Category: Board Meeting Minutes

ACRL DVC
November Board Meeting

Participants: Jess, Stefani, Adam, Nancy, Leslie, Jessica B. Carol, Megan, Adam

• October meeting minutes were approved
• Financial report was provided by Adam
  • There is an outstanding check to Emma Antobam-Ntekudzi for over $750 not yet cashed, and an initial 1-year payment for the PO Box for $112. There was also a single renewal for $15.
  • P.O. Box update – Adam has taken the lead on this.  It has been reserved. Adam will be going to the 30th & Market facility to finalize and receive the box number.  This should be done by November 28th. It is paid up for a year ($112) and will be due to renew on 12/31/19.
    • Update from Adam:  I am proud to report that as of Tues, Nov 27 we are PO Box 8731 at the post office at 3000 Chestnut St in Philadelphia, 19104-8731. I left today with one key and am awaiting the others.
• Mentorship Program update – Stefani
  • 13 people have been confirmed as mentors and 6 people have been nominated for mentorships.  The email template is in Stipend and Mentorship program document in the Fall Program Planning 2018.  I have matched 4 mentees with mentors and sent out emails making introductions. I emailed Molly Olney-Zide to see if she would mentor, a 5th mentee, an mls grad interested in technical services.  The matches can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12nkyye0WnQnuf9lU4Vz_UxZUERqlIPCEIfSQTFtW-jo/edit?usp=sharing

Fall program recap

• 55 Attendees
• Feedback
  • The Fall Planning Committee will be reviewing feedback and will capture lessons learned and suggestions for next programming committee.

• Twitter archive? – Leslie – emailed
• Blog post went up with all lightning round presentations  
• Comments, questions, concerns?
• Blog update  – Megan
  • Emma’s travel grant blog post is up on the site.  

• Website update – Karen
  • Karen has built a rough site in WordPress to show what it would look like. I added a new Volunteering section and restructured the content some what. If everyone could take a look at it and provide me with some feedback, that would be very helpful: http://wordpress.acrldvc.org/
  • She will also need access to our Wild Apricot account if we are going to go forward in order to add the widgets to the WordPress site.
• Social committee update – Elise
  • We had 2 individuals volunteer to serve on the social committee!
    • They are working on planning event for early winter on social justice.  Adam has also joined the committee.
  • Upcoming event that DVC members are invited to attend: SLA Philadelphia holiday event: November 29th from 6-8 PM.  Drexel University Academic Bistro, 101 N. 33rd st. 6th floor. $40 for ACRL DVC members. Registration: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WQD28Z5.  
  • @Spring 2019 Program: Stefani and Jess applied to host the ACRL Scholarly Communications Roadshow (deadline was 11/16).  We will find out if we get the stipend (which would lower our costs to $2,000) by Friday, December 21st.
  • Still need location, food vendor
  • Will apply for PALA CRD grant to fund it.
  • Needed to represent what we would do after the program to support members professional development and work in scholarly communications.  We described a group that would collectively recommend and read articles and develop relationships for the purpose of encouragement, support, and mentorship in scholarly communication projects.

