ILA Executive Board Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, October 27, 1998, Lewiston

Present: Larry Almeida, Jennifer Ashby, Charles Bolles, Kevin Booe, Ruth Cochran, Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Marlene Earnest, Ron Force, Barbara Greever, Max Leek, Susannah Price, Sandra Shropshire, Dawn Wittman, Camille Wood

Minutes: It was moved (Price/Ashby) that the minutes of previous meetings be approved with minor grammatical corrections and the following substantive corrections. August 12: Greever is a member of the Ad Hoc Communications Committee. August 14: Bolles thanked Carol Silvers, Mary Campbell, and Candace Wittner for their work on the project to catalog state documents. August 15: The sixth member of the State Library Board is the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, or their designated representative. An Educational Media Division task force is studying the certification issue. Larry Goold is the Spring Conference Chairs for the Pocatello area. A copy of the Trustee Division bylaws has been located. Passed unanimously.

Board Reports:

President: Wittman reported that she had received a communication from the Montana Library Association (MLA) in response to our inquiry about a possible joint conference in the future. MLA suggested that we keep each other informed about our respective conference programs, and offer reciprocal member fees for conference attendance. Some other states do this. Perhaps this might be a good idea to pursue with other states in the northwest, with PNLA as a "broker." The issue was tabled until we have a better idea of what Montana has in mind, and can investigate the question of other states.

First Vice-President: Force reported that the conference questionnaires were in, and most people were satisfied. There were complaints about price, and the difficulty of getting to Sun Valley. Some felt that similar programs had been scheduled against each other, but most sessions seemed to be well attended (10 or more people). The exceptions were the sessions held off-site at the public library.

Force asked Penni Cyr about the possibility of giving the list of registrants to exhibitors. Cyr felt that this was fairly standard. It was moved (Force/Bolles) that the list of registrants be given to exhibitors, upon request, on disc, as part of their exhibitor fee. The request will have to be received by the particular date on the exhibitor form. Almeida called the question. Passed unanimously.

What about refunds for exhibitors who decide not to attend the conference after paying the fee for exhibition space? It was moved (Price/Almeida) that a refund could be requested up to 30 days in advance of the conference if an exhibitor decided not to come, but ten percent would be kept by ILA as a processing fee. If the request were received 29 or fewer days before the conference, there would be no refund. Passed unanimously.

The exhibitors fees were raised for the Sun Valley conference. Should they be left at that price? No vendors complained. The main cost was for "pipe and drape" – an additional cost on top of the fee if the vendor wanted that service. Vendors already pay for their own phone lines, etc. It was moved (Bolles/Booe) that the exhibitors fees remain the same as they were for the Sun Valley conference. Passed unanimously.

At the August 12 Board meeting, it was suggested that we need a policy on audiovisual equipment requests for the conference. This is the most costly part of the conference, and it is necessary to get information from the presenters in a timely manner. The constraints vary according to the conference facility and their individual policy, and this should be specified as part of the contract with the facility. Cyr, Price, and Wittman will re-draft the contract form that is sent to presenters to include guidelines that are firm but not negative. Bolles will review, then the form will be put into place. The first year will be a "test case." This information will also be communicated to site selection chair Janet Strong.

Planning for the 1999 conference has not begun, but is imminent. A local arrangements chair must be appointed.

Second Vice-President: Almeida reported that he has tentative dates for the 1999 Spring Conferences:

March 19, Twin Falls

April 10, Treasure Valley

April 22, Moscow-Lewiston

April 23, Northern Idaho

April 29, Pocatello

May 14, Rexburg

Instead of a face-to-face meeting in Boise, there will be a conference call in November (regional chairs, Almeida, and Gard Hanks) to discuss the spring conferences. Everyone has already received a list of the "ground rules" as a basis for discussion. The ILA strategic plan says that we should/could have a program on advocacy at the spring conferences. This will be communicated to the regional chairs as a suggestion, but it will not be mandatory. It also has to be made clear that the spring conferences are sponsored by the Idaho Library Association.

Each regional chair needs to find a successor for the year 2000 spring conferences. This should be someone on the 1999 committee, for the sake of continuity. Each regional chair also needs to formally request (in writing) the seed money for the conference. The current forms should be revised to include this, and there needs to be a cover letter or a place on the form with the deadline for submission of the request.

