Oregon Library Association – Support Staff Division

Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

January 24, 2008

Newberg Public Library

 

In attendance:  Jey Wann, Cathy Zgraggen, Jan Griffin, Ellen Mueller, Rea Andrew, Diane Bolen, Suzanne Sager (Susan Gilmont was unable to join us by phone due to technical problems)

Guest:  Stephanie Miller

 

Minutes: Two minor corrections were made to the October 17, 2007 minutes, and they were approved as corrected.

 

Action items review:

      Supply inventory:  Rea has completed.  Refer to her email from 10/23/07.

      Scholarship winners:  Jan has contacted the winners and McCulleys.

     Discounted ALA/OLA first-time memberships:  Rea and Suzanne indicated this item is an on-going discussion at the OLA board level.

      Conference table decorations:  Ellen brought a sample of the table decorations for the July conference.

      Member-at-large candidates:  no candidates have come forward.  Diane has a person in mind and will check with her.

 

REPORTS:

Chair - Jey

Jey requested we spend a few minutes envisioning what SSD should look like in five years.  Ideas brought forth:

      Dynamic social networking or blog

      A forum to problem-solve, share ideas—this could be related to social networking or be a piece of the SSD website

      On-line newsletter

      More members, including more active members—how do we encourage their activity?

      Mobile book-mending workshops

      Grant writer

 

    Steph mentioned wikis as one way to accomplish some of the ideas.

 

NOTE:  Susan emailed her ideas since she wasn’t able to participate in the meeting:

1.  We could more effectively use the resources we already have in place.

  • a vibrant e-list
  • a dynamic, possibly interactive, web page with a greater graphic content updated at least quarterly
  • an even greater presence in the Oregon library scene—for example, we have three kinds of scholarships, but only one is mentioned in NW Central—perhaps that entry could be updated
  1. We could be more proactive about being in touch with the membership

        we could be asking about issues people face--providing public and private venues for comments

        we could, with help, be surveying our membership on important issues such as salaries, benefits, isolation, lack of career ladders, educational opportunities or the lack thereof, etc.

 

  1. We could take on a leadership role for support staff across the country

        what could we do that would be innovative?

        one possibility -- a scholarship to attend a conference in a neighboring state

        and represent SSD there (no, probably not Hawaii!) but it could still be fun, a growth experience, etc. for someone, and if we aren't using our scholarship money, why not? After all, SSD started in part because a support staffer got sent to a conference in New Jersey...

        what about job shadowing or facilitating visits to other libraries? Maybe a library tour by van as part of a future conference as an experiment?

        is there something we could do to facilitate the movement for national certification for support staff in Oregon? it may be too soon to know about that right now, but something to keep in mind

        we do have the opportunity to be leaders in the joint ALA/state support staff organization initiative that is going on now

 

      4.  What are the issues that face our members?

lack of career ladders; a rickety job classification system with deeper roots in the 19th century than the 21st; extremely dynamic and fluid workplaces where the next generation of needed skill sets is not yet clear; isolation; lack of educational opportunities or the ability to afford to take advantage of them; library closures and lack of political support for libraries, to name a few

 

We are helping with education. Could we do anything about some of the others? Some are not appropriate, I know.  But have we let our fear of losing money on a conference prevent us from reaching out to people in other parts of the state? Even having a conference in Florence would save an hour of driving for people on the southern coast--same for Roseburg inland. And I wouldn't give up on Bend.  Someday, we will all have personal videoconferencing software and some of these issues will go away...

 

A positive statement about this would be that SSD's presence will be more strongly felt in all of Oregon, including the Eastern and Southern areas.

 

     5.  What are the issues that face SSD as an organization?

I would say the need for new blood.  There's probably some kind of follow-up with people on the conference committee to see if they'd like more involvement--could more be done? That's a great source for new people. Some might only want a one-time experience, but I'll bet there are others who might be willing to get more involved. Maybe more open houses around the state. Something...

A positive statement about this would be that, five years from now, membership has grown and 50% of officers joined in the last 7 years.