• Next board meeting: December 19th 12:00-1:30 PM

Attendees: Stefani, Adam, Megan, Sarah, Nancy, Carol

• Review and approval of September meeting minutes – post to the blog after meeting
  • Meeting minutes approved.
• Financial Report
  • Money collected for need-based financial assistance? – $50
  • Wild Apricot renewal went through.
  • PayPal account is good.
  • Still need bill for Drexel Sheraton.
  • Jess will reach out to individuals requesting financial assistance for Fall program.
• P.O. Box update – Nancy
  • https://www.usps.com/manage/po-boxes.htm po boxes
  • https://poboxes.usps.com/findBox.html?q=19104 19104 results
  • https://www.usps.com/manage/forward.htm forwarding service
  • Procedure to get a P.O. Box is online.
  • 30th street station will have a smaller one available
  • $88/12 mo.
  • $20/wk to forward mail. This is not affordable.
  • Adam and Nancy will check the P.O. Box.
• Mentorship Program update – Stefani
  • Stefani has connected 1 mentor and 1 mentee.
  • Stefani will bring a box and slips of paper to the Fall program where people can nominate mentees.
• Student Stipend update – Stefani
  • Applications for stipend discussed.
  • Jess recommends next time the application asks winners to attend the Fall program.
  • Stefani will e-mail winners to congratulate and invite them to the Fall program. We will give them their gift there.
  • Winners will be featured in a blog post with a short bio.
• Fall program update
  • 47 registrants
  • Waiting to confirm food order until 3 days before program.
  • Providing light breakfast, sandwiches and coffee, and cookies in the afternoon.
  • Attach card to schedule asking for volunteer to help with future programs or volunteer to be on the board.
  • Chapter meeting:
    • mentorship program (Stefani)
    • student stipend award (Stefani)
    • financial report (Adam)
    • social committee (Elise)
    • recap of last year, thanks to Nancy (Jess)
    • Happening at 12:30, 15 minutes before our round table.
  • Nametags?
    • Adam will make and bring name tags.
  • Stefani and Jess volunteer to do sign in sheets.
  • Special thanks to the planning committee.
  • Questions and concerns?
• Blog update – Megan
  • Megan has been creating a series for scholarship winners and will make a series for stipend winners and more Meet the Board posts.
  • Megan has been tweeting about the posts and retweeting other relevant accounts.
  • Mailing list for updates on blog posts. Megan followed up with Jessica on this but she will double check with her.
  • TOC email? – Megan to follow up with Jessica.
• Website update – Karen (not present)
  • Can Karen please make a Volunteer page on website that lists volunteer opportunities
• Social committee update – Elise (not present)
• Spring 2019 Program:  ACRL Roadshow?
  • Framework Roadshow was hosted by Tri-State area colleges.  Carol reported cost was around $6,500 including travel and boarding plus $50 per diem food expense for instructor(s)
  • Nancy mentioned we could apply for the Pala CRD award to partially fund it (award is up to 2000)
• Next board meeting: November 21st. 12:00-1:00 PM

Attendees: Karen Sheldon, Jess Denke, Jessica Brangiel, Stephanie Pennucci. Stefani Gomez. Carol Howe, Megan Donnelly, Adam Mizelle, Nancy Bellafante, Elise Ferer.

• Review and approval of August meeting minutes – post to the blog after meeting
• Next board meeting October 17th 12:00-1:30 PM – last meeting before Fall Program – communications and outreach ahead of fall program.   Volunteers please.
• Financial Report – renewal of wild apricot, 15% discount if we renew for 2 years.  Adam would like to go ahead while we have the money in the bank. Will be using this tool for Fall program registration.  Adam waiting to hear from one final travel grant recipient. Is it possible to donate through wild apricot – Adam to follow up.   We have on our website option to donate – may be generic not specific to cover membership fees. Would like to provide registration for fall program for folks who may have need.  Scholarship fund. Remind through wild apricot to pay membership dues.
• We will go ahead and pay for 2 years of Wild Apricot.   
• P.O. Box and forwarding of mail will help continued nonprofit status
  • Change address with bank – name at TD bank includes Ellie’s name and workplace address.   Adam needs some kind of foundational paperwork to bring into the bank to change this. 503c paperwork – forthcoming.  

Where to establish, how often to check, need a central location.  Assigned member based on location? Who is closest geographically.  Can forward to another po box if necessary.

• Motion to establish a permanent address – motion passes to establish in Philadelphia,  Written into past president’s role to assign responsibility of the mail forwarding to new treasurer.   Nancy can set this up in Philadelphia area.
• Motion to change responsibilities of treasurer and past president to include:
  • Filing 990
  • Keeping address up-to-date
  • Update website
• Mentorship Program  – programs done last fall.  Stefani looking at redesigning program a bit – what are goals,   Long term and short term – volunteers to take on one off projects, single conversation.   Middle career folks. Box for what people what to mentor on. Getting tenure for example or transitioning into administration.   Add more options to the form. No current mentees. Can we volunteer mentees. Stefanie to write blog post, share with the board.  
• Student Stipend
  • What is the prompt? – last year related to fall program topic.  Student stipend is $1000. How have students incorporated activism into their work or at their institution.   What work in this area would they like to do? Present certificate at fall program.
  • Outreach – to library schools specifically, Rutgers, Drexel,Clarion.   Blog posts to mentors to forward to mentees. Stefani to follow up further.   Can reference last year’s blog post as well.
• Fall Program
  • Including fundraising in registration, also opportunity to request waiver of registration fee
    • We have 4 panetists and moderator confirmed.   
    • 1 hour for unconference at end of meeting.  Presenters will hosts conversations at tables.   Also will collect ideas from attendees on their way into the program.   
    • Decided not to pursue social event afterwards.   Lots of time to talk during the day. Date of event – 10/26 need to get registration up and running this week.   
• Check in with Megan re: blog
  • May meeting minutes posted – done
  • Conference reports in the works, Megan spacing them out.  A post every Monday or Tuesday. Jessica to advertise on list.  
• Check in with Karen re: website
• Check in with Elise re: social committee

ACRL DVC Board Meeting Minutes

August 8, 2018

Attending: Jess Denke, Karen Sheldon, Adam Mizelle, Jessica Brangiel, Megan Donnelly , Stefani Gomez, Nancy Bellafante

We have set board meetings to occur the third Wednesday of the month from 12-1:30pm.   Next meeting will be September 19, 2018.

