A. Minutes of previous meeting were
distributed. Rhonda Tynes moved that the minutes of
December 8, 2000, meeting be accepted as written and distributed.
The motion was seconded by Theresa Ellison and passed.
B. Vice President/President-Elect- Terry Latour
reported the theme for the 2001 MLA conference will be “Mississippi
Libraries @ Your Service” with William Gordon, Executive Director
of ALA, as the keynote speaker. There may be times in Mr.
Gordon’s schedule for involvement at other sessions. For more
information about the conference, contact Terry.
C. Treasurer- Keith Coleman announced that he has
a meeting scheduled with the accountant in February.
D. SELA Councilor- Glenda Segars received
correspondence from Frank Allan, the editor of The Southeastern
Librarian, requesting statewide news from libraries in Mississippi
or articles to be published.
E. ALA Councilor- Billy Beal reported on
Midwinter meeting. Key issues dealt with in council were
privatization and outsourcing, filtering as it relates to public
and school libraries, volunteer certification for public
librarians, library advocacy, and the Uniform Computer Information
Transactions Act (UCITA). Billy distributed a printout from
ALA’s website entitled “Libraries and the Internet
Toolkit.”
The Chapter Relations committee discussed ways to boost membership
in state chapters. This information will be given to the Membership
Committee chair of MLA.

II. SECTION REPORTS

A. ACRL- June Breland reported that they are
working on a fall meeting and possibly a spring meeting.
B. Trustee- Madel Stringer announced that a
Trustees website is being developed.

III. ROUNDTABLE REPORTS

A. Black Caucus- Theresa Ellison reported they
will be meeting that day for the first time this year, electing new
officers and committee chairs, and vigorously planning for the MLA
conference.
B. Technical Services- Kathleen Wells reported
they are planning the spring workshop on cataloging electronic
resources and planning a program at the MLA conference.
C. 2YCRT- Juanita Flanders reported they are
making plans for the conference. She announced the two projects
recently developed for distance education students and completed by
the community college libraries. They are “Mississippi Electronic
Libraries Online” (http://www.colin.cc.ms.us/vcclib/) and an online
course “Information in the Electronic Age”
(http://lrc.hinds.cc.ms.us/instructional.asp).
D. Special Collections- Peggy Price reported for
Steven Turner that the committee is developing a webpage, and
planning a conference program on digitization.
E. YPSRT- Victoria Penny reported they are
working to secure a speaker for the conference and exploring the
possibility of having a book review corner at the conference.

IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS

A. Scholarship Committee- June Breland
distributed a list of past scholarship donors, a scholarship
donation form, and reported that donations are still being
accepted. Contributions to the scholarship are half way to the goal
of raising $10,000. The scholarship form is available on the MLA
website. She requested that the Hospitality committee help with the
Silent Auction at the conference. The board approved this
request.
A request was made that the “Outstanding Librarian Giving Program”
information be sent in the next bulk mailing. June will revise the
form and submit it to Mary Julia for the next mailing.
June requested the reprinting of the Peggy May brochure as needed.
President Ledet indicated this to be a worthwhile request. Rhonda
stated that she had left a supply of brochures in the MLA office
and to use those before reprinting.
B. Publications Committee- Ann Branton reported
that the Publications Committee, Web Page Committee, and ML
editorial board met last Friday to discuss the boundaries of
each.
Discussion centered around private information being available on
the MLA website. It was recommended to update the membership form
to include preferences for publicly distributing addresses and
phone numbers. It was determined that a print version of the MLA
Directory was not necessary at this time. Mary Julia will be
contacting the Web Committee members for updating the membership
list on the website.
C. Web Page committee- Peggy Price reported that
the committee members will be offering assistance to any MLA
committees, roundtables, and sections in developing webpages. A
flyer will be distributed giving the pertinent information for
seeking assistance.

V. OLD BUSINESS

A. National Library Week committee- Jennifer
Smith reported that there are over 200 people registered for the
NLW activities, and 9 committees are scheduled to meet.
B. Legislative committee- Glenda Segars announced
that the legislative reception is scheduled for that night at
Eudora Welty Library. The agenda will be to express appreciation
for the funding already received, and that if there is any money to
be distributed, to encourage the legislator’s support of
Mississippi Library Commission and MAGNOLIA. Thank you notes are in
NLW registration packets for members to send to legislators.
National Library Legislative Day will be Tuesday, May 1. If
interested in attending contact Glenda Segars.
C. LAMP- The committee members will meet
today.

VI. NEW BUSINESS

A. Regional Training Institutes- Billy Beal
discussed the ALA Chapter Relations committee’s grant
proposal seeking funding to provide leadership training programs
for professionals and paraprofessionals across the country. Each
state chapter has been asked for endorsement as part of the grant
proposal. June Breland made the motion to endorse the proposal and
Rhonda Tynes seconded the motion and was passed. President Ledet
will write a letter in support of the grant proposal and send an
endorsement from the MLA Board.
B. Glenda Segars announced that the Executive
Director position of the Mississippi Library Commission was
advertised in the Commercial Appeal, Clarion-Ledger, and
Times-Picayune newspapers and posted on the MLC website and with
ALA. For further information, contact Ms. Cheryl Mott, Human
Resources director at the Commission.