 

6.  In fact, this whole conversation could be extended to the membership via the e-list.

 

OLA Executive Committee report – Jey and Suzanne

     A program called Battle of the Books will begin in March.  It is a program to encourage elementary and middle school students to read.  People interested in volunteering should contact Debbie Alvarez from OEMA.

      The board passed the 2006 Oregon Public Library Standards.

 

Past Chair - Suzanne

The next leadership institute will be held in October.

 

Treasurer - Jan

Our balance is $26,235.56.

 

Jan raised the question of keeping lists of conference attendees.  Rea moved that we keep two years of conference records in MemberClicks rather than paper copies of this information (once we’ve used MemberClicks for awhile).  Cathy seconded.  Jan noted she can run reports from past conferences, for example, how many attendees from each library.  Steph also noted that MemberClicks can sort information in many different ways to fit our needs.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

Continuing Education - Diane

Jolyn from Burns sent her some information, however she’s received no information from the presenter or from the OLA Conference Committee.  Diane will contact the OLA Program Chair.

 

Scholarship Committee – Diane

No report

 

Membership/Outreach - All

Jey ran a report of people subscribed to the listserv.  The number of subscribers is up.

 

Steph is going to look into the possibility of having Jey notified when new members are added.  Ellen suggested that the Chair send a welcome letter or email to new SSD members.  It was noted that OLA sends a welcome email.

 

Conference Committee - Cathy

Cathy reviewed the sessions:

v     Keynote speaker:  Anne-Louise Sterry

v     Zinesters (Multnomah County Library)

v     FRBR

v     Leadership/Communication

v     Ergonomics (SAIF)

v     BIT Mobile (session will be conducted all three breakout slots)

v     A Day in the Life (panelists will discuss their jobs) – panelists are still being lined up

v    Oregon Reads or Author Talk – this session is not confirmed.  It’s possible we may have a storytelling session with Anne-Louise into this slot

 

      Rich Schmidt & Bill Kelm are confirmed to provide technical support.

      Vendor letters will be going out soon.  Jey suggested we price vendor tables at $30-35.

      The Conference Committee will be traveling to Newport on March 14.

      Janelle Cook is checking on prices of t-shirts or other items to sell It was suggested we also price fleece vests as we will be at the coast.  A decision needs to be reached by the end of March.  We will discuss this via email in March.

     Cathy noted that the Conference Committee will most likely go over budget due to higher costs and lower registrations at the coast.

 

Archivist – Susan

No report at the meeting.  Susan emailed us to say she hasn’t had an opportunity to work on scanning and finding a writing aid.

 

Webmaster/MemberClicks demonstration – Rea/Steph

Steph provided a very informative demonstration of MemberClicks as well as the new look for the OLA website. 

 

      Rea is SSD’s resource person—she works closely with Steph.

      Jey, as an OLA board member, also has permissions for accessing information in MemberClicks. 

      Jan may have permissions related to conference registration, but if she doesn’t, she can contact Steph.

      Steph hopes the updated website will go live around April 1.

 

Old Business

We discussed possible dates for our next meeting/open house at Multnomah County Library.  Ellen will work on coordinating dates.  We also need to determine a format for this meeting.

 

2010 conference site – Suzanne has inquired about Wilsonville.  Rea has inquired about the Valley River Inn (Eugene) and The Riverhouse (Bend).  She’ll also check on sites in Salem.

 

Scholarship applications for the SSD conference should be due May 1.  This information needs to be included with conference publicity.

 

Elected SSD positions – discussion was set aside at this time.

 

New Business – none

Next Meeting

We will set a time to have a virtual meeting sometime in March.

 

ACTION ITEM REVIEW LIST

ACTION

WHO

STATUS/DEADLINE

Recruitment of Member-at-Large candidates

All

On-going

SSD Visioning

All

On-going

OLA Conference Programs status

Diane

ASAP

Draft letter for new members

Jey/All

On-going

Conference sales – decision on what to sell, if any (discuss via email)

All

3/31/08

Set date for Open House at Multnomah County Library

Ellen, with input from board

On-going

2010 Conference Site

Suzanne/Rea

On-going

Set date/time for virtual meeting

All

March 2008

 

 

Submitted by

Ellen Mueller