May meeting minutes were approved and can be posted to the blog.  

Jessica Brangiel will continue in the ACRL Chapter’s Council rep position for the 2018/2019 year.   

Christina Steffy is representing ACRL DVC as part of the PAForward Information Literacy Team.   She provided an update to the board on the work she’s done so far:

• • 5 sessions at the PaLA annual conference (October 14-17)  will be sponsored by PA Forward
  • Information Literacy team (and libraries participating in star library program) will have a poster displayed at Capitol Hill during the press conference and poster session on Wednesday, October 17
  • Brandi Hunter Davenport will be presenting to a library organization in MD interested in learning about the PA Forward program in general and specifically about information literacy
  • Information Literacy team is developing and Information Literacy toolkit which includes a press release for information literacy month and resources for patrons of all ages and in all types of libraries
  • PA Forward Information Literacy Summit 2019 – can’t have at PSU main campus in 2019 due to library renovations. Looking at venues for 2019. Will likely be back at PSU after renovations completed.

Financial Report from Adam:

• Bills from the spring program are in the process of being paid.   
• Adam is working on getting the PayPal account transferred to his name.
• Payment will be sent soon to Drexel to secure the space for the fall program.
• We are continuing to reimburse travel grant award recipients as they complete their conference attendance.   
• Adam has drafted a budget for the fall program and is reviewing with Jess.
• Membership renewals are coming in.   Question was raised about raising membership fees – feedback from other chapters has been our dues are very low in comparison.  Perhaps we would rather increase fundraising than increase membership dues? The board will continue to discuss.

Leslie is archiving financial information in the Google Drive.   Jess will follow up further for an update.

Nancy discussed reimbursements from ACRL National.  We have $832.46 in reimbursement funds. The Drexel facility fee ($200) can be reimbursed with these funds.  Also discussed using the funds for swag (Nancy to investigate further) and future social gatherings.

Megan has made updates to the blog.  She is following up with the travel grant recipients for blog content about the conferences they have attended with their ACRL DVC grants.  Additional content to be added in the upcoming weeks/months include an update on the Fall program, board member profiles, meeting minutes and an announcement on the ACRL value of academic libraries funding.  

Karen is working on the website.  There are some formatting challenges. Karen spoke further with Kristina Carol (former webmaster) for more information.  

• Additional changes include “announcements” to “blog feed”
• Renew your membership – update Adam as Treasurer

Fall Program planning update:

• • October 26th 10 AM to 3:30 PM @ Drexel Learning Terrace
  • Panel of organizers/librarians for afternoon session
  • Try to get corporate sponsor to cover the food.
    • Vendors with collections for social justice. – AltPress Watch (Proquest)
    • Altpress.org
    • Thomas Reuters is local.
  • Send out Save the Date/Call for proposals again.

• Announcements:
  • Incorporation papers from Nancy/Adam for catering

Happy Fall 2018 everyone!

I’m excited to say hello as I begin my year as DVC President.   Change provides opportunity for reflection, and so my thoughts go towards all the accomplishments of the past year.  In the 2017-2018 year, we held two successful programs on news literacy and library partnerships, we awarded $3,000 in scholarships to members to support their professional development, and we provided mentorship opportunities for students and librarians.  In effect, we continued to build community for you – our esteemed network of library workers in the Delaware Valley.

I’m thankful for all of the people I have met this past year and the new relationships that I’ve formed.  Each interaction reminds me of the value of the work of a local chapter of our professional organization.   Through our community we provide professional development, support one another during challenges and change, and build our ability to consider different perspectives and challenge our own lens.

Our upcoming fall program supports each of these endeavors.  Librarians as Advocates: Leading Activism on Your Campus and Beyond will be a day devoted to identifying our work as librarians as that which resists systems of oppression and supports those marginalized in our society. Library work has at its core the values inherent in access of information to all – equity, diversity, inclusion, and freedom.  However, sometimes these values are lost in the day-to-day business of running a library.  Join us on October 26^th to be reinvigorated in the action of library work towards a better future for all.  We are currently accepting submissions for lightning round proposals, we are in the process of assembling an amazing panel of librarian activists and community organizers, and we are planning an afternoon of roundtable dialogue.  Stay tuned for registration information, which will be shared in the near future!

