NCCCLRA Executive Board Conference Call

July 26, 2007

2:30 p.m.

Attending:

Myra Blue Pamlico

Cathy Campbell Craven

Stephanie Bowers Pitt

Deborah Foster Fayetteville

Gena Craig Central Piedmont

Calvin Craig Gaston

Mike Crumpton Wake

Libby Stone Gaston

Susan Williams Blue Ridge

Previous Minutes:

Stephanie reported that she was sent no corrections or additions to the posted minutes from the last Executive Board meeting on June 28, 2007.

Treasurer’s Report:

Deborah announced the current account balances as follows:

Checking account—To a starting balance of $6789.00 was added $4.74 in interest and subtracted $1.00 in maintenance fees for a current balance of $6792.74.

Money Market account—To a starting balance of $5108.29 was added $21.46 in interest for a current balance of $5129.75.

Scholarship account—To a starting balance of $43,629.48 was added $183.26 in interest for a current balance of $43,812.74.

Share account—To a starting balance of $28.20 was added $ .05 in interest for a current balance of $28.25.

Deborah also reported that she had received two membership renewals since this statement, and asked where she should send them—it was felt they should go to Kat Clowers, chair of the Membership Committee. Mike wondered whether renewal notifications were going to be sent out, to remind those who did not renew at the March conference that it is now time to do so. A “blanket” e-mail notification is forthcoming.

In answer to a query by Deborah, Libby reported that no scholarships were awarded this past year since no one had applied.

Web Site Update:

Calvin reminded the Board to forward on any information of relevance for posting—there is currently posted an “in memoriam” item on Doug Marlette, who was a guest speaker at the 2004 NCCCLRA conference in Sanford.

Conference Planning:

Cathy reported that she had not received a lot of response to her Wiki-based planning questions and will try to set up a conference call for September. The 2008 conference will likely take place in April or early May, and will most probably be held at the Walker Center of Wilkes Community College. We are able to use this facility free of charge, and Fay Byrd is checking on room sizes, etc. An extra advantage of holding it there is that we will not have to work around college breaks, etc. for determining a conference date.

Project Team Reports:

Bylaws/Constitution Committee

Mike is working on getting a meeting set up for sometime in August. Myra suggested we decide on a timeline for having the results of our team efforts ready for review—possibly September or October.

Membership Committee

Suvanida Duangudom created a membership brochure; it was sent out to Myra and Cathy for review (although Cathy has not as yet been able to view it since it was created in a program she does not have on her office computer). We will revisit this at our next meeting so that Calvin can get it up on the Web site. A new membership letter has already been posted.

Public Relations Committee

Calvin noted that most of the work in this area will be done closer to the approach of the 2008 conference.

Archives Committee

Stephanie reported that no new issues had been identified: the Committee would still like to find a new location for the physical archival files and would like to see the position of Archivist be reinstated in the NCCCLRA Bylaws. She asked for clarification on how these issues might best be addressed at this point. A reinstatement of the Archivist position would require a rewriting of the current Bylaws, and so would have to be recommended to the Board as an item to be put up for vote of the membership. The search for a new physical archives location could be recommended to the Board, who would draft and send out an e-mail communication to library directors to see who might be willing to take over “ownership” of the archival files.

Mike questioned the need for finding another location, but several Board members agreed that the current files (located in the basement of the System Office) are subject to getting “lost in the shuffle.” As evidence of this likelihood, it was noted that the existence of an archival filing cabinet at the System Office was unknown to most if not all of the current Executive Board officers until very recently. Mike suggested that, rather than moving the files to a school location, which would put the onus of responsibility on an individual school and/or staff member, we make a better effort at keeping track of the files in their current location and make sure that everyone is made aware of where they are. Meanwhile, it is more practical to “archive” much of our recent NCCCLRA documentation on the Web site (as long as the files are backed up).

Awards Committee

Myra asked if all seemed to be working satisfactorily with the awards process. Libby noted that she feels the process is fine, although a few details might need to be changed in the Bylaws description (such as the fact that communications are mostly all being sent out via e-mail at this time). She has her committee together and is hopeful that applications will be forthcoming for this year’s awards.

District Reports:

Districts 1-5

No directors from these districts were in attendance, although Myra mentioned that Monique Mitchell from District 1 and Allen Mosteller from District 5 had notified her that they had no district activities to report.

District 6

Susan reported that the geographic challenges of the extensive District 6 coverage area make it difficult to arrange for district activities. She queried the Board on what might be tried to encourage more member participation and got suggestions such as boat trips, sharing of “best practices,” peer training sessions, and making sure to “always offer food.” It was further suggested that meetings be designed so they are not strictly business oriented, but more of an opportunity for a “learning and sharing” experience of interest to all library staff members. Deborah suggested that Susan might want to unofficially break the district up into two sub districts for meeting purposes, so that members would not have so far to travel. It was noted that there is $100 in NCCCLRA funds available to all districts for yearly activities.

Closing Business:

Mike asked how many Board members were planning to attend the upcoming NCLA conference in Hickory and wondered if it might be a good idea to have an informal gathering of NCCCLRA members there. The Board consensus was that “unofficial” meetings of this type are a good way to promote membership in the LRA. The newly created membership brochure could be distributed at such events.

Myra announced that we would not hold a meeting in August but might try for a face-to-face meeting, possibly in Fayetteville, in September.

Cathy suggested that we might want to decide on a “permanent” meeting day, such as the third Thursday of every month, to help Board members with scheduling. Although Myra liked this idea, she noted that it might not always be possible to get that day set up for the “meet me” conference call that has to be scheduled through the state system. Since it is sometimes difficult to find a suitable date for all of us to be able to meet, she welcomes any suggestions to ensure that our meetings are as productive as possible.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:58 p.m.

Submitted by:

Stephanie Bowers,

Secretary