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ARLIS/TC Chapter Meeting Minutes In attendance (14): AGENDA
The meeting began at 9 am with ARLIS/TC president, Jodie Walz welcoming all those in attendance. Before this the group enjoyed pastries, fruit, juice, and coffee as attendees assembled. The first order of business was a call for nominations for ARLIS/TC president-elect (position presently vacant). Both Jodie and Kay Streng, ARIS/TC Secretary Treasurer have held their respective offices since January, 2004. No nominations were made and no volunteers for nomination came forward. Jodie stated that a call for nominations would be put forward to the entire group via email. Kay Streng reported the current ARLIS/TC account balance and reminded everyone that memberships renewals are now due. The group was asked to consider the possibility of increasing its annual dues. Of the 15 U.S. ARLIS chapters less than 5 charge dues of $10. (most charge $15.). Raising dues would increase chapter funds allowing the chapter to consider awarding an annual travel grant to a member to defray the costs of attending the national conference as early as 2006. Kathy Heuer of The College of Visual Arts suggested the option to renew at either $10. or $15. She reasoned that since not all ARLIS/TC members belong to ARLIS/NA, and because that membership is required to attend the national conference, only those belonging to ARLIS/NA would be eligible to apply for the stipend. The graduated membership fee scale was put to a vote and passed. The establishment of a conference travel stipend should be discussed further and put to a vote at our next meeting The next item of business was a discussion of possible topics and venues for future meetings. Jodie stated that in times of limited funding we all could benefit from other members’ professional experiences and the knowledge acquired through planning and implementing special projects for their libraries. These reports would share useful information and provide examples of how others have been able to convince their respective administrations of their libraries’ needs. Kay added that in the past meetings have usually been organized around field trips and site visits that sometimes require a fair amount of preliminary planning. While these are always interesting they may not be practical to do as often since sufficient numbers of our members cannot commit to attending. Some interesting special library projects that could be featured at future meetings came forward. Cathy Camper of Minneapolis Public Library told the group about a new MPL program called Library Links, which provides outreach services to the Somali community. (The Mpls/St. Paul metro is home to a large population of Somali immigrants). The possibility of having an representative from the Library Links program speak to the chapter about this initiative and how it might relate to our libraries and the communities we serve will be investigated. Janice Lurie of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts gave an interesting overview of her Library’s work on the complex process of applying for a NEH preservation grant for the museum’s institutional archives. The knowledge gained by Janice and her staff in carrying out this project is something that we could all learn from through further discussion. In addition Janice gave a brief history of the MIA Library’s automation project and provided a web demonstration of the new online catalog. Her succinctly encapsulated version of this very complicated project could be revisited at a future meeting for everyone’s benefit. We should keep in mind that libraries (e.g. Walker, Minneapolis Institute, Minneapolis Public) presently in the process of closing, operating from interim sites, moving and reopening could share invaluable information about these experiences at future meetings. Cathy Camper of MPL also gave us her assessment of recent personnel changes at MPL and some of the challenges the library faces as it moves closer toward its 2006 re-opening in the new Pelli-designed library on the Nicollet mall. It is useful for all of us to know how human and material resources are being stretched at Minneapolis public since many of us refer patrons to MPL and its collections. This meeting presented us with some excellent topics for discussion at future meetings and offers the opportunity for renewed interest and appreciation in our chapter. The next site visit meeting will be held in fall of 2005. Walker Art Center will be reopening in Spring 2005 and Rosemary Furtak graciously offered to host a fall meeting at which we will tour her new Library facility. Kay Streng Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Last Updated June 22, 2006 |
