’s web page has been down for a few days due to upgrades being made. The NCLA Executive Board voted to approve a new committee called the Outreach Committee. More information will be made available soon. The NCLA Personnel Issues and Professional Concerns Committee is working on a project regarding starting salaries for new librarians. Laurene asked Ken Bellafiore, NCLA President, if the committee would be interested in SCLA working with them on this project. Ken thought it was a good idea. If the SCLA Professional Concerns Committee wishes to know more about this project, they should contact John Bosco at the Jericho Library.

PLDA: No report.

SCLS: No report. J. Clemens reminded everyone of Jerry Nichol’s article in the SCLA newsletter, and stressed the importance of library advocacy at this point in time. 

SLA : No report.

OLD BUSINESS: D. Bucher asked when the 2003 Legislative Breakfast will be. Herb didn’t have the date, but he could say that it will be sometime in September 2003. He will provide the specific date as soon as possible. Della volunteered to do a display. She had an idea about an informative display that will let our legislators know that what we do goes far beyond just books. She wanted to highlight some of the more unique, less traditional library services. Harborfields Public Library has travel kits that circulate that include videos, audio tapes, brochures, and a variety of additional information for many places that people wish to travel to. Della suggested putting out a call on the listserv to heads of departments, clerical staff, and anyone who might have other suggestions. S. Ingram volunteered to help with the physical display. Herb asked if anyone has approached the LILRC Legislative Committee with this suggestion. Herb also said that he wanted to be sure that academic, special, and school libraries were represented if such a display was approved. It was suggested that Laurene take this idea to the next LILRC Legislative Committee meeting for consideration.

C. Guzzo suggested meeting with the Members-At-Large to discuss fund-raising ideas. One idea that was discussed was a candy fundraiser. There are both pros and cons to consider, and more time is needed to weigh these factors before making a decision. D. Bucher said she was willing to coordinate another White Elephant Sale. There was discussion about how in past years, there have been problems with volunteers not showing up when scheduled. There’s a lot of work that needs to occur that makes the sale difficult, set-up, clean-up, pricing of items, and other items are time consuming and labor intensive. There was discussion about asking people to price the items they wanted to donate. Della also graciously offered an incentive to solicit volunteers: an afternoon on her boat. Della is open to suggestions. She also reminded everyone that t-shirts are on still available for purchase.

E. Cichanowicz reported that she is still working with Larry and Michael Davidson of Palmer Vinyards to coordinate another fundraiser centered around their Writers on the Vine series. The 2003 series will run from June through August, and will feature very prominent writers, including Susan Isaacs, Nelson DeMille, and Donald E. Axinn. There’s one snag at the moment - the price for tickets was quoted at $8.50 each. Last year, it was $5. They did say that the price is negotiable, and Edana’s goal is to get them to agree to a $5 ticket price again this year. Last year, tickets were sold for $10. Edana will keep us posted with her progress.

NEW BUSINESS: J. Clemens read correspondence from NCLA advertising their June 28th fundraiser – Duck tickets available for purchase. Joan passed around Monthly Report forms and strongly encouraged everyone to use them, regardless of whether or not they will be at the meeting. P. Thomson stressed that point, and thanked all the people who submitted reports for this meeting. Patty also reported that there were some changes on the contact list that was included in the welcome packet. Patty will get in touch with R. Dressler, update the list with the changes, and include as an attachment when the minutes are sent for review in March.

J. Clemens thanked C. Guzzo for her all her help and for providing the refreshments.

C. Guzzo asked for a motion to adjourn. D. Bucher made the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.