Minutes 2025

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Suffolk County Library Association (SCLA) Minutes
Friday, January 17, 2025
Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

In attendance: Steve Alcalde, Angela Breslin, Rachel Cecchini, Patricia Cruz, Anthony Giansante, Rebecca Goldstein, Stephen Ingram, Bob Johnson, Erin Kanelos, Eytan Kessler, Carole Lingg, Rachel Lupinacci, Carisse Mitchell, Nicole Malley, Wonda Miller, Jackie Narkiewicz, Mary O’Grady, Sally Stieglitz, Melissa Sutter, Vicky Urbelis

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 10:08am by Bob Johnson.  Seconded by Steve Alcalde.

Announcements:

Presidents Report:

Anthony Giansante reported:

Because of the great work of past boards, we are poised to successfully continue our efforts to engage with our members’ curiosities, entertain their interests, assist in furthering careers, and support them as they continue to serve their communities.

This work is essential to longevity of careers and the industry at large.

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In 1985, Suffolk County named November 15th Suffolk County Library Association Day!

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Advocacy Day is February 5th. There are buses available to take. I encourage all the board to be there if possible. 

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We created a Best Practices Checklist for SCLA Workshops and Program that was added to the website – this guideline serves as reference for those who need information on forming, advertising and executing a program.

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Rachel, SCLA Secretary, created a Welcome to SCLA brochure – please contact me or Rachel to get the file and send it to your boards. Board members are encouraged to print out a few copies and leave them in your library’s breakrooms.

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Like last year, SCLA plans to continue to support the mentorship program that is jointly sponsored with PLDA and CLASC. Past President Colleen Navins will be our representative for the Mentorship Program and will keep us informed about upcoming Mentorship related events and such.

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Meet SCLA 2025, an open house style program, will be on February 28th at SCLS from 2-4pm.

Treasurer’s Report: Wonda Miller reported:

December Finances:

SCLA began with a combined starting balance of all our accounts on December 1st of $107,155.57.

The income from December was $2,604.90, from membership, and programming including the annual dinner.

The expenses from December were $9,442.89 primarily for the order of marketing materials and the WildApricot software.

The closing balance for December  was $100,317.58 with $1,045.97 in pending checks.

 

	Income	Expense	Net	Closing Balance
January 2024	$6,483.63	$4561.69	$1,921.94	$99,344.82
February 2024	$4,811.41	$1,284.43	$3,526.98	$102,871.80
March 2024	$5,058.65	$177.62	$4,881.03	$107,752.83
April 2024	$3,095.63	$4,318.36	-$1,222.73	$106,530.10
May 2024	$2,583.65	$5,414.05	-$2,830.40	$103,699.70
June 2024	$1,356.63	$2,031.43	-$674.80	$103,024.90
July 2024	$713.65	$530.21	$183.44	$103,208.34
August 2024	$772.65	$911.69	-$139.04	$103,069.30
September 2024	$1994.63	$365.38	$1629.25	$104,698.55
October 2024	$4062.65	$7,155.34	-$3092.69	$101,605.86
November 2024	$7,713.76	$2,164.05	$5,549.71	$107,155.57
December	$2,604.90	$9,442.89	-$6,837.99	$100,317.58

Wonda and Anthony will begin to research a financial policy with Al Coster.

Division Reports-

DASL: Bruce Seger reported: We have several items coming for the Spring. The Academic Invitational will be in April and will explore various facets of A.I. We anticipate having it at Nassau Community College. We are awaiting approval for a presentation on forensics at the Long Island Library Conference.  A few other items are in the works and I should have an update at our next meeting.

RASD: Jackie Narkiewicz reported: We have three submissions for the LILC: Long Island Reads, One-on-one genealogy assistance, Reading club for English learners. We are planning for the upcoming Meet the Board in February.

CATS: Steve Alcalde reported: Thanked Bob for his great work last year, spoke about upcoming Tech Programming on a Budget program.

SSD: Nicole Malley reported:

YASD: Rachel Lupinacci reported: YASD hosted their annual luncheon on Tuesday, December 10th with graphic novelist Kristen Gudsnuk. We had a full turnout and awarded our three Teen Librarian Award Winners. The 2025 board held our first meeting on Wednesday, January 15th with a “Meet the Board: Vision Board Workshop.” Around 13 people attended and made their own vision boards while also providing ideas for future programming and professional development workshops through YASD. We are working on updating the YASD website and hoping to restart the quarterly newsletter. YASD is in charge of hosting the Annual Joint Meeting with Nassau for 2025 and has secured librarian Kymberlee Powe to host a webinar on March 3rd titled “From Diversity to Inclusion: How to audit your collection and why.” Author Jen Calonita has agreed to be the featured author for this year’s Fran Romer Memorial Workshop, taking place Thursday, April 10th at the Patchogue Carnegie Library.

Committee Reports-

Annual Dinner: Melissa Sutter reported: No report.

Archives: Bruce Seger reported: I want to thank Stephen for housing the archive collection for now through our site. I will be contacting Bob to discuss placing it in a more prominent location moving forward.

Civil Service: Erin Kanelos reported: Potential upcoming tests include Senior and Principal Accountant on March 1st (Filing deadline 1/22/25). Compiling list of all relevant job titles,  to have better information for members about test cycles, lists, and FAQs.

Community Service: Angela Breslin reported: Working on a list of community service activities that SCLA can work on throughout the year.  It would be great if we can tie them into our meetings.  Angela would also like to utilize the community service “walks” that Long Island hosts.  Would it be possible to get SCLA t-shirts for members to wear at the walks?

For Meet SCLA- can we add a drive to the event/flyer?  Angela will email Rachel Cecchini with the details of the drive.

Continuing Education: Please continue to send all CEU credits to the sclamembershipli@gmail.com email. If you need the CEU template or have any questions please also email the SCLA membership email.

ELSA: Katherine Regina reported: No report.

Intellectual Freedom: Bruce Seger reported: We had William Burns a professor of English at Suffolk County Community College present on the topic of  exploring the limits of freedom of expression by looking at the works of several “transgressive” artists. We had approximately 40 who attended via Zoom. The presentation was done in collaboration with LILRC.

