NCCCLRA Executive Board Conference Call

May 16, 2007

3:00 p.m.

Attending:

Myra Blue Pamlico

Cathy Campbell Craven

Stephanie Bowers Pitt

Deborah Foster Fayetteville

Allen Mosteller Cleveland

Calvin Craig Gaston

Katherine Clowers Lenoir

Monique Mitchell Roanoke

Michael Rose Rockingham

Marsha Proctor Cape Fear

Libby Stone Gaston

President’s Welcome:

Myra welcomed the members of the 2007/08 NCCCLRA Executive Board and said that she was looking forward to a “fun year” working with a great group of people. She noted that she had provided a listing of the current Board officers, committee chairs, and district directors on the agenda she had sent out earlier so we would all know who was who.

Web Site Update:

Calvin reported that all information that has been submitted to him has been posted on the NCCCLRA Web site. He encouraged everyone to submit anything they might have to post—he has, for example, received district meeting minutes from a few districts but others could send theirs as well.

Some information is still missing from the Districts page—those district directors who still have open officer positions should relay their updates to Myra as they become available. District 6 has so far reported no information for the current year as no one from District 6 attended the March conference. Libby stated that she would soon be seeing some of the District 6 members at her library and would ask if they have determined new officers.

A question was raised as to moving some of the more dated information, such as minutes of meetings from past years, to an “archive” page so that only the most currently relevant information would appear on the main Minutes page. The Board agreed that this would be a good idea.

Other questions were raised regarding the position descriptions found in the newly re-organized online version of the NCCCLRA Handbook: For one, the position description for “Procedures Officer” lists the procedures for handling archival materials among the duties of this office, yet a new Archives Committee was appointed at the recent conference business meeting. There is a need to align those duties that have already been detailed in the Handbook with any new duties that might be taken on by various committees/subcommittees in the next year. (Myra will communicate with Gena Craig, past and continuing Procedures Officer, for clarification on her role in archival procedures.)

Along these same lines, Calvin pointed out that the position description for “Newsletter Editor” describes procedures that have not been carried out for years, while there is no description of his ongoing work as Webmaster. Myra suggested that he move to have the position description rewritten. The motion was made to have the NCCCLRA Handbook revised to reflect a substitution of the position of “Webmaster” (or possibly “Website Manager”) for that of “Newsletter Editor.” The motion was seconded and carried.

Treasurer’s Report:

Deborah reported current NCCCLRA account balances as follows:

Checking Account $7664.92

Money Market Account $5090.06

Scholarship Account $43473.78

Share Account $28.16

The motion was made that the financial report be approved as read; the motion was seconded and carried.

Deborah noted that the then-current balances were reviewed and approved by the Executive Board officers at the conclusion of the March conference, and necessary officers’ signatures on account documents were also obtained.

Cathy reported a recording error on a financial document she had received previously (this is something other than the official financial statement made available to all Executive Board officers)—Deborah said that she would correct this and send it back out.

Myra proposed a transfer to next year’s conference Planning Committee of the current overage in the general expense account ($5000 is generally maintained for regular association operating expenses and to provide funds for district meetings). Deborah explained that this amount does not have to be physically transferred into a separate account. Cathy proposed that we vote on the idea of earmarking a set amount as a starting budget for the next conference. The motion to designate $3000 as the starting budget for the 2008 conference was made, seconded, and carried.

It was noted that the overage we currently have is due to the low expenses of the 2006 conference held at Wake Tech, which is why we have decided to rotate conference sites so that every other year the conference is held at a less-costly school site rather than a pricier location. This way we should be able to keep our finances in good order and not run the risk of carrying a negative conference balance from year to year.

The fact of there being available monies for district activities was discussed. There is around $100 in the general expense fund for each district director to use for district activities throughout the year. Deborah clarified the procedure for requesting funding for this: Receipts for any expenses incurred for district activities should be sent to Myra for approval; Myra will in turn send them to Deborah for reimbursement.

Minutes from Previous Meeting:

Stephanie reported that the minutes from the conference business meeting on March 15 are posted online under the newly created “Conference Minutes” section. Myra instructed the Board to review those minutes and report any changes or concerns they might have.

Preliminary Conference Planning:

Cathy reported that she recently sent out a survey to library directors asking for their staff’s input on preferred conference location, time of year, and conference theme. It was noted by several Board members that they did not receive this survey. The need for an all-inclusive e-mail list for NCCCLRA members was discussed as this has been an ongoing problem, one that the newly formed Membership Committee is set to address.

From survey responses that Cathy did receive, it appears that spring is the preferred time of year with March and May being the frontrunners for choice of month. The central and western regions of the state were tied for choice of location. Many respondents also noted that the yearly alternating of regions seemed fair. Mention was made of the fact that it’s been “a long time” since the conference was held in the western part of the state.

With these results in mind, along with those of the post-conference survey, the choice of Wilkes Community College as the 2008 conference site is a strong possibility. Returning the conference to a school site that can provide computer access to multiple users will allow for more “hands on” sessions and “live” demonstrations, something that was lacking at the convention center site. Eliminating the need to “rent” and tightly schedule the facility will also permit the possibility of the pre-conference sessions that were not feasible for this past conference.

Cathy noted that Wilkes has suggested the third week of March as a possible date (this is their spring-break week) but May might be better for some people although graduations tend to run on varied schedules all throughout May. Given that it is too early to pin down a definite date or site as of yet, Cathy proposed that we vote on at least a general timeframe/location for the upcoming conference. The motion was made that the next NCCCLRA conference will be held in the western part of the state in spring of 2008. The motion was seconded and carried.

Cathy received a few conference theme suggestions in her survey responses, among them are the concepts of making the library relevant to users’ needs and marketing the library. Other ideas are welcome.

Several volunteers have already come forward to help with conference planning. If Wilkes continues to look like a likely prospect for the conference location, a trip may be planned to view that site in August.

Project Teams:

Myra advised those Board members who volunteered to help with one or more of the “project teams” that were created at the conference business meeting to go ahead and form the relevant subcommittees and start working on assigned projects. Team assignments and members are listed on the meeting agenda that Myra sent out.

Membership Concerns:

Kat, who is heading up the Membership Committee, stated that she would like to try to recruit more paraprofessionals to join the NCCCLRA, which would improve the current membership numbers and add a valuable component to the organization that is largely missing.

A question was raised as to the handling of this year’s membership dues. Deborah asked if she should send out “bills” in July to those members who did not renew their memberships at the conference; Kat said the Membership Committee could handle the sending of notices.

It was reported that someone from a school in South Carolina inquired about becoming a member of NCCCLRA—the question was posed as to whether or not our membership was open to out-of-state members. The consensus was that something might have to be rewritten in our bylaws but that “open” membership could and should be allowed. We might develop a “Friends” member category; this could include alumni/retired members as well. Kat noted that this is something the Membership Committee would discuss. A quick review of the bylaws by Cathy revealed that our membership already appears to be open, so only a minor revision might be necessary.

The question was raised on how to go about securing funds for marketing the organization to potential members. Deborah stated that funds in the general operating account already exist for this purpose. Marketing ads will be created and sent to the President and Vice-President for approval.

Miscellaneous Business:

Cathy asked if she could get a current membership list; Deborah will send her the one she has from 2006/07.

Michael asked Board members to please look at the Reference/Instruction blog he has created. It appears on the main NCCCLRA site page.

Myra reminded everyone to invite other districts to their district events.

Next Meeting:

Myra will try to work out a face-to-face meeting for July. More information on this is forthcoming.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:48 p.m.

Submitted by:

Stephanie Bowers,

Secretary