Midcontinental Chapter of the
Medical Library Association
* Colorado * Kansas * Missouri * Nebraska * South Dakota * Utah * Wyoming *
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING
32ND ANNUAL MEETING
MCMLA 2003, SIOUX FALLS, SD
Friday, October 17, 2003
Minutes
I. Call to order—Deb Ward called the meeting to order at 7:43 AM. Parliamentarian Nancy Woelfl announced that a quorum was present.
II. Approval of 2002 Business Meeting minutes: Wayne Peay moved to approve the 2002 minutes, and Kerry Skidmore seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
III. Officers' Reports
A. Chapter Chair:
Deborah Ward provided an overview of issues that have impacted the profession this year including reductions in funding (especially higher education funding) and actual and threatened hospital closures. These challenges require a change in the focus of librarians as we increasingly move to document our value, focus on regional collaboration, and turn to our professional organizations and institutions for help.She highlighted several of the Chapter’s accomplishments in the past year including the Publications Survey and reestablishment of the MCMLA Express, the domain name change to www.MCMLA.org, the suggested changes to the Bylaws, the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Annual Meeting Policy, the arrangement of a Memorandum of Understanding between MCMLA and NN/LM-MCR which provides funding for programming through 2006, and a successful transition to a new Executive Secretary. She also noted the Executive Committee decision to approve the arrangement of investment excess funds for better return, and the successful annual meeting, awards, and election.
B. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect:
Lenora Kinzie announced the officers and committee appointments for 2003-04 and stated that both the Membership and the Governmental Relations committees each still need one member.C. Past Chair:
Terri Hartman expressed thanks to Lisa Traditi for revising the MCMLA Policy & Procedures manual and to the Bylaws Committee for their work on the proposed revisions this year.D. Chapter Council Representative:
Lisa Traditi reported that both she and Marie Reidelbach, the Chapter Council Alternate, attended the Chapter Council meeting at MLA in San Diego. She stated that part of her duties include providing a communication link between the Chapter Council and MCMLA officers and members. Lisa is the Co-Chair of the Chapter Council Presents Roundtable (formerly Chapter Sharing Roundtables) and Marie serves on both that committee and the Education Committee.E. Executive Secretary:
Peggy Mullaly-Quijas reported that as of September 16, 2003, MCMLA holds $34,544.84 in assets. Income for the year was $4079.10 and expenses were $13,198.96. She has been charged by the Executive Committee to purchase two CDs in the amount of $5000 each. The checking account was moved to a Kansas City. The 2004 budget was accepted at the Executive Committee meeting. Peggy also maintains the member database, and there are 213 current members, 21 of those are new this year.F. Ad hoc Committee on Annual Meeting Planning:
Lisa Traditi discussed the report which addresses previously unresolved questions about meeting planning. Topics include requirements for the return of seed money, fiscal arrangement when there is not an organized local group, and tips for negotiating planning with another group. Lenora Kinzie helped by gathering information from other chapters. The resulting report will be incorporated into Rebecca Graves’ planning notebook.G. Meeting Planner:
Rebecca Graves assisted with planning this year’s meeting and has also worked this year with the 2004, 2005, and 2006 planners. She completed work on a planning manual that draws on the experience of past meeting planners and reports. She will continue to work with the planners and will investigate methods of using web-based registration.H. Website Editor:
Liz D’Antonio-Gan was not present, and Deb Ward reported for her. MCMLA secured a new URL: www.MCMLA.org for the cost of $150 for 10 years. KU has started to charge $250 per year for web hosting; we’d like to look into other options. Roz Dudden suggested looking into MLAnet which no longer charges for website hosting for sections. Carla Funk remarked that at the present time, they are charging for hosting chapter sites.
IV. Committee Reports
A. Bylaws Committee:
Wendy Fritzel thanked everyone for attending the Business Meeting and reaching quorum, and reminded the group that she had sent memo outlining the proposed bylaws changes. These include combining the Senior Members and Fellows into one Distinguished Members category, changing the title of the Meeting Planner to Annual Meeting Advisor, redefining quorum as 10% of members in good standing rather than 50 members and deleting the “present at annual meeting” provision. The changes also outlined the duties of the Electronic Discussion List Owner and incorporated some changes suggested by the MLA Bylaws Committee. 33 affirmative votes were needed to pass the changes, and that number was met as a majority of members present affirmed the vote. The bylaws revisions were passed.B. Education Committee:
Jean Sidwell reported that this was her first year as the Education Committee chair. She extended thanks to Pat Hamilton and Kay Wagner for hosting the conference calls to organize the education offerings for the Annual Meeting, and she also thanked Wegner Library for hosting Saturday’s CE class. Seven continuing education opportunities were planned for the annual meeting, and one was cancelled. The committee had intended to conduct a survey of the membership about the CE needs, but the chosen service did not work well. They will try again in the coming year.C. Governmental Relations Committee:
Susan Centner stated that the committee’s task is to keep members informed about current issues of importance. They are maintaining a list of government contacts on the MCMLA website. The committee could use one more member this year.D. Honors and Awards Committee:
Kerry Skidmore announced the award winners who were honored at the dessert reception on Thursday evening. Brenda Phannenstiel received the Barbara McDowell Award for Excellence in Hospital Librarianship, Katie Voss was awarded with the Bernice M. Hetzner Award for Excellence in Academic Librarianship, and Saundra Brenner received the MCMLA Outstanding Achievement Award. Kerry encouraged everyone to think of someone to nominate, stressing the importance of recognizing our peers. He also noted that Sarah Kirby will chair the committee in 2003-2004.E. Membership Committee:
Betsy Mueth announced that MCMLA currently has 213 paid members, with 21 new members this year. She has developed a postcard to welcome new members and said that they might also receive a letter from the president to welcome them. The committee has plans to update the brochure and website to include committee opportunities. Other priorities include developing relationships with the regional library schools and increasing membership recognition. She announced that there would be an MCMLA membership in the prize drawing.F. Nominating Committee:
Joy Winkler (not present) This year had a great slate of candidates. Kay Wagner was elected Chair Elect, Betsy Mueth will be the Recording Secretary, and Rick Forsman was chosen as the MCMLA nominee to MLA.G. Research Committee:
Throughout the year, Diane Johnson (not present) distributed brief news items through list serve and advocated for research oriented CE offering at the annual meeting.H. Publications Committee:
Amanda Enyeart reported that the publications committee administered a survey of the membership via the discussion list to gather opinions about the communications needs of the chapter. Results indicated that a newsletter would fill an information need. The committee solicited submissions and produced an online-only issue of the MCMLA Express in pdf format in August. The next issue will appear in January and the committee will be calling for submissions soon.