LDA Award: Liz Hughes reported: Talks have already begun between SCLA and NCLA chairs for this year’s LDA award. Because it is an odd year, this makes SCLA the lead for the award and our organization is responsible for purchasing the plaque. As of right now, we are working on updating the brochures and hope to have them ready to be emailed/handed out in the next two weeks, give or take a day. Currently, all chairs have agreed upon a tentative deadline for all submissions to be due by March 28. By the next SCLA meeting, I should have 3 judges from SCLA to read this year’s nominations and fill out score sheets which will be used in conjunction with NCLA’s score sheets to pick this year’s winner. Stay tuned for the official email to go out and feel free to nominate staff you think are deserving of this award!

Legislative: Samantha Alberts reported:

Currently the SCLA sponsored bus is filled. If you would like to get on the waitlist please email samantha@suffolknet.org

There are advocacy prep sessions scheduled and they are as follows:

NYLA online Fri. Jan 24 1 pm

NYLA online Weds. Jan 29 1 pm

Links are on the NYLA website

SCLS in person Advocacy Day 101 Weds. Jan 29 2pm register on the SCLS Calendar.

Long Island Library Conference: Brian Adams reported: No report.

LILPA: Alex Giresi reported: LILPA has submitted two proposals to two conferences: YSS and LILC. Both have been approved.

Long Range Planning/Marketing: Carisse Mitchell reported:

All SCLA marketing swag is stored at System:

• Mugs: 191
• Pins: 272
• Key chains: 250
• Pens: 68
• SCLA Banner
• SCLA tablecloth

I’d like to discuss the best way to keep track of inventory.

I am in the process of ordering more materials. I’d like to have a selection of different marketing materials for divisions to bring to meetings/ put out as part of the 2025 Boards passive advertising goal. I’d like to request a budget of $4,000 to purchase more materials.  Angela Breslin suggested sending some “welcome swag” to new members as a good gesture.  After discussion, this initiative would begin in 2026 and it would be targeted for a specific day; i.e. SCLA Day on November 15th.

Motion to approve a budget not to exceed $4,000 for marketing materials: Motion approved by voting members.

Ideas:

• Sticky notepad
• Lined notepad
• More pens
• Straw topper
• Golf towel
• Aluminum water bottle
• Pet bandana

Anyone can request ideas for materials / swag items (cmitchell@wbpl.us)

Membership: Vicky Urbelis reported: 409 active members

Carisse Mitchell suggested making a Join SCLA flyer with a QR code that could be sent on the list-serv for people to post in their break rooms.  Carisse will make the flyer.

Networking: Morgan Tamburro reported: No report.

Newsletter: Carole Lingg reported: Carole will send emails out for the newsletter about a month ahead of time.  Please get all division updates and shoutouts to Carole with enough time to complete the newsletter.

Nominating: Bob Johnson reported: No current vacancies but as they come up please let Bob know.

Scholarship: Rebecca Goldstein reported: No report.

Student Outreach: Rebecca Goldstein reported: No report.

Web Page: Stephen Ingram Reported

Basic website/facebook maintenance and posting of events.
Facebook insights: 1095  followers
November page views for the month of 677
December webpage views for the month of 589
Updated SCLA, CATS, RASD, CARE Committee wordpress sites to latest security updates.
Monitor and approve listserv posts
Created and monitored Wild Apricot Events
Supported SSD Virtual Gallery Event

Stephen did a presentation of the SCLA website and Wild Apricot for the new board members.

Division secretaries will have access to Wild Apricot so they can view event attendance lists and send them to the Continuing Education and Membership Members at Large.

Liaisons-

CLASC: No report.

LILRC: Sally Stieglitz reported: LILRC invites you to meet the NYLA president and leadership on Wednesday, January 22, 10:00am

Farmingdale Public Library. Register.

Save the date:

SCLA DASL, NCLA ASLD and LILRC invite you to save the date for the upcoming 11th Annual Herbert Biblo Academic Libraries Conference, Deep Learning: AI’s Impact on Our World, to be held on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at Nassau Community College. The conference is open to all in the profession. Morning refreshments and lunch are included with registration. Registration will open in early February.

NCLA: No report.

PLDA: PLDA is sponsoring a two day bus to Albany for $75/pp. Register for a seat and send a check made out to Suffolk PLDA by January 24th to:

Shauna Scholl

PLDA Treasurer

Mattituck-Laurel Library

PO BOX 1437

Mattituck, NY 11952

SCLS: Samantha Alberts reported:

NYLA: No report.

Old Business: Anthony Giansante reported:  Every board member must be a member of SCLA.

New Business: Anthony Giansante reported: Conflict of Interest Form- we are legally required to have this form.  Anyone on boards who have the ability to make motions should sign this form and send it to Rachel Cecchini.

Motion to approve the official SCLA Conflict of Interest Form- Motion approved.

$1000 for two hours for the photographer for the Meet SCLA event

Motion to approve budget not to exceed $2000 for Meet SCLA 2025- Motion approved.

We need to renew our domain (scla.net) $340.91 this is including our tax exempt.  Motion to approve- motion approved.

Anthony, Wonda, and Rachel are working on getting SCLA access to Canva Pro.  More information will be available soon.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:26am by Bob Johnson.  Seconded by Jackie Narkiewicz and Erin Kanelos.

Suffolk County Library Association (SCLA) Minutes
Friday, February 21, 2025
Zoom

In attendance: Samantha Alberts, Steve Alcalde, Angela Breslin, Jessica Brown, Charlotte Buckleman, Rachel Cecchini, Anthony Giansante, Amanda Hayman, Liz Hughes, Stephen Ingram, Bob Johnson, Nicole Malley, Wonda Miller, Carisse Mitchell, Bruce Seger, Sally Stieglitz, Melissa Sutter, Morgan Tamburro, Vicky Urbelis

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 10:05am by Bob Johnson.  Seconded by Anthony Giansante.

Announcements:

Motion to approve the January 2025 meeting minutes by Anthony Giansante with corrections pending by division reports.  Seconded by Bob Johnson.

