January 14, 2021
In attendance: Maisha + Baby Claire <3 , Meaghan, Adam, Stefani, Karen, Gregory, Brendan, Elise, Melissa, Jasmine, Jess
Financial update
PaLA will fund: the Change the Subject (Dec) event ($450) They also said they would fund the Working out Loud event to $250, but we declined the assistance.
We have a little over $1,420 in total assets after sending out honoria for fall events and PO Box renewal (processed every Dec)
Board elections
Open positions include: VP/President Elect, Secretary and Director at Large (which may be filled by a current board member currently serving in another position.)
Maisha and Stefani will work on this. Please send them information about possible candidates! We’ll also send out a call for candidates via Twitter and the listserv. Timeline for seeking candidates and an election:
- Now through February 1: develop a list of candidates
- February 1 – 15: reach out to candidates and solidify the list
- February 15 – March 1: create the ballot and solicit bios from candidates
- March 1: Open ballot
- March 15: Close ballot
Program and Planning Committee: December event: Change the Subject documentary discussion. 149 people registered and 85 attended. We sent out a follow-up survey. The event went really well. The Black LIS Workers and Student Group: has a meeting tentatively scheduled for late February on the theme of self care and renewal in the workplace. Andrea Lemoins prefers to keep this group under the ACRL DVC Chapter umbrella for now. We had agreed to make the parameters for participation clear in event marketing. Invitations will go out in early February. Jasmine and Karen will create a page for this group on our website. Two other groups have reached out to us and have created related programs! A group in California (interested in using the Emergent Design Workbook) and the Spectrum Scholars.
Spring Events: We’re moving forward with a “call for proposals” model, details to be worked out. The Programming and Planning Committee has a meeting scheduled in late January.
Community Liaisons: Jess reviewed survey results – 13 individuals (members of ACRL/DVC who are also members of other organizations) were interested in connecting and also noted what groups they were part of. Christina will reach out to them and put forth the idea of partnering in the spring to share guiding questions and other ideas.
Maisha would like to help shape a community for resident librarians. This could be organized around professional development events or social events as opportunities to check in. The community might also start a list of interested folks in order to be aware of one another.
Local universities that have resident librarians include mostly larger libraries: Penn, Temple, UDel, Rutgers, and Villanova. When we reached out to inquire about residents, some schools responded that they have student groups.
This community could overlap with our mentoring program as it is important to connect BIPOC LIS students with BOPIC mentors.
Next steps include thinking through the ideas and considering ways to build relationships, including whether or not to broaden our scope to include other chapters.
Some institutions have unions, and Jess will be finding out more, attending the Chapter’s Council meeting. She will also tell them about our Community Liaison committee.
The Legislative Liaison position has been reinvisioned and combined with the Community Liaison position. Legislative Day was moved online this year. Melissa will attend in another capacity and report back to the chapter. She also offered to provide language for those interested in contacting PA State Representatives about library advocacy, particularly on the topic of textbook affordability.
Communications: The blog interview with Meaghan is up now and an interview with Brendan will be published soon. There is interest in writing a Guiding Questions blog post.
Social Committee: is planning an online social event in February.
Mentoring/Resume Review updates: Jasmine sent an email to 2020 participants thanking them. (~2 months ago) She has begun planning for 2021 and has made a new Google Form for mentor and mentee use. The standing list of mentors needs to be updated as some folks have retired or moved out of the area. Maisha is interested in taking on this responsibility in 2021, perhaps sharing it with another board member.
Website updates: Karen has made many updates! Additional updates under consideration include the Mission Statement (when it’s ready) and perhaps Guiding Questions.