December 15, 2006 | February 6, 2007 | May 17, 2007 | October 24, 2007

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Friday, December 15, 2006
10:45 A.M.
Mississippi Library Association
2007 Executive Board Meeting Minutes
Mississippi Library Commission

The board meeting began at 10:45 a.m. with Catherine Nathan passing out a list of new officers. The following individuals were in attendance:

Susan Cassagne, President
Rob Lipscomb, ALA Counselor
Tracy Carr, Special Library Section
John Whitlock, Special Library Section
Deb Mitchell, Legislative Committee
Mary Julia Anderson, MLA
Jennifer Smith, Outgoing Public Library Chair
Marsha Case, JHLS
Randy Sherard, Trustee
Jeff Slagell, VP-Elect
Otha Keys, Incoming Secretary
Carol Green, Treasurer
Catherine Nathan, VP-President Elect
Margaret A. Bell, Vice Chair Elect Black Caucus
Jackie Quinn, Secretary Black Caucus Round Table
Diane B. Willard, School Section Chair

The next Executive Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 2:00 p.m., which is also MLA’s Annual Legislative Day.

Deb Mitchell reported that on Legislative Day that all attendees will meet with Sharman Smith, Executive Director of Mississippi Library Commission, who will give everyone legislative high points at 4:00 p.m., with a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. She stated that this year the function will be held at MLC instead of The Eudora Welty Library. Also, MAGNOLIA is 10 years old and they will be hosting a birthday reception for MAGOLIA. She also brought up information concerning personnel grants and asked if we could have a representative present at the Mississippi Municipal Association and Mississippi Board of Supervisors Meetings. Deb presented the goals from the Legislative Committee. The committee developed 14 goals with number 14 - explore the possibility of obtaining First Responder Status for public libraries – being new and recently added. The goals will be posted on the list serve. National Library Legislative Day will be May 1, 2007 and May 2, 2007. Deb will be Co-Chair along with Glenda Segars. The recommendation was made to vote to adopt the legislative goals and it was unanimously voted upon and adopted. Jeff Slagell wanted to know how many went to D.C. last year and was told it was 12.

Jennifer Smith of the Fiscal Management Committee passed out the 2007 Proposed Budget and the recommendations from her committee. She stated that Linda McKay made the spreadsheet that they use and it makes life easier. She then suggested and recommended that we meet and amend the budget 4 times a year. For Item 5570 – Convention Grant was added where speaker fees will go, but it is not as accurate because not all the expenses are in. We went down on membership dues because of Katrina and other issues. There also was not much done with the Legacy Club. Item 5520 will change and be more. Donations will also change and be more. So for the February meeting we will be given an amended budget. Item 6700 dealt with program printing. Catharine Nathan stated that printing was donated for the pre-conference mail out. The question arose as to how convenient was that mailing? Susan suggested mailing out a very, abbreviated one and put on it for more information to go to the MLA website. For the recommendations to the Board from the Fiscal Management Committee, there was no discussion and we took a vote up or down. The vote was unanimous to accept the recommendations.

The nominating committee, who is chaired by Frances Coleman, with Paul Cartwright being the Chair of the Election Committee, sent recommendations for upcoming candidates. The candidates are as follows:
VP Candidates – Annie Peyton & Jan Willis
Secretary Candidates – Judy Card & Julia Rholes
Treasurer – Dee Horn & Amanda Powers
ALA Counselor – Billy Beal & Sherry Laughlin
SELA Counselor – Adrienne McPhail & 1 person pending

Each candidate has confirmed to have their name in nomination and they will take over in December 2007. This was voted on in addition to approving the pending name. It was a unanimous vote.

Reports - none

We will meet again on February 6, 2006 at 2 p.m.

Jeff Slagell wanted to talk about Vicksburg and the upcoming conference there. He stated we have yet to sign a contract and he will meet with conference chairs as well after the new year. He also suggested we start thinking of a site for the 2008 conference. Randy Sherard suggested that before he goes to sign the contract that we meet to discuss the issues that arose in Tunica before the meeting with the representatives in Vicksburg to let them know exactly what we will need. Jeff agreed and also gave a big thanks to the MLC for all of their help.

Old business – none

New business – none

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

Submitted by Otha Keys

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Mississippi Library Association
2007 Executive Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
2:06 P.M.
Mississippi Library Commission

A quorum was present and the meeting was called to order by President Catherine Nathan at 2:06 after roll was called by Otha Keys, MLA Secretary. The following individuals were in attendance:

Catherine Nathan, President
Jeff Slagell, Vice-President/President-elect
Susan Cassagne, Past President
Otha Keys, Secretary and MS Author Awards Co-Chair
Judy Hilkert, ACRL Section Secretary
Marsha Case, Public Library Section Chair and Awards Committee Chair
Carol Green, Treasurer
Mary Julia Anderson, Executive Secretary
Margaret Bell, Black Caucus
Molly Signs McManus, Parliamentarian
Jennifer A. Smith, Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chair for Vicksburg Convention
Randy Sherard, Trustee Section Chair
Lynn Shurden, Fiscal Management Committee Chair
Deb Mitchell, Legislative Committee Co-Chair and Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chair
Tracy Carr, Special Libraries Section Chair
Benjamin Petersen, Archives and History Committee Chair
Pamela Pridgen, MLC Board of Commissioners Representative

Minutes from the last meeting were read. Motions were entertained to accept minutes of Susan Cassagne’s last meeting as president as well as Catherine Nathan’s first meeting as the new president. All minutes were approved and permission was given to have Molly McManus post them on the MLA Website.

Carol Green reported that she did not have a treasurer’s report at this time. She has been trying to clear up budget items from the conference. Carol stated that sections, committees, or caucus chairs could email her asking for financial information.

Catherine Nathan asked that the Board entertain her motion to change the price of the Legislative Day Event from $27.50 to $28.00. Susan Cassagne seconded the motion and the vote passed unanimously to increase the cost for next year.

Jeff Slagell gave a conference report and update. The conference will be October 24-27, 2007 in Vicksburg , at the Vicksburg Convention Center , with the 23rd being a possible pre-conference date. A site visit occurred on January 24, 2007, during which time conference details and MLA needs were discussed with the convention center staff. A contract is pending. The hotel arrangements are not yet finalized. Several hotels have been visited and amenities, prices, comp ratios, room block sizes, etc. are being reviewed. The Keynote Speaker will be announced at a later date as well. The theme will be “ Mississippi Libraries: Discover the World, Close to Home”. Also, Jeff announced that on February 19, 2007 he would be speaking at a MAGNOLIA in-service program for school librarians at Hind's Community College Vicksburg Campus, at which he will focus on MLA and conference plans as well. Program proposal forms will be distributed in the next few weeks.

Susan Cassagne had no report, but stated she was glad to be in her position as Past President.

Mary Julia Anderson reported that there were 171 members of MLA as of this morning. Renewal letters will be mailed out next week. She announced that ballots to elect new Association officers will go out April 1. Jeff asked Mary Julia where MLA stood in terms of membership; she stated we are over what we had last year at this time.

Tracy Carr reported that the Vice Chair of the Special Libraries Section would be Jane Phillips from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Marsha Case reported for the Public Library Section and stated that their tentative MLA speaker will be Robert St. John. She also re-stated the names of the incoming officers for 2007 for those who missed it at the last meeting. They are as follows: Marsha Case – Chair; Madonna May – Vice-Chair; Victoria Penny – Secretary.

Randy Sherard did not have a report to give at this time.

Judy Hilkert gave a report for ACRL which listed the new officers: Jane Stauble – Chair; Mary Beth Grimes – Vice Chair; Judy Hilkert – Secretary.

The School Section Chair was not present. However, Catherine asked about the changes to MAGNOLIA and wanted to know how school librarians felt about the new version. As a school librarian, I, Otha Keys, gave my views and the views that I had heard from other school librarians. Personally, I really miss SIRS, but understand the cost constraints and Steve Cunetto gave me insight into which other programs I could use in place of it (e.g. History Reference Center ) and it has worked out well. Several school librarians have stated that they wish the Gale Literary Series was still in use. I shared with them the information Steve gave me. The Literary Resource Center is a great replacement, I think, for the Gale Series.

Margaret Bell from the Black Caucus stated that they had met this morning and talked about the Virgia Brocks-Shedd Scholarship among other things. Their officers are as follows: Margaret Bell – Chair; Jackie Quinn, HCC – Vice Chair; Pat Rodgers, USM – Secretary; Mantra Anderson, MVSU – Treasurer. They have three possible speakers in mind for their luncheon at the upcoming conference. They are: Travis Hunter, author and founder of the Hearts of Men Foundation; Unita Blackwell, first African American female mayor in the state; and Robert Little, author, motivational speaker, and founder of DreamPower Literacy Project. They are continuing to work on the program as well as donations to the scholarship fund.

Ben Petersen gave the report from the Archives and History Committee. He had looked at MLA’s archival materials which are presently housed at the Warren County – Vicksburg Public Library and gave the Board a report as to their current status. Catherine Nathan publicly thanked Deb Mitchell, Director of the Warren County – Vicksburg Public Library for housing this important historical information. Ben suggested that these materials be moved to a more prominent home, perhaps at an academic institution. Ben will draft a letter, to be signed by both he and Catherine, the intent of which will be to begin the process of establishing a dialogue with USM as well as the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson to see if they might be interested. Ben announced that his committee and the Conservation Committee (chaired by David Juergens) will be working together this year.

Otha Keys presented the MS Author Awards Committee report from Carol Phares, Co-Chair, who could not be at today’s meeting. The nominations are coming in and there is a link on the website for submissions. The nominations will close on Feb. 28, 2007. The committee has 19 members, which are quite a few more than last year sothat duties and assignments can be distributed more fairly. Also, the end of the year report was submitted for the record. This report contained a list of winners for last year and the winners from 2005 who were invited to the awards ceremony as well.

Marsha Case from the Awards Committee reported briefly talked about the various awards – Public Relations, Outstanding Achievement Award, Peggy May Award, Mary Julia Anderson Award, etc. She recommended that we come up with a plaque for the Mary Julia Anderson Award instead of just giving out a certificate. The motion was moved and seconded that we get a plaque for next year’s winner and give one to Mary Julia Anderson.

Catherine reported that she had talked to Prima Plauche, Membership Committee Chair and that Prima stated that she would have her committee’s work going soon.

Nominating Committee sent a report stating that the officers were given to the Election Committee and the formal election would be held in March. The officer candidates are as follows:

VP Candidates – Annie Peyton & Jan Willis
Secretary Candidates – Judy Card & Julia Rholes
Treasurer – Dee Horn & Amanda Powers
ALA Counselor – Billy Beal & Sherry Laughlin
SELA Counselor – Adrienne McPhail & Deborah Lee

Catherine also reported that Melissa Wright, Chair of Information Literacy Committee, is gathering her committee together to meet.

Lynn Shurden, of the Fiscal Management Committee, had no report to give but announced that Jennifer Smith has offered to give her some assistance.

Deb Mitchell of the Legislative Committee stated that invitations to the Legislative Reception were mailed in January and reminders were also taken to the capital on yesterday (Monday, February 5, 2007). She was not sure about the number of legislators that are coming, but they are set up for 300 people. Wed., May 2, 2007 is National Library Legislative Day in Washington , D.C. She reported that several members of the committee will be going up on May 1, 2007. Usually there are about 12 people who go. The Legislative Goals for next year were read out and approved.

Catherine Nathan has asked Alice Shands to lead a task force that will look into Economic Development as we all strive to increase public awareness about the impact of Mississippi ’s libraries on the economic development of the State.

Susan Cassgane, Chair of Long Range Planning, stated there was a member of each section and committee on this panel which totals 19 and she was planning to meet with them soon.

Catherine Nathan announced that Alice Shands is the chair of the National Library Week committee and that plans for NLW are being made. Catherine stated that National Library Week affects all of us – academic, special, school, and public libraries – and that it brings positive national focus to libraries for a week.

Molly Signs McManus, Co-Chair of the Web Page Committee and Parliamentarian gave a report on the new Association website. She gave a special thanks to Tina Harry, her Co-Chair, and Steven Turner at USM who helped out a lot with the project. We all agreed that the web page looks great and that the Committee did an excellent job.

Other reports – Mary Julia announced MLA will be celebrating its 100th birthday in 2009. Catherine will develop a task force to look into how we might celebrate this special occasion. Mary Julia brought to the Board’s attention that she had received a phone call from a publishing company who wanted to publish a book about the history of MLA and we would receive 20%-30% of the revenue after publishing costs were met. Mary Julia told the person that she would bring this matter before the Executive Committee for us to decide. There was no motion made to pursue this project.

The following Committee Chairs were not available and did not send reports:

Dr. Jay Norton – By Laws and Organizational Review
Kay Behm - Internal Audit
Richard Green - Insurance
Jan Willis – Handbook
David Brown - Publicity
June Schmidt – Scholarship
Elizabeth Stephens – Publication and editor, Mississippi Libraries
Stewart Carpenter – Copyright
Carolyn Head – Intellectual Freedom
Kathy Buntin – Continuing Education
Alice Shands – National Library Week

Old business – none

New business – Natchez was recommended