Treasurer (attachment 1): Shropshire reported that the bill had just arrived from the Sun Valley resort, so many figures in her report will change. We need to pay sales tax on the auction proceeds, and split all the conference monies with the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA). At the August 12 Board meeting, it was decided that ILA would ask that PNLA absorb the unanticipated charges associated with the Canadian exchange rate. PNLA has declined to do so, so this will be split between the two organizations. Many people didn’t mark their affiliation on membership forms, so there are more "nonmembers" reflected in the report than expected. Some exhibitors who have not come to ILA in the past do traditionally come to PNLA, so the number of exhibitors was up.

There are many blanks in the 1999 budget requests. Once Shropshire has had a chance to finalize the conference bills and splits, it will be easier to see what we have available. More requests are pending, so the 1999 budget will be brought to the January Board meeting for discussion and approval.

Past President: Price reported that ILA submitted five names to the American Library Association (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) for the intellectual freedom honor roll. OIF will decide which of our submissions to include in the honor roll, and the ceremony will take place at ALA’s 1999 midwinter meeting in Philadelphia. Our nominees were Eli M. Oboler, Susannah Price, Joe Reiss, Rand Simmons, and Adrien Taylor.

Frederick Belzer, an attorney in Pocatello, has applied for ALA’s Lawyers for Libraries training. He has been a trustee of the Marshall Public Library for many years, and is a strong library supporter. The Marshall Public Library received a continuing education grant from the Idaho State Library to cover part of Belzer’s cost for attending the training. It had been suggested that money from the intellectual freedom auction be used to make up the "match" needed to pay for the rest of Belzer’s expenses, and Rand Simmons (Intellectual Freedom Committee chair) agreed that this would be a good use for that money. It was moved (Leek/Price) that $188.00 be taken from the intellectual freedom auction proceeds to help send Frederick Belzer to the Lawyers for Libraries training. Passed unanimously.

ILA is allowed to nominate three candidates for the Lawyers for Libraries training, but has not found two other nominees. Price will check with OIF to see if we can still make other nominations, even though the deadline has passed.

Price attended one meeting of the Idaho Library Network Advisory Council, since Vivian Wells was unable to attend. Bolles will talk about this meeting in his report.

The Nominating Committee consists of Price and the four current division chairs. They need to have their input to Price as soon as possible so that we have a full slate of candidates for our next election.

State Librarian: Bolles reported that the State Library Board is fully appointed. From now on, all terms will be for five years.

The Gates Library Foundation is making equipment, software, and technical support available to public libraries in areas with poverty levels over ten percent. The Idaho State Library has asked to supply information about Idaho’s libraries to determine the state’s readiness for this. States are not guaranteed they will be selected, so Idaho may not be. If Idaho is selected, there are some areas that are not sufficiently poverty stricken to qualify. Libraries would be invited to apply on a building-by-building basis, and it is not clear what libraries (if any) would receive grants. There are many questions about this program that remain unanswered.

The Idaho Library Network Advisory Council hired a consultant to make recommendations for the state. Reciprocal borrowing, interlibrary loan, electronic document delivery, and a statewide serials database were discussed. The consultant suggested that the Idaho library community concentrate on the first three, with the Idaho State Library serving as coordinator. Emphasis should be on building on existing strengths, not "re-inventing the wheel."

The Council disbanded, and will be replaced with a twelve-member advisory board. Members will be appointed to represent different types of libraries throughout the state, and perhaps private industry as well.

Normally, the membership of ILA supports proposed legislation through the resolution process at the annual conference. This year the conference was early, so potential legislation to be introduced during the 1999 legislative session was unclear, and no action was taken by the membership. Bolles reported on two definite pieces of legislation, and three projected pieces of legislation that may be introduced during the upcoming legislative session (attachment 2).

Amendment of the Library Improvement Account to change the name to the Library Services Improvement Account, allowing monies deposited in the account to be used for all types of libraries, not just public libraries.

Endorsement of the Idaho State Library budget, including the request for continuing funding of the statewide databases. Some of this money is still in the State Dept. of Education budget, and should be moved to the State Library budget.

Introduction of a special library levy, which would allow library districts to submit to the electorate a request to raise the tax levy above the three percent annual limit now allowed.

Amendment of the current procedure for determination of the tax levy of a newly consolidated library district. This would ensure that the new district would not levy at a rate lower than the highest rate of one of the districts participating in the consolidation.

Provision of certificated media generalists in school media centers. The Educational Media Division of ILA, the Idaho Education Association (IEA), and the Idaho State Dept. of Education (SDE) are working on legislation that would encourage school districts to staff elementary, middle, and high school media centers with certificated media generalist personnel.