Presidents Report: Anthony Giansante reported: Thank you to everyone for attending this meeting. We are gearing up for the Spring and the LILC. Program submission acceptance letters have been sent out. Divisions and committees that are sponsoring programs should be proud of their contributions to the conference and SCLA’s commitment to professional development.

Meet SCLA will be happening on the 28th – we are very excited about this. The photographer is set and lunch will be ordered.

Carisse Mitchell made some recruitment flyers to get more

SCLA Merchandise will be going live soon– more information will be shared under new business.

Advocacy Day was a success, Thank you to the board for supporting our members and to those who were able to make it to Albany.

Treasurer’s Report: Wonda Miller reported:

January Finances:

SCLA began with a combined starting balance of all our accounts on January 1st of $100,185.68.

The income from January was $5,881.91, from membership and the annual disbursements to the Divisions.

The expenses from January were $6,581.88 primarily for advocacy day, and the annual disbursements to the Divisions.

The closing balance for January was $99,617.61 with $1,232.66 in pending checks.

	Income	Expense	Net	Closing Balance
January 2025	$5,881.91	$6,581.88	-$699.97	$99,617.61

Annual Division disbursements $500.00 to each division from SCLA

Al Coster completed our financial reports and taxes. The financial reports will be emailed to all voting members and available to anyone else upon request.

Division Reports-

DASL: Bruce Seger reported: Waiting to confirm location and speaker for their annual luncheon.  DASL is hosting a presentation at the LILC called “AI Meets CSI.” 

RASD: Jessica Brown reported: Two programs were accepted for the LILC: “Lessons Learned From One-on-One Genealogy Research” and “Reading Club for English Learners.” Career & Business Reference Services Committee canceled February meeting. Mary O’Grady was approved as the co-chair of the Local History Committee and Anastasia Bazilevskaya was approved as the co-chair for the Library Marketing Committee.

CATS: Steve Alcalde reported: CATS is hosting programs at the LILC.  23 people attended the Tech Programming on a Budget. There will be a Technical Services Roundtable at Longwood Library on Thursday, 2/27.

SSD: Nicole Malley reported: Alexis Camarda, Circulation Supervisor of Brookhaven Free Library, accepted the Vice President position.  With a full board we will need to add another Member at Large in the event of a tie, and with that, we will have to amend the constitution.  We will be discussing this at our monthly SSD meeting on Monday, 2/24.  A Gmail account was created to archive documents and to give the next SSD board something to inherit.

The SSD Executive Board is scheduled to meet on the last Monday of each month.

Program Ideas: Sometime in March, we will be scheduling a Meet & Greet over Zoom to give SSD Members a chance to meet us and discuss the kind of programs they are interested in.  We are also going to plan a summer kickoff in June so everyone can get together and earn CEUs.

YASD: Amanda Hayman reported: Two programs were accepted for the LILC.  The board is still working on updating the website and the newsletter.  Fran Romer will take place on April 10th at the Patchogue-Medford Library Teen Center.

Committee Reports-

Annual Dinner: Melissa Sutter reported: None.

Archives: Bruce Seger reported: More news forthcoming.

Civil Service: Erin Kanelos reported:

Librarian II exam results have been posted. Possibly relevant upcoming exams include Administrative Assistant (OC/PR) and Principal Office Assistant (OC/PR) – both have a last filing date of March 12, and an exam date of April 26. I am continuing to build the job title/exam database.

Community Service: Angela Breslin reported:

Would like to Register SCLA as a team for either the LT. Michael Murphy Run around the Lake on June 28, 2025 or the Walk for Pancreatic Cancer at Jones Beach on Oct 5, 2025.

Bonfire campaign of shirts/hats/onesies for SCLA.

Motion for SCLA to participate in both of these activities: Motion approved.

Continuing Education: Charlotte Buckleman reported: Please keep sending your sign-in sheets to Charlotte in the correct format.

ELSA: Katherine Regina reported: None.

Intellectual Freedom: Bruce Seger reported: Working on a presentation with Kevin McCoy. 

LDA Award: Liz Hughes reported: Applications are due by Friday, March 21st.  We are looking for 3 judges to evaluate submissions.

Legislative: Samantha Alberts reported:

SCLA’s bus had 49 advocates, and we made two pick-up stops.  The bus arrived at 10 am. (As we plan for next year, we will keep two stops and plan on two buses.  It is easier to cancel than add a bus)

Thank you to the board and also our bus Captains, Derek Ivie (SCLS) and Sophia LoCasio (Sustainable Libraries Initiative). Additional Support from Jonnie Lauria (SCLS), Nola Thacker (Westhampton),  Stephen Burg (Mastics) and Eliscia Cirrone (LILRC).  They helped make our arrival and departure smooth.  In addition to the hospitality SCLA purchased ( $172.27), PLDA kindly provided some additional drinks.

Long Island Library Conference: Brian Adams reported:

The Long Island Library Conference program roster is up and on the website at libconference.org

We have a very interesting slate of programs this year, so make sure to take a look and decide which ones to attend.

Attendee registration has been open since Jan 1st. At the beginning registration is slow, but as the date draws nearer it increases dramatically.

Make sure you put in for it and try to get your colleagues to go as well.

We have our decision making tasting lunch next month to approve the menu and make sure there is something for all tastes and dietary requirements.

As of today there will be no reserved tables, it will all be first come first served,

We had so many complaints about smaller libraries being discriminated against that this year we are trying something different.

Please remember to arrive early – the later you arrive the farther away you have to park.

Check in and breakfast begins at 8am.

Association tables will be decided upon and allotted at the last minute and all depends on the amount of vendor table we need. Your parent organization (SCLA) will be the decider for it’s divisions and committees.

Most information can be found at the Conference’s website : libconference.org or call me, Brian Adams at 631-757-4200 ext 120.

Hope to see you all there!

Brian

LILPA: Alex Giresi reported: LILPA has submitted two proposals to two conferences: YSS and LILC. Both have been approved. A NYLA proposal is in the works.

Long Range Planning/Marketing: Carisse Mitchell reported:

Requesting approval for additional $850 for library swag: Motion approved. Thank you, Carisse!

For all the below it comes to $4,827 which is $850 over the allotted budget.