Libraries and librarians are well-positioned to make a difference in the lives of those who need us most.    Together we are stronger and can achieve more.  Please join me in building professional relationships; your participation will make us a more prepared, effective community of action.

-Jess Denke

ACRL DVC Transition Board Meeting

May 25, 2018

In Attendance:

Jess Denke, Nancy Bellafante, Stefani Gomez, Jessica Brangiel, Adam Mizelle, Ellie Goldberg, Elise Ferer, Leslie O’Neill, Megan Donnelly, Karen Sheldon, Penny Lochner, Martha Stevenson.

Welcome to new board members:

Stefani Gomez (incoming VP), Adam Mizelle (incoming Treasurer), Elise Ferer (incoming Director at Large), Megan Donnelly (incoming Blog Editor) , and Karen Sheldon (incoming Webmaster).

Thank you to members rotating off – Martha Stevenson, Penny Lochner, Paul Proces, Ellie Goldberg.

April minutes reviewed and corrected. Ready to be posted to the blog.

Archives for 2017/2018:

• Leslie has been reorganizing 4 boxes of documents.
• The board will continue to discuss partnering with a larger institution for archiving of the website

New board member handoff:

• Jess has reached out to all new board members, handoff off of materials has been taking place and training will continue as needed.

Website Platform:

• Wild Apricot (platform for website, membership list and blog).
• Fees are increasing, our renewal is in October.
• We have the money to absorb the increase in annual fee and will remain with the Wild Apricot platform for now for ease of emailing members, program registration etc.

Financial Update:

• Ellie has met with the pro bono attorneys from Dechert who are assisting with the renewal of the 501c3 status for the chapter. Ellie will see this process through completion before passing off to Adam.
• The board discussed future responsibility for renewal of 501c3 status.
• Motion made and passed to add this responsibility to the treasurer and past president positions to work together for annual 501c3 renewal.
• The chapter currently has $9458 in assets.
• The invoice for catering from the spring program just came in. Ellie is waiting on the receipt.
• ACRL national will reimburse the chapter for the keynote speaker travel and hotel costs from the spring program.
• A small profit was made from the spring program which will be used to fund future stipends for chapter programs.

New Gmail account

• acrlpa.dvc@gmail.com to be used for general communication.

Spring Program Feedback:

• We had 54 registrants and 41 attendees.
• Space was a bit small and layout was awkward for food lines.
• For future programs light breakfast is suggested.
• Need more vegetarian options for lunch, add a field to the registration form asking about dietary restrictions to get a count of gluten free and vegetarian requests.
• Ask speakers to bring or provide ahead of time paper copies of presentations and speaker notes in case of technical difficulties.

Website Updates & Blog Updates:

• Karen has made updates to chapter officer information on the website.
• There is some confusion in the navigation between the website and blog. Suggestion to look at reorganizing the website – Karen to investigate further.
• Perhaps we can make the colors on the blog and website match?
• Suggestion to send out twice a year updates to the membership list on recent blog posts.

Mentor Program:

• Guidelines for the mentor program are on the website. They should be reviewed and updated if needed.
• Does a final email need to go out to participants asking for feedback?

Fall Program 2018:

• We have a committee of members planning the fall program (currently 6 members, more are welcome) have met twice already.
• Possible themes include the librarian/library as advocate (social justice initiatives across broad areas to draw in wide variety of speakers).
• Format to be panel in the morning with an unconference in the afternoon.
• Possible locations – Drexel or Delaware Valley University (Doylestown), board discussed cost for members to travel to the city for programs (parking etc.)
• Goal is to provide more stipends for members to attend chapter programs.
• Looking at mid October dates.

PA Forward and Information Literacy Team:

• Nancy was contacted from this group seeking a board member to join – more detail needed – what is the time commitment, responsibilities etc.

Summer programming:

• We have one more free webinar opportunity from ACRL national. If interested in hosting the webinar get in touch with Nancy/Jess.

Next meeting:

• We will discuss ideas and projects for the upcoming 2018/19 year.

Action Items:

• Anyone with outstanding items for the 17/18 archives please send to Leslie.
• Ellie will submit financial statements to Google Drive for 17/18.
• Jess to create a master calendar to stay on top of due dates (for example renewal of 501c3 status).
• All board members check contact information on the website and get back to Karen with any updates.
• All board members review position descriptions on the website for future meeting discussion.
• Investigate further the official ACRL logo, what can we use on our site (Nancy?).
• Jess and Stefani will review the mentor program guidelines further.