Moved (Price/Booe) that ILA endorse the first two proposals, since they are in final form, endorse the concept of the remaining three, and send them all to the Legislative Committee as a charge from the Board. Passed unanimously with Bolles abstaining.

Earnest reported that the Educational Media Division has formed a task force, which is working with IEA and SDE on the certification issue. The wording has not been finalized, but the concepts for the proposed legislation are to:

Ensure that all schools in Idaho, elementary and secondary, have at least one certificated media generalist and any additional assistants necessary to maintain a ratio of no greater than 500:1.

Ensure that all schools in Idaho have a media center open to all students all day, staffed appropriately.

Provide incentive funding to school districts to be used for the hiring of a certificated media generalist.

Phase in the procedure over a five year period to give districts and present personnel time to prepare for a new direction in elementary libraries. About one fifth of Idaho’s schools would be added per year beginning with the 1999-2000 academic year. It is estimated that 295 additional media generalists would need to be hired to meet the target goal of a 500:1 ratio.

It was moved (Price/Bolles) that $1000 be made available for the Educational Media Division Task Force to use for travel so that they can meet with IEA and SBE to draft the proposed legislation. These funds may be used in either 1998 or 1999 for the meeting. Passed unanimously.

Wittman reported that Lynn Melton is searching for a part-time lobbyist for ILA (a 1997 recommendation of the Ad Hoc Legislative Task Force). ILA needs a lobbyist in order to develop a longer-term relationship with legislators, and to help identify issues in the legislature that might affect libraries. The concern is that it would be a large expenditure for us, and it is not clear how much a part-time lobbyist would be willing to do for $5000. Melton, Bolles, and Pete Black will investigate, and come back to the Board with a more concrete proposal in January. Other considerations include who else the person lobbies for, who directs the lobbyist, and how do the lobbyist and ILA communicate.

Division Chairs:

Academic/Special: Ashby reported that the BSU-produced directory of academic and special libraries will be available around the end of the year. In terms of planning for the annual conference, electronic journals are a "hot topic."

Educational Media: Earnest reported that the Division would be publishing in the Idaho Librarian instead of continuing the Division newsletter.

Public: Leek reported that the 1991 public libraries standards are in need of revision. Many issues were raised -- the obvious anachronisms will be corrected, and the sections on technology and children’s services will be updated.

The Division is working on the Public Library of the Year award. The committee to select the winner will be made up of the current chair, chair-elect, and past chair of the Division. What should the association’s role be? Should there be an "outside" person on the committee? Should a member of the Public Library of the Year Award Committee sit on the Scholarships and Awards Committee? What budget should the award come out of? It would be nice to be able to present a plaque (about $25) and a material benefit (sponsored by a vendor?). How can we ensure that libraries apply for the award? (Nag people, and have the information at all of the regional conferences.) ILA Board members’ libraries should not be eligible.

Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) (attachment 3): Booe reported that the PNLA Board has not met since the August joint annual conference, so there is not much news to report. The Next PNLA Board meeting is Nov. 12-15, and one issue on the table is considering cutting the number of Board meetings. Booe also distributed a PNLA Quick Facts card.

American Library Association (ALA): Wood reported that, there has been quite a bit of concern expressed on the ALA Council list about graduate education for librarianship. The accreditation process needs to be examined again, and the Executive Board plans to have a spring 1999 Education Summit.

The Social Responsibility Round Table (SRRT) is in the center of controversy again. The Boy Scouts of America have stands on issues that ALA Council felt were not consonant with ALA’s positions, but failed to pass a resolution severing the relationship between the two organizations. After the resolution failed in Council, the SRRT passed it, and distributed it widely on SRRT letterhead. Of course, SRRT letterhead includes the American Library Association name on it, so it looked like the resolution was the ALA position. SRRT feels that it can send out any SRRT information that it wants to on SRRT letterhead. ALA Council is not amused.

A copy of ALA’s draft document, "Libraries, an American Value" was distributed to Board members. It is a statement designed for the general public, and is not intended to replace any of ALA’s existing intellectual freedom statements. It will be discussed at Council at the Philadelphia midwinter meeting, and it is being sent around to library associations for their endorsement. It was moved (Price/Booe) that the Idaho Library Association endorse the final draft of the "Libraries, an American Value" document. Passed unanimously.

Idaho Librarian: DeZelar-Tiedman reported that she has investigated the rates that other state library organizations charge for advertising in their print publications, and the range is huge. We’re slightly below average. DeZelar-Tiedman distributed a rate increase proposal (attachment 5). It was moved (Almeida/Booe) that the new rates be accepted. Passed unanimously.