This would leave us with a solid backstock of:

• Pins
• Pens
• Sticky notes
• Lip Balm
• Magnetic Clip

 Larger Giveaway:

• Blanket
• Water Bottle

 If you didn’t want to spend that much, I would recommend getting rid of:

• Clip (magnetic to hold paper/ notes at desk)
  • -$550
• Doing water bottle OR blanket
  • This would be the bigger giveaway

1.

1.25″ Custom Hard Enamel Lapel Pin

https://www.davenportmkt.com/p/TDNPF-JRWGA/1.25-custom-hard-enamel-lapel-pin

Item# LPNHE125

Quantity: 300 EA

2.

Recycled PET Cougar Ballpoint Pen

https://www.davenportmkt.com/p/ZJIIK-PJKWX/recycled-pet-cougar-ballpoint-pen

Item # ZJIIK-PJKWX

Quantity: 500

 

3.  

Post-it® 4″ X 3″ Full Color Notes- 25 Sheets

Item # QCNJI-OGVNN

Quantity: 750

White with SCLA Logo on top

 https://www.davenportmkt.com/p/QCNJI-OGVNN/post-it-4-x-3-full-color-notes–25-sheets

4.  

Quest 25 Oz. Water Bottle

Item # GFPLJ-PRQXC

Quantity: 150

Color: Blue

White SCLA Logo in middle

 https://www.davenportmkt.com/p/GFPLJ-PRQXC/quest-25-oz.-water-bottle

5.  

Round Shape Clip

Item # BFKOH-GWIOQ

Quantity: 500

Color: Blue with white SCLA logo

 https://www.davenportmkt.com/p/BFKOH-GWIOQ/round-shape-clip  

6.  

Lip Moisturizer Cube

Item # HANIK-MZJSP

Quantity: 500

Color: Blue with white SCLA logo

 https://www.davenportmkt.com/p/HANIK-MZJSP/lip-moisturizer-cube

7.  

Fleece Blanket (see below)

Quantity: 250

Color: Blue with white SCLA logo

Picture of SCLA open book logo

Membership: Vicky Urbelis reported: 410 active members

Networking: Morgan Tamburro reported: Reaching out to James Joyce for a spring networking event.

Newsletter: Carole Lingg reported: None.

Nominating: Bob Johnson reported:

Scholarship: Rebecca Goldstein reported: None.

Student Outreach: Rebecca Goldstein reported: None.

Web Page: Stephen Ingram Reported

Basic website/facebook maintenance and posting of events.
Facebook insights: 1102  followers
December page views for the month 589
January page views for the month of 1018
Updated SCLA, CATS, RASD, CARE Committee wordpress sites to latest security updates.
Monitor and approve listserv posts
Created and monitored Wild Apricot Events
Cleaned up listserv, removing and adding members.
Renewed web domain/ Expires 3/29/2034

Liaisons-

CLASC: None.

LILRC: Sally Stieglitz reported:

LILRC has a number of interesting programs coming up in March! Registration for all  programs is at lilrc.org/events

Girls Who Code: Cost-Free Library Curriculum and Programs

Wednesday, March 5, 3:00pm

Unintentional Barriers to Library Service

Friday, March 7, 10:00am

Legal Research for Beginners

Tuesday, March 11, 11:00am

From Apollo to Artemis: Stories from NASA

Wednesday, March 12, 11:00am

Stories on Skin: A Librarian’s Guide

Thursday, March 13, 2:00pm

Conflict Management: Part One, Understanding Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Responses to Conflict

Friday, March 14, 10:00am

Jewish Librarians Meetup

Tuesday, March 18, 2:00pm

Stony Brook University Ready for Success Program

Thursday, March 20, 3:30pm

Conflict Management: Part Two, Putting It Into Action: Connection through Conflict

Friday March 21, 10:00am

Researching Government Information with Shikha G. Joseph

Wednesday, March 26, 10:00am

[MLA Webinar] Using Generative AI Tools for Research Data Management: Questions and Answers

(LILRC Members Only)

Thursday, March 27, 2:00pm

NCLA: Melanie Davidoff reported: None.

PLDA: Shauna Scholl reported: PLDA is sponsoring a program titled Key Performance Indicators for Library Success presented by Matt Bollerman – to take place on April 28th at SCLS from 10am – 11:30am. Co-sponsored by SCLS, stay tuned for registration information.

Rescheduled for May 1st, and registration is now open: https://portal.suffolklibrarysystem.org/event/pldas-key-performance-indicators-workshop-29083

SCLS: Samantha Alberts reported:

For those signed up for the Performers’ Showcase, it was rescheduled for March 7th.

NYLA: Tim Spindler reported: None.

Old Business: Anthony Giansante reported: Every board member of all divisions must be a member of SCLA.  Presidents- please keep track of this.  We did renew our domain for another nine years.  Meet SCLA is on Friday, 2/28 at SCLS.  Please sign your conflict of interest form and send it to Rachel Cecchini by 2/28.

New Business: Anthony Giansante reported: Updated the SCLA Wild Apricot URL.  SCLA now has a Canva Pro account.  Please reach out to Rachel Cecchini if you want access to that account.  Bob Johnson has generously offered to sponsor a raffle basket together for Meet SCLA.  Motion approved to sponsor these baskets.

Angela Breslin shared her SCLA swag ideas for community service events.  Discussion ensued about Angela’s amazing ideas.  Angela will make the discussed modifications.  Perhaps we can have the divisions spearhead their own campaign on Bonfire?  Bob Johnson asked about what we can include on the swag to perpetuate public support.  Wonda, Angela, and Anthony will finalize price points based on what Bonfire suggests.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45am by Bob Johnson.  Seconded by Wonda Miller and Bruce Seger.

Suffolk County Library Association (SCLA) Minutes
Friday, March 21, 2025
Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

In attendance: Brian Adams, Samantha Alberts, Steve Alcalde, Katie Brand, Angela Breslin, Jessica Brown, Rachel Cecchini, Anthony Giansante, Stephen Ingram, Erin Kanelos, Sandy Leon, Rachel Lupinacci, Wonda Miller, Colleen Navins, Sally Stieglitz, Melissa Sutter, Vicky Urbelis

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 10:09am by Anthony Giansante.  Seconded by Angela Breslin and Vicky Urbelis.

