SLA Illinois Chapter Connecting People and Information

Special Libraries Association – Illinois Chapter
Executive Board Meeting Minutes
September 17, 2008
4:00 – 6:00 pm
Conference Call Dial-in: 312.569.1400; meeting ID 1867

Attendance: Ramona Howerton, Katrina Perez, Maureen Malinowski, Lorene Kennard, Bonnie Tilton Sebby
Guest: Secretary-Elect Pat McCarthy

1. President-Elect Katrina Perez called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm.
2. Appove agenda. Motion made by Bonnie S. to approve agenda and seconded by Lorene K. Motion carried.
3. Approval of the minutes of August 19, 2008. Motion made by Maureen M to approve minutes and seconded by Lorene K. Motion carried.
4. Committee Reports and Action Items

   A. Programs – Katrina Perez: Programs, Meeting Arrangements, Book Club, SLA Cares, Professional Development
   Katrina reported that our Holiday Party sponsor is Dow Jones. Beth Arthur is seeking a sponsor for the November meeting.
   The Book Club will meet on October 30th during lunch hour.
   Nothing to report from SLA Cares Committee.
    
   Action item: Katrina will follow up with SLA Cares committee chair about plans for the Holiday Party.

   B. Chapter Infrastructure – Ramona Howerton: Archives, Awards, Nominating
   Ramona H. announced that she will assume the role of Chapter Archivist.
    
   Action item: Lorene Kennard will contact Jane Candela about chairing the Membership Committee

   c. Finance: Maureen Malinowski
   Maureen M. reported that she posted the cash flow report. She further remarked that the pooled account has a “healthy balance”. All expenses are paid except the last meetings expenses.
   Karen Krupka will prepare the 2009 budget and contact us in the upcoming weeks.
   Maureen has received no response from Sikich Gardner about auditing the Chapter books. She has also checked the Illinois CPA Society website for accountants who specialize in nonprofit work.
    
   Action item: Maureen M. will contact Ahbeck Co., a firm that does work for nonprofits, to investigate them as potential auditors for the Chapter. She will also investigate who, if anyone, handles the audit for the Illinois Jobline, and contact that party as well.
    
   Lorene K. requested the Chapter’s 501c_ number, or taxpayer ID for the newsletter consultant.
    
   Action item: Maureen M. will find out about our taxpayer ID and advise.

   D. Internal Communications: Bonnie Tilton Sebby – Discussion List, Informant, Internet/Homepage, KM
   Bonnie S. reported that Michelle Mayes has agreed to be Chapter Webmaster. She is also open to volunteer assistants. There are a few who new volunteers that will be contacted to work with Michelle as needed.
   The discussion of the listserv move to SLA servers appears under Old Business.
   The discussion of the print newsletter appears under Old Business
   

   E. Outreach & Promotion – Lorene Kennard: Diversity, Public Relations, Student Outreach
   Lorene K. reported that Dominican University had not yet responded to her requests to be included in opportunities to promote SLA to MLIS students.
    
   Lorene is scheduled to speak to the LEAP students at University of Illinois in Champaign on October 2nd. She will discuss the variety of skills required for different types of librarianship and the importance of becoming involved in a professional organization such as SLA for networking. Lorene asked if she could host a drawing of some sort for the student attendees.
   

5. Old Business

   A. Email Discussion list move to SLA servers.
   Bonnie reported that Maria Arcos submitted a status report of the discussion list migration. Bonnie S. read the report to the Board and forwarded it electronically. SLA HQ has offered to populate the members list, but Maria will compare it to our current list before the migration. Maria informed the Board of her plans to send three notices to the current listserv members about the upcoming change. She also requested that the Board alert her about any specific language that should be included in these notices, and forward it for posting.

   B. Print publication
   The Board is moving forward with the print newsletter. It was decided to produce a quarterly publication. Lorene K. reported that the consultant requires about two months lead time to produce a newsletter. After the initial publication is set, the lead time may be shortened.
   Projected deadlines for quarterly issues: Early January, April, end of July, and mid November.
   There was a short brainstorming session on possible content.
    
   Action item: Bonnie S. will post an announcement of the new publication and call for volunteers. Interest is already being generated. We need both editors and writers for this project. Some writers may also be needed

6. New Business

   A. Recommended Practice Changes to Intro Language
   Discussion was tabled.

   B. Change in Chapter voting procedures
   The Board discussed how the voting procedures should be changed to enable members to cast their ballots electronically. The voting should be devised to enable each member to vote only once, similar to the SLA HQ ballots. It was determined that nominations could also be submitted online, providing that the nominee agreed to run for the office. The Board agreed that electronic voting should be implemented and will help members outside the Chicago vicinity to take a more active role in choosing their leaders. The current elections are handled at the Annual Business Meeting and the voting protocol is by voice vote. Those who cannot attend the meeting are unable to vote.
   The Board will investigate how to implement electronic voting to be in place for the 2009 annual elections.

   C. Ramona H. posed a question to the Board regarding how the programming year might be rethought to better assist a new President-Elect. It is difficult for a new President-Elect to have programming in place for the new calendar year when she/he is just assuming the duties. How could we coordinate the incoming and outgoing P-Elects to help them plan best?
    
   Action item: Katrina P. will talk with 2009 President-Elect Dianna Wiggins about this issue.
   Action item: Lorene K. and Bonnie S. will investigate the current language in the Recommended Practices regarding the description of duties and work on making the appropriate changes as needed.
    
   The Board decided that, to assist in the transition period, January should be planned as a DineAround meeting. This will serve two purposes. The Program Committee will not need to plan for a formal meeting during their first active month as a committee. And, since January is usually harsh weather for travel, this may be a better plan for members. They can choose a dining venue either close to work or close to home and still participate in a Chapter event.
   
7. The next Board meeting is October 21, 2008, 4:00-6:00 pm.
8. Meeting pulse: 4.2
9. Katrina P. called for a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn brought forward by Bonnie S. and seconded by Ramona H.
10. The meeting was adjourned at 5:42 pm.