Wilson has requested permission to put the Idaho Librarian articles that it indexes in Library Literature online. (They already have a paper copy for indexing purposes.) They would pay a royalty for access, it would be a non-exclusive open-ended contract, and either party could cancel with ninety days notice. It was moved (Booe/Shropshire) that we accept the contract. Passed unanimously.

It is a bit too early to tell what people think of the new bimonthly format of the Idaho Librarian. There has been no progress on finding an advertising manager. If anyone has suggestions or wishes to volunteer, please contact DeZelar-Tiedman.

Web Site/Communication: Almeida reported that the committee has been discussing a variety of issues via e-mail:

Should we allow advertisements on the web page? Yes.

What should be the limits, and what kind of advertisements would we accept? Do we need a formal policy?

How would we handle pricing? Should there be a package deal with vendors who exhibit at the annual conference, with a fee increase? Should there be a reduced rate for ILA institutional members?

Should the Idaho Librarian be on the ILA web page? If so, how much of it? Should it be an electronic-only publication? Not at this time.

We do need a solid publication policy stating how much and what goes on the page, who sends it, when it is removed, and how much archiving should be done.

By January the committee will have something more concrete to bring to the Board.

The Board feels that we accept advertising for the Idaho Librarian now, so ads on the web page would just be an extension of that. The Board is interested enough in advertising to have Dan Lester survey other library organizations to see what they do and charge.

There is a question of how much ILA, as a non-profit organization, can earn from advertising and still maintain our tax status. What is the legal ceiling? Shropshire will find out from an auditor or tax attorney.

ILA maintains a list of officers, publishes it in the Idaho Librarian, and puts it up on the web page. Should we include home telephone numbers in these publications? It was moved (Ashby/Almeida) that the home telephone numbers of officers be printed in the Idaho Librarian, but not mounted on the web. Home telephone numbers will not be printed in the membership list published annually in the Idaho Librarian. Passed unanimously.

Membership: Cochran reported that membership is down a little bit in terms of numbers of members, but up a little bit in dues monies received. One of the goals in ILA’s strategic plan is to increase membership fifteen percent by the year 2000 (to 620 members).

Cochran distributed a draft of the new membership renewal form (attachment 6). It uses humor, and also points out the advantages of joining ILA. The intent is to increase membership. The Board likes the idea of the new form, but feels that some changes should be made to wording so that the form will be more inclusive.

Why do we limit members to joining one division? The question was referred to Wood’s committee on reorganization.

Constitution/ByLaws: Wood reported that the new constitution and bylaws were passed at the August membership meeting. The ALA Council terms have just changed from four to three years, so the membership needs to vote on that change in order for ILA to be consistent with the new ALA policy.

Public Relations: Greever re-submitted a draft communications plan, including budget estimates (attachment 7). The first section deals with the ILA Speakers’ Network, and many questions arose. It was generally agreed that network members trained in advocacy rise to the fore when there is a crisis. Should the network continue in its present form, or be changed? Wittman and Booe will canvass network members for suggestions. Board consideration of the communications plan was deferred to the January Board meeting.

Legislative: Discussed above under the State Librarian’s report.

ILA Strategic Plan: Wittman asked Board members to divide up the strategic plan (attachment 8), review the document, and report at the January meeting on accomplishments achieved and revisions that need to be made. Assignments are: goal 1, Ashby and Leek; goal 2, Booe and Wittman; goal 3, Bolles and Price; goal 4, Almeida and Wood; goal 5, Force and Pool.

Meeting Dates:

Boise:

January 18, Board meeting and legislative briefing.

January 19, Legislative Day.

(January 18 is Human Rights Day, a state holiday. Does Melton want to change the date for Legislative Day?)

Lewiston: tentatively set for Tuesday, April 13, Board meeting.

Assignments for January Board meeting:

Conference planning (Force)

Web site and communication plan (Almeida)

Reorganization (Wood)

Legislative (Melton)

Communications/Advocacy/Public Relations (Greever)

Strategic plan update (Board members)

Additional business:

Conference manual: Force, Wittman, and Penni Cyr will work on the manual. The Board may want to consider providing the exhibits chair with lodging/registration for the conference, and the local arrangements chair with registration. The thinking is that these two spend virtually none of the conference attending sessions because of their time-consuming conference duties.

Nominations: Division chairs should give a list of prospective candidates to Price by November 10.

Moved (Shropshire/Wood) to adjourn. Adjourned 3:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara C. Greever, ILA Secretary