Announcements:

Motion to approve the February 2025 meeting minutes by Anthony Giansante without corrections.  Seconded by Vicky Urbelis and Jessica Brown.

Presidents Report: Anthony Giansante reported:

Thank you to everyone for attending this meeting. We are gearing up for the Spring and the LILC. SCLA affiliated table assignments have been issued – thank you to the LILC committee for getting this all together.

Meet SCLA was an overall success  – feedback has been positive. The photographer reported a great experience at the program as well. Headshots from the event have been posted and participants have been notified. More people attended than signed up – Total attendance: 62 attendees and 29 headshots.

SCLA Merch Store is live! Feedback has been overall positive.

Gearing up for spring and summer programs and community events and parades, Carisse ordered SCLA branded items. They are in storage at SCLS but Divisions and committees are welcome to take some items and hand them out at your programs. Aim to use the smaller items like lip balm first before moving on to larger items. Until Carisse creates a formal system to keep track of our inventory, when taking items, email me and Carisse with the exact amount of each item that you are using. 

SCLA’s LILPA chairpersons, Alex Giresi and Katie Brand, created fun and tasteful rainbow designs to be used in the merch store. I believe our membership will be happy to see these items and they will be very popular. Katie is here if you want to ask questions about the designs.

Committee Chairpersons have been reminded of SCLA’s attendance policy. SCLA also would like to remind committee chairpersons that The Association funds endeavors that fall within the mission and scope of the committee – please remember to ask the board for funds before purchasing anything, paying a registration fee, or putting down a deposit.

President Trump’s executive order– Kevin will be coming by to talk to us and answer questions. Liz Hughes will be making flyers about the available petitions and campaigns.  Other advocay efforts are welcome – email me ideas.

Treasurer’s Report: Wonda Miller reported:

February Finances:

SCLA began with a combined starting balance of all our accounts on February 1st of $99,456.61.

The income from February was $4,218.83, primarily from membership and beginning to see YASD Fran Romer registrations.

The expenses from February totalled $3,480.11, our largest was for the accountant, and events.

The closing balance for February was $100,356.33 with $240.00 in pending checks.

 

	Income	Expense	Net	Closing Balance
January 2025	$5,881.91	$6,581.88	-$699.97	$99,617.61
February 2025	$4,218.83	$3,480.11	$738.72	$100,356.33

I’d like to recommend that we make a motion to approve the financial reports that we received last month from Al Coster.  Motion approved.

Division Reports-

DASL: Bruce Seger reported: We will be co-sponsoring the Invitational which will take place this year at Nassau Community College. We will have a presentation at the Long Island Library Conference, with me speaking on Facial Recognition and Danielle Gruttadaurio speaking about forensics as the only forensic artist for the SCPD.

RASD: Jessica Brown reported: Our treasurer has stepped down and Valerie Harrison has been reinstated.

CATS: Steve Alcalde reported: East End Tech Coalition Committee: April 15th at SCLS “So You Want to Start a Makerspace?”

CATS will be hosting two programs at the Long Island Library Conference. Also, “So You Want a MAkerspace” with take place at SCLS at 10am on 4/15.

SSD: Sandy Leon reported:

Exciting News: After “Meet SCLA”, we all agreed that SSD needs a new logo.  Nicole called an emergency motion to change the logo, which was unanimously approved. 

Purchases: SSD has discussed purchasing swag for programs/conferences and buying a tablecloth with our new logo.  Kerri, our Treasurer, has been working out the expenses and how it fits into our budget.  We are looking to discuss and approve the swag/tablecloth and related expenses at our monthly meeting on March 31st.

Reviewed Constitution for Amendments: SSD reviewed the bylaws and it already states that the Past-President is a voting member, and Members at Large cannot exceed 4 people.  All we would have to do is specify that, in the event of a tie, the Past-President would break the tie.  We will need to add another Member at Large.  We have been trying to recruit but other matters have taken precedence this month.

Program Ideas: We have scheduled our Meet and Greet SSD for 3/24 at 6pm.  There has also been discussions for doing collaborative programs with CATS, Sandy, our Secretary, has suggested some programs for ESL Support Staff.  We have discussed a Summer Kick off event, but the details on that are still in the brainstorming phase.

Google Group: We have created our Google Group and have a few subscribers.  I sent out an email to the Listserv to encourage people to make program suggestions if they have them.

YASD: Rachel Lupinacci reported:

Committee Reports-

Annual Dinner: Melissa Sutter reported: Working on booking a vendor. 

Archives: Bruce Seger reported: Work on the archives website will begin soon.

Civil Service: Erin Kanelos reported: No new upcoming exams.  Anthony asked if it would be possible to offer a “Civil Service 101” course in the fall to prepare new librarians for the Librarian 1 exam.  Erin will follow up with Civil Service to confirm this.

Community Service: Angela Breslin reported:

Team Name for the Lt. Michael Murphy Run/Walk on 6/28/25 is Suffolk County Library Association.  Register before 6/7 to get your t-shirt/bib with name on it and dog-tags.  After 6/7 the price goes up.  With tax registration it is $37. Please make sure to join our team!

• Can a flyer be made with our team name, registration link and link to our merch so that we can all be wearing our shirts as a group?

There is a 5K Rain/Shine Run/Walk for Literacy at Smith’s Point Beach on 9/6/25.  I’d like to create a team and register for this one as well! Seems like a great cause for librarians! Motion to approve SCLA’s participation in walk- motion approved.

So far the SCLA Merch has raised: $78.72, $59.42 in product, $20.00 in donations, minus the service charge fee.

Should we have a donation at the LILC?

Continuing Education: Charlotte Buckleman reported: Please keep sending CE information to the email.

ELSA: Katherine Regina reported: Alas we are sad to see two of our long time members go. Thank you to Theresa Arroyo and Robert Cognato for their years of  service.  If anyone is interested or knows anyone who might be interested in joining the committee this year, let me know  as soon as you can at elsacommittee@gmail.com. We would love to have you.

Intellectual Freedom: Bruce Seger reported: No report.

LDA Award: Liz Hughes reported: Today is the last day applications will be accepted for this year’s LDA award. As of right now we have a few great applicants, but that doesn’t mean more can’t be added to the running! If you, or anyone you work with, is deserving of this award, please make sure to get that application in today by 11:59pm! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. The nominator of this year’s winner will be notified on/before April 11 and I will get the PO for this year’s plaque to the board at that time.

At this time, I am also looking for 3 volunteers to help judge this year’s applicants to pick our winner. SCLA gets 3 votes and NCLA gets 3 votes to pick this year’s winner. If anyone is interested in serving as a judge for 2025, email me at ehughes@elwoodlibrary.org for more info on/before March 26.

Legislative: Samantha Alberts reported:

I have invited Kevin Verbesey to attend our executive board meeting and share news and answer questions regarding the current Advocacy forecast.

The State Library Association has 2 take action campaigns:

One for IMLS

One for State support and the budget  (Let’s note how important this is.)

If members have not signed up for NYLA Alerts, it is in their best interests to do so here.

ALA

Show up for Libraries Campaign has made it easier for anyone to take Action and share their thoughts with their local Federal legislator. 

If you want to share more details, this is the ALAs landing page: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/show-up-for-our-libraries

And every Library has a petition that people can sign: https://www.everylibrary.org/statementimls2025

Long Island Library Conference: Brian Adams reported: Discussion of reserving luncheon tables for larger libraries.  The committee is still looking for vendors.  Next committee meeting is on April 11th.

LILPA: Alex Giresi/ Katie Brand reported:

• LILPA is hosting a Meet + Greet & Title Swap at the South Huntington Public Library on March 27th, 2:30-3:30pm. All are welcome to attend.
• LILPA will be hosting a presentation at this year’s YSS conference on April 4th titled “Libraries Are for Everyone – How to Support Your Rainbow Families, Staff, and Community.”
• Save the Date for Long Island Pride: Sunday, June 8th in Huntington
• LILPA has created several designs for SCLA’s merch store in honor of Pride Month.

Long Range Planning/Marketing: Carisse Mitchell reported:

All of our SCLA Swag has come in! All items, aside from the pins and a box of blankets which are still at WBPL are upstairs in the SCLA storage space at System. I am currently out of the Library but my plan for the April meeting will be to create a shared document listing the inventory that we have in stock. I am working with the Board to come up with a procedure for members to take inventory/ swag as well. Everything came out great and I am very happy with what we ordered – I hope you all like it too!

Membership: Vicky Urbelis reported: 411 active members to date.

Networking: Morgan Tamburro reported: No report.

Newsletter: Carole Lingg reported: All April newsletter content needs to be emailed to me by noon on Monday, March 24th.

Nominating: Bob Johnson reported: No report.

Scholarship: Rebecca Goldstein reported: No report.

Student Outreach: Rebecca Goldstein reported: No report.

Web Page: Stephen Ingram Reported
Basic website/facebook maintenance and posting of events.
Facebook insights: 1104  followers
Feburary page views for the month of 807
Updated SCLA, CATS, RASD, CARE Committee wordpress sites to latest security updates.
Monitor and approve listserv posts
Created and monitored Wild Apricot Events
Cleaned up listserv, removing and adding members.

Liaisons-

CLASC: None.

LILRC: Sally Stieglitz reported:

Save the date! LILRC Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future will be held on

Friday, October 17, 2025 from 8:00am – 3:00pm. Details to follow.

Upcoming LILRC CE highlights:

NDIA’s Digital Navigator Model, Thursday, April 10, 1:00pm

Developing Micro Assessments for Your Library Marketing Plans, Friday, April 11, 11:00am

Guide to Crafting and Promulgating the Library Employee Handbook, Friday, April 11, 1:00pm

Girls Who Code: Cost-Free Library Curriculum and Programs, Wednesday, April 16, 3:00pm

Starting a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance), Thursday, April 17, 1:00pm

NCLA: Melanie Davidoff reported: No report.

PLDA: Shauna Scholl reported: No report.

SCLS: Samantha Alberts reported: Kevin Verbesey spoke in more detail about the recent federal actions being taken against the IMLS.

NYLA: Tim Spindler reported: No report.

Old Business: Anthony Giansante reported: If you want access to the Canva Pro account, please let Rachel Cecchini know.

Please sign the conflict of interest form and send it to Rachel Cecchini ASAP.

All SCLA board members must be a member at SCLA.

New Business: Anthony Giansante reported: When using SCLA swag, please be aware of any potential expiration dates (for the chapstick) and please keep track of the items/inventory you are using.  Carisse is creating an inventory system for everyone to use.

SCLA raffle basket for LILC- Comfy Cozy.  Vicky Urbelis will work with Bob.  Motion to approve funds not to exceed $200.  Motion approved.

Anthony created a table list for organizations at the LILC.  Tables need to be staffed for the entirety of the conference.  Please bring a raffle basket for each division.

SCLA is cashless- please do not accept cash at the LILC.

Pride Merch- thank you, Katie and Alex!  Motion to approve the rainbow SCLA logo- motion approved.

Election slate collections will be due by Monday, May 12th- May 26th.  Elections will take place starting on Monday, June 2nd and will end on Monday, June 16th.  Motion to approve those date: motion approved.

Discussion about how SCLA as an institution is not very diverse.  Please look at what other associations do and see what we can do to push more inclusivity.  This will be an ongoing process and we aim to be thorough.  Mention of sending out an SCLA survey to the members to gauge expectations, ideas, solutions.  Anthony will look into potential programming SCLA can spearhead on this.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:10pm by Anthony Giansante.  Seconded by Rachel Cecchini and Erin Kanelos.

Suffolk County Library Association (SCLA) Minutes
Friday, April 18, 2025
Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

In attendance: Brian Adams, Samantha Alberts, Bruce Seger, Sally Stieglitz, Tim Spindler, Charlotte Buckleman, Carisse Mitchell, Steve Alcalde, Vicky Urbelis, Morgan Tamburro, Anthony Giansante, Rebecca Goldstein, Katie Brand, Vicky Urbelis, Nicole Malley, Carole Lingg

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 10:11am by Jacqueline Narkiewicz.  Seconded by Brian Adams.

Announcements:

Motion to approve the March 2025 meeting minutes by Anthony Giansante with/ without corrections.  Seconded by

Presidents Report: Anthony Giansante reported:

Thank you to the executive board for voting to approve more than 10 statements and letters relating to IMLS funding and NYS Library funding. Thank you to Sam for working with me on all those statements and letters. Many members reached out and thanked the board for its work 

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand responded to our letter.

SCLA’s letter to the editor has been sent to over 12 publications and 2 have responded – East End Beacon has published our letter and WLIW will put us on the radio (waiting to hear back from WLIW).

SCLA President Anthony Giansante and SCLA VP Bob Johnson were invited to LILRC’s reception celebrating the 5th year of their diversity internship.  At this event, the ALA President Cindy Hohl spoke about the importance of diversity and brought to light the epidemic of missing indigenous Americans.  Thank you, Sally and LILRC for inviting us.

Wonda and I are working on our financial policy. We hope to have it done by the end of the summer.

Treasurer’s Report: Wonda Miller reported:

March Finances:

SCLA began with a combined starting balance of all our accounts on March 1st of $100,356.33.

The income from March was $3,361.64, primarily from membership and YASD Fran Romer registrations, an interesting note is that we brought in about $78 from the Bonfire campaign.

The expenses from March totalled $1,350.33, including hospitality for the legislative bus and Meet SCLA, and our Zoom renewal.

The closing balance for March was $102,367.64 with $5,579.25 in pending checks.

 

	Income	Expense	Net	Closing Balance
January 2025	$5,881.91	$6,581.88	-$699.97	$99,617.61
February 2025	$4,218.83	$3,480.11	$738.72	$100,356.33
March 2025	$3,361.64	$1,350.33	$2,011.31	$102,367.64

Discussion of moving money into the savings account, to earn interest, pending a financial policy to invest in an account that is more interest bearing. Moved to move 50% of SCLA account into savings. Board approved Morgan Tamburro, Brian Adams.

Division Reports-

DASL: Bruce Seger reported: DASL luncheon May 20th, speaker lined up.

RASD: Jackie Narkewicz  reported: Discussed upcoming events, recognition for Literacy tutors, library tour, MOSAIC.

CATS: Steve Alcalde reported: Discussed upcoming events, & raffle baskets for LILC.

SSD: Nicole Malley reported: Ordered swag from 4Imprint. Discussed options regarding 4imprint & Davenport Marketing.

YASD: Rachel Lupinacci reported: YASD hosted a very successful Fran Romer Memorial Workshop with author Jen Calonita. We had a full crowd and Jen’s presentation was excellent. We’re looking forward to the upcoming LILC and are excited to be sponsoring two presentations for YA services. Our quarterly Teen Talk newsletter has officially been revived and Liz Hughes did an amazing job with this quarter’s edition. We’re hoping to have a casual Spring meetup in May.

Committee Reports-

Annual Dinner: Melissa Sutter reported: unable to attend, will submit report later date

Archives: Bruce Seger reported: Trying to make it as easy as possible to categorize, working to upload recently scanned items.

Civil Service: Erin Kanelos reported: Recently announced the Business Mgr and Network & Systems Tech 2, social media post sent to Stephen. Thank you Nicole and Steven for sharing.

Yesterday, the library assistant test was announced. Will share with Nicole and send social media post to Stephen for that as well.

Community Service: Angela Breslin reported:

Bonfire Campaigns:

SCLA Pride so far has sold so far:  22 items

SCLA General Merchandise sold so far: 25 items

SCLA has earned $171.15 (137.38 in sales and $33.77 in donations)

Thank you to Katie & Alex for their designs for the SCLA Pride Merchandise and Anthony for fine tuning the products. 

Wonda has also designed another campaign based on a members suggestion that will be going live soon with the tagline: Libraries are not a luxury…they are a lifeline. This was part of the final line of the statement we issued!

Michael Murphy Run/Walk:

Please consider joining me representing SCLA on June 28th!  So far I am the only one on our team!

Register by 4/27 to get the cheapest price and by June 7 to get a t-shirt, dog tags, and personalized race bib.  All proceeds go to: the LT. Michael Murphy Foundation – Special Operations Warrior Foundation – Lone Survivor Foundation – Navy Seal Foundation – Rotary Foundation and Rotary Charities.

Continuing Education: Charlotte Buckleman reported: Discussed who to send the Template to for new secretaries of Divisions, so they have it going forward.

ELSA: Katherine Regina reported: no report, but in process of marketing

Intellectual Freedom: Bruce Seger reported: Kevin McCoy will be our next Speaker, thank Tim for the appointment.

LDA Award: Liz Hughes reported: This year’s LDA winner has been picked and their nominating party has been made aware. The plaque from Supreme Trophies in Melville has been ordered, and once it’s ready for pick up, I will submit the PO to SCLA for payment as this is the year we are responsible for the cost of the award. Just wanted to extend a huge thank you to Julia Sukhu, Georgina Rivas and Samantha Uebel for serving as the judges from Suffolk County for this year’s award. If you’re curious as to who this year’s winner is, join us at the lunch at the Long Island Library Conference in May to find out!

Legislative: Samantha Alberts reported: Thank Anthony and Executive Board for Letters to our Representatives, and colleagues. Thank you for taking action. NYS budget for 2026 deadline was April 1st, but not unusual for it not to be on time, extended to April 22nd, there’s still time to go on the NYLA site and Take Action. Take Action Campaign is something we can do while libraries are being attached at this time, shore up at the State level.

Long Island Library Conference: Brian Adams reported: Conference is coming up soon, SCLA and LILRC have gotten tables. Where would you like your tables? Pool, or Underhang? SCLA – Pool. Raffle Basket discussion – tickets available at SCLA table, then put tickets in any Division/Raffle they want. Conference committee there all day beforehand to set up, can keep items safe if you want to bring them by. Beacon House is the Charitable organization.

LILPA: Alex Giresi/ Katie Brand reported:

• Pride Merch has launched in the SCLA Store
• Save the Date – LILPA marching in LI Pride on June 8th Huntington
• Call for LGBTQI+ donation books – send to Katie Brand at Smithtown-Commack
• James and Alex presented Supporting Rainbow Families at YSS and had an attendance of 55-65 people. The feedback was positive and they were invited to do a similar training for the Southern Tier Library System to encourage and foster connections between queer librarians in rural areas, who are often isolated.
• Motion to request funds for $200.00 for supplies for LILC and Pride, Motion by Anthony, 2nd Charlotte all approved.

Long Range Planning/Marketing: Carisse Mitchell reported: Show all the swag that we have for events. Plan to keep track of the stock, with a sheet up in the storage area, with a sign out for items with name, and how many you took. If we get low on something let Carisse know. The blankets, mugs and water bottles are more expensive – more limited, little things easy to grab and take, encourage everyone to use. Send ideas for future items to Carisse.

Membership: Vicky Urbelis reported: 453 active members to date. Emails about getting everyone in a library on the same registration cycle.

Networking: Morgan Tamburro reported: Mark your calendars! Our Annual Spring Mix and Mingle event is scheduled for Thursday, June 5th from 6-9pm at James Joyce in Patchogue. Aside from great company there will be cocktail foods, a cash bar, and door prizes and raffles. CLASC and PLDA will both be co-sponsoring again with us this year. Cost to members will be $15 and non-members $30, a slight increase from last year. Thank you to Melissa Sutter who is helping me out with this event, I really appreciate it! A flyer and general announcement on the listserv will be coming out sometime next week. Please promote this event to your colleagues at your libraries. If your division would like to contribute a raffle basket, please reach out to myself and Melissa.

Newsletter: Carole Lingg reported: Will be sending out June for July.

Nominating: Bob Johnson reported: No vacancies yet.

Scholarship: Rebecca Goldstein reported: May will send out a call for committee, June will send out applications.

Student Outreach: Rebecca Goldstein reported:

Web Page: Stephen Ingram Reported no report.

Liaisons-

CLASC: None.

LILRC: Sally Stieglitz reported:

LILRC has four upcoming in person programs and conferences:

Deep Learning: AI’s Impact on Our World

Thursday, April 24, 10:00am-4:00pm

In person at Nassau Community College

Co sponsored with SCLA DASL, NCLA ASLD

Chocolate Programming Experiences for Patrons of All Ages

In person at SCLS, Auditorium

Monday, May 19, 11:00am

Annual Membership Meeting

(LILRC members only)

In person at Farmingdale State College, Campus Center

Tuesday, June 17, 8:00am – 12:30pm

34th Annual Conference on Libraries and The Future: Change is Coming!

In person at Heritage Club at Bethpage

Friday, October 17th, 8:00am – 3:00pm

NCLA: Melanie Davidoff reported: no report

PLDA: Shauna Scholl reported: PLDA and SCLS are sponsoring an upcoming program,

Key Performance Indicators Thursday May 1 10am – 11:30am

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurements used to gauge performance. They can help your library know if you are achieving your strategic, financial or other goals. The Hauppauge Public Library Board of Trustees and CEO Matthew Bollerman have been on a journey to define, develop and track KPIs for almost two years. Come find out how you can use these measures to better use the limited resources you have.

Presented by Matt Bollerman, CEO of the Hauppauge Public Library

Register

SCLS: Samantha Alberts reported: Third Annual Summer Tour with YS and Marketing department, 2 trainings coming up. Sign up online on the Calendar. Color Our World theme, also theme of SRC.

NYLA: Tim Spindler reported: Membership renewals are coming up, it’s a standard year June – May. Spring on the Hill advocacy training is coming up, as well as Strategic planning. NYLA conference will be in Saratoga Springs, Keynote selected.

Old Business: Anthony Giansante reported:

General Housekeeping

Reminder:

• SCLA has a Canva Pro account. Rachel will be admin of the account. Please reach out to Rachel if you have any questions or would like your division/committee to have access to the account. Only those who are making flyers should be using the Canva account. Whoever has access is expected to use it respectfully and responsibly. If not, they run the risk of their division or committee losing access to the Canva.
• By now everyone should have their conflict of interest form signed.
• LILC Tables have been assigned. Thank you to the divisions and committees who are sharing tables.
• Election timeline was approved at the last meeting. Slate collection can start Monday May 12th to Monday the 26th. At that point, slates must be turned in to Bob and he will create the election bios. Election will start on Monday June 2nd and will last for 14 days and end on Monday June 16th.As a reminder, all slates, once completed should be sent to Bob and he’ll get them together for the membership.
• Raffle baskets: everyone who is fronting money is welcome to submit for reimbursement as soon as they have their receipt. We don’t want you to lose money by losing the receipt. Just submit the appropriate forms.
• Completed table schedules should be sent to Bob. If you cannot fill your schedule, please look to the other divisions to help or ask the SCLA board.
• Every SCLA division and Committee is welcome to use the SCLA tax exempt form. Remember that SCLA does not reimburse tax.
• Some of you have not submitted your Conflict of Interest Form. I have a list of those who haven’t. Please submit it to Rachel asap.

New Business: Anthony Giansante reported:

• Pride SCLA Merch has been very well received. Thank you to the LILPA chairs for creating them. Thank you to Angela and Wonda for working with me to maintain the merch store.
• SCLA, CLASC, and PLDA will be cosponsoring the mentorship program this year. It will be a series of lectures, workshops, and seminars. The first one is the Mentorship Program: How to Get the Most Out of Your Conference Experience. Monday, April 28, 2025 | 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Riverhead Free Library
  • Thank you to Colleen and Carisse for all the work they have done for this year’s mentorship program.
• Proceeds from raffles will be determined by counting tickets after the conference.
  • Email Wonda with ticket totals after the conference.
• RASD and MOSAIC are working with me to bring more programs that promote diversity and diverse perspectives. We are in the process of going over which programs and when to do them.
• Diversity Committee
• Networking: SCLA will be hosting a Spring Mix and Mingle at James Joyce on June 5th from 6-9pm. PLDA and CLASC have agreed to cosponsor SCLA board voted by email to approve $3500 for a Mixer at James Joyce in Patchogue

The meeting was adjourned at 11:48am by Anthony Giansante.  Seconded by Carisse Mitchell.