TCAL MEETING AND PROGRAM MINUTES P. 2
TEXAS COUNCIL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES (TCAL)
MEETING AND PROGRAM
19 – 20 SEPTEMBER 2006
MINUTES
General Business Meeting (19 September 2006)
I. Welcome and Introductions.
George Teoh, chair, called the meeting to order at 5:01 pm in the Lone Star room of the Omni Hotel in Austin. New directors and first time attendees introduced themselves to the group.
II. Adoption of Minutes.
Minutes from the 7 September 2005 General Business meeting were approved as distributed.
III. Approval of Financial Statements.
Maurice Fortin, Secretary/Treasurer, provided details from the Statement of Income and Expenses distributed to all attendees. The Statement covered the period of 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006. Total income for the period was $12,908.64 and total expenses plus overhead was $16,646.03. This left a net income of -$3,737.39. Maurice noted there had been a delay in processing dues. This resulted in the net loss. The beginning balance on 1 July 2005 was $20,368.56. The ending balance was $16,631.17. The group approved the Statement as distributed.
Maurice Fortin then presented the Projected Budget for FY 07. All attendees received a copy prior to the meeting. The Budget projects gross income at $18,625 and expected expenses with overhead of $18,411. This would reflect a projected net income of $214. The expected expenses included a $2,500 contribution to the TLA Legislative Reserve Fund and a $2,500 contribution to the TLA Leadership Development Institute. The group approved the FY 07 Projected Budget as distributed.
IV. Committee Reports.
A. Nominating.
The following individuals were members of the nominating committee: Kathy Hoffman (chair), Martha Adamson, and Joe Specht. The Committee presented the following slate for officers in FY 07.
Chair: Mark Tucker, Abilene Christian University (no voting necessary)
Vice/Chair/Chair-Elect: Joe Dahlstrom, University of Houston, Victoria
Secretary.-Treasurer: Fran Cotton, South Plains College
Member-at-Large (TCCJCL): Lonnie Beene, Northeast Texas Community
College
Member-at-Large (TICUL): Cynthia Peterson, East Texas Baptist
University
Member-at-Large (TSCUL): Cindy Scroggins, Baylor College of
Dentistry, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
George Teoh then asked for nominations from the floor. There was a motion to accept the slate by acclamation. The motion received a second and the group approved the motion and the slate of nominees.
B. By-Laws.
Joe Dahlstrom did not have a formal report but requested members send him any suggestions for changes, deletions, additions, etc. to the TCAL by-laws.
C. Library Materials.
Joan Heath provided details on the renewal of the book contact process. Notice of the bid process should be released shortly. A mid-November date was given for opening the bid with awarding of a contract by either the first of December or January.
D. Library Fee Surveys.
Joe Dahlstrom and members of his staff conducted the annual library fee survey with all three units of TCAL. Results of the individual surveys were available at the registration table.
E. Legislative.
Julie Todaro introduced Molly Dahlstrom, UNT library school student, who is serving an internship on her staff. Julie then went over the major areas of concern. These included the need for more support of school libraries, the sunset process for the State Library, PUC discounts for telecommunications, the 10% reduction in base budgets, and no increase for TexShare databases.
V. TSLAC Vision for Library Cooperation.
Peggy Rudd, Director Texas State Library, provided information concerning the development of her agency’s budget request for the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature. Having to operate with the 10% base budget reduction provided many difficulties in this process. Although the projected budget had the TexShare databases with only a very small cut, the only major request was for an exceptional item to provide restoration and additional monies to support the Lone Star Libraries program. She also announced a restoration of the Texas Treasures Grant program. She also provided additional information on the sunset review process for the agency.
In the question and answer session that followed, there were numerous exchanges between attendees and Peggy concerning the lack of exceptional item requests to support the growth of TexShare and database access for school libraries. The group expressed great concern about the lack of a request for TexShare. There appeared to be at best little or no reflection for support of academic library concerns.
VI. Legislative Session.
Julie Todaro and Gloria Meraz, TLA, provided information on the up coming session of the legislature as well as information on how to proceed to address some of the concerns for the lack of support for TexShare.
VII. Tall Texans Request.
Dana Rooks asked attendees to send forward nominations for the next class of Tall Texans. She also emphasized the need for all members to be active in TLA.
VIII. TLA Presidential Nominees.
Melody Kelly, University of North Texas, and Jeane Pyle, University of Texas at Tyler, are the two nominees for TLA president.
IX. Adjournment.
George Teoh thanked all of the TCAL meeting and program sponsors and their representatives in attendance. The sponsors included Ebsco, ProQuest, Innovative, and Baker and Taylor/Yankee Book Peddler. George then adjourned the meeting at 6:19 pm.
Program (20 September 2006)
The program session also took place in the Lone Star room. Before the program began, Joe Dahlstrom brought forward a resolution for consideration by TCAL. After much debate on wording, the group approved the resolution and the document will be sent to all members of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The text of the resolution is attached to these minutes.
The program consisted of presentation providing information on the Texas Digital Library (Mark Mc Farland and John Leggett, co-executive directors of the project) and a panel discussion concerning an update on the TexShare program.
Texas Council of Academic Libraries
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Texas Council of Academic Libraries represents the higher education and research library communities in Texas, and
WHEREAS, the Council has long supported library programs that benefit all types of libraries serving all Texans, and
WHEREAS, the Council recognizes the support given by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) in recent years for statewide library cooperation, particularly the TexShare statewide resource sharing program, and
WHEREAS, the Council notes that the expressed mission of the TSLAC is to serve all libraries in Texas, and
WHEREAS, the Council recently learned that the proposed budget of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for the 2007-2009 biennium not only requests no additional funds for the TexShare electronic resources, it fails to even recognize and request any additional support for the basic needs of higher education, and
WHEREAS, the Council is concerned that TSLAC did not solicit constituent input in its budgeting process and therefore the resulting budget exhibits a dangerous lack of vision – and that vision must include a strong commitment to the TexShare program as an integral part of the TSLAC mission to serve all Texans; NOW THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Texas Council of Academic Libraries insists the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and staff reconsider their funding priorities to represent the original shared vision for statewide library services and resources held by its constituents, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Texas Council of Academic Libraries supports the efforts of the Texas Library Association and others to achieve a return to a funding level for TexShare at least equivalent to the funds available for TexShare databases in 2001-2003 biennium.
Approved by the Texas Council of Academic Libraries
September 20, 2006
Austin, Texas