New York Library Association
Public Library Section
Middletown Thrall Library
April 6, 2007
Present:Gail Sacco, Timothy McDonough, Carol Clingan, Mary Grace Flaherty, Kevin Gallagher, Beverly Choltco-Devlin, Matthew Bollerman, and Nancy Pieri.
I.Call to Order, Approval of Agenda
President Clingan called the meeting to order at 10:40am
II.Approval of Minutes.
Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as revised on a motion by G. Sacco, second T. McDonough
III.Financial Report
M. Bollerman reported the closing balance in the treasury is $33,501.74.Membership revenues are strong; $14,169.63 year-to-date.
IV.President’s Report
NYLA is organizing an ad hoc group to assist in developing a vision for libraries in New YorkState.M. Borges is working with NYLA president, R. Baum, to form this initiative.
Nominations:Josh Cohen and Robert Jaquay will run for election to NYLA vice president/president elect.
V.Vice President’s Report No report was available.
VI.Committee Reports
Legislative Committee.No report.
Library District Task Force.No report.
Membership.B. Choltco-Devlin reported the March 9th NYLA membership meeting was postponed.Beverly will send out email messaged to those on the lapsed member list in the next two weeks.
Nominations.C. Clingan agreed to continue as President of PLS for one more year to fill the vacancy left by J. Cannell’s resignation.
President Clingan appointed Mary Grace Flaherty to fill the position of Vice President/President Elect until the next election.
G. Sacco will be seeking nominations for the following elected board positions:
Vice President/President Elect
Secretary
1st year director.
Note:In the future, the PLS board will use conference calls for every other meeting.
VII.NYLA Conference
Conference Programs
·Health Access.Speakers from Crandall Library have been arranged.
·Community Collaborations.Ideas for a panel of speakers were discussed.T. McDonough will coordinate.
·It’s Not Easy Being Green.The focus will be on ways to make environment-friendly decisions when remodeling.Speakers from Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library will be invited to participate.
·New Road Warriors.Albany Public and 4-County will discuss bookmobiles.
·Rechartering—the Morning After.Panelists will include Barbara Madonna, Peter Ward and Dick Panz.Matt Bollerman will moderate.
·Community Reads, Lessons Learned.B. Choltco-Devlin will moderate
·Volunteers, the New Demographic.The focus will be on using volunteers in non-traditional ways.
·Table Talks.PLS annual meeting will take place prior to this program.Breakfast will be served.
·Author! Author!K. Gallagher may be available to host this program.
Continuing Education.MG Flaherty has arranged with Andrew Sachs, a UB Communications professor to present “Essential Public Speaking Skills for Librarians”.
Awards.This year PLS will award a conference scholarship and an award for outstanding library building.The announcements will go up on the PLS website.
Discussion followed on revamping the annual awards.Currently, PLS offers a conference scholarship ($500) and an Outstanding Public Library Building award ($1000) every year.The Mosier-Wynkoop (best practices in a small library) and Best Practices (best practices in a large library) awards ($1,000) are given in alternate years.
On a motion by M. Bollerman, second T. McDonough the board approved the addition of an Advanced Studies Scholarship each year to begin in 2008.Details to follow.
On a motion by B. Choltco-Devlin, second M. Bollerman the board approved revising the Best Practices award to focus on a different theme each year to begin in 2008.Details to follow.
At the next meeting, the board will investigate ways to streamline the criteria for thebuilding award and whether to alternate the award between small and large libraries.
Booth
T. McDonough will purchase items for member gifts as well as a booth raffle.
VIII.Old Business
No old business.
IX.New Business
The next edition of Synergy will go out to the membership shortly.
Meeting adjourned at 2:20pm.
Next meeting:May 11, 2007 at Middletown Thrall Library
Respectfully submitted
Nancy L. Pieri, Secretary