V. MLA Chapter Liaison Reports
A. Membership:
Stephanie Weldon announced that a free MLA membership is to be given away today.B. Credentialing:
Anna Beth Crabtree reminded members that she hosted a formal credentialing meeting last year, and she has had many contacts throughout the year. She revised her presentation for the MLA meeting in San Diego. The credentialing committee is stepping beyond AHIP into career promotion by providing resources on the website for career days and general information. She encouraged MCMLA members to look at the mentoring resources especially since this is a Chapter objective.C. Benchmarking:
Roz Dudden noted that 285 libraries participated in the benchmarking survey last year; 36 from the MCMLA region (20 of those being from Colorado where there was a large push for participation). The survey will begin collecting data in December this year, and participation has been extended to all libraries who are not also AAHSL (Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries) members. Roz pointed out that while the survey is a lot of work for individual libraries, the results can be and have been used to increase funding or decrease cuts. A Maine Regional library used the benchmarking data to justify reduced budget cuts from 50% to 25%, and Kaiser in California secured a $1,000,000 grant for increased resources. All MLA members have access to the data, and participants will be able to use an interactive site to identify benchmarking partners.
VI. Annual Meeting Reports
A. 2002 - Topeka, KS
Cynthia Perkins stated that the 2002 meeting met most of the planning committee’s goals. 111 people attended the meeting, and 145 took advantage of 7 CE offerings. Student participation was increased, and 13 new members joined the chapter. They were able to offer some later start times, and encouraged all attendees to stay until the end of the meeting. The meeting offered plenty of opportunity for fun and networking. There was a $1552.85 deficit. She also thanked Lynne Fox for posting the information on the website, Wayne Peay for Judith Messerle’s bibliography, and Scott Pluctchak for the kind words in JMLA.B. 2003 - Sioux Falls, SD:
Kay Wagner reported that 78 MCMLA members attended this year’s meeting and 300 librarians participated overall. They registered 87 people for 6 continuing education offerings. The meeting is expected to break even. Kay encouraged members to thank the vendors for their support of the reception and recognized Pat Hamilton, Coleen Coble, Anna Gieschen, Ernetta Fox, and Troy Bruning for providing planning and technical support. Jim Bothmer read a proclamation in honor of the meeting.C. 2004 – Kansas City, MO:
Kelly Klinke announced that the 2004 Annual Meeting will be held in Kansas City on September 29th-October 2nd at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel. Featured speakers will include Michelynn McKnight, Stephen Barrett, and Jonathan Eldridge. The reception will be held at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.
VI. Old Business - None raised.
VII. Installment of MCMLA Chapter Chair
Deborah Ward thanked the Chapter for the opportunity to work with them and passed the gavel to Lenora Kinzie. Lenora gave Deb a beautiful crystal paperweight for her great work this year on behalf of MCMLA.
VIII. MCMLA priorities for 2003-04
Lenora Kinzie presented her priorities as incoming Chair. They include supporting professional development for members through increased educational opportunities, encouraging members to present posters and papers, supporting technologies such as streaming video for year-round opportunities, establishing an electronic journal club for interested members, and publicizing committee duties in order to recruit members. Advocacy remains a strong need, and Lenora intends to work with the Governmental Relations Committee and the states that feed into that group to foster communication. Organizational priorities include reviewing MCMLA’s fiscal policy, evaluating the need for an increase in annual dues, and supporting the 2004 audit. She plans to support efforts to recruit new members and retain present members including increasing recognition for accomplishments. She issued a challenge to members to Be Bold. She encouraged everyone to choose four goals: something personal, something within one’s organization, something for the profession, and something for MCMLA, and to commit to those goals. Her goals include: losing weight, working on CME with her nurses and physicians, pursuing AHIP accreditation, and doing her best for MCMLA by fighting her natural instinct to procrastinate.
Door Prizes
Prizes were awarded to members in attendance through a drawing. The MLA Membership went to Roz Dudden, the MCMLA Membership to Teri Hartman, and the NLM afghan to Roxy Olsen. They also handed out awards to members who answered the Creative Partnering questions posed on the discussion list. Prizes went to: Martha Burroughs, Karen Wells, Katherine Reiter, Scott Plutchak, Crystal Cameron Vedross, and Marty McGee.
Promotion of the 2004 Annual Meeting in Kansas City, MO
The local arrangements committee presented a slide show promoting the 2004 Annual Meeting with a theme of “Fountains of Discovery and Exploration.” They also drew names and gave away Kansas City products.
IX. New Business - None Raised.
X. Adjournment
Nancy Woelfl move to adjourn, Deb Ward seconded the motion, and Lenora Kinzie adjourned the meeting at 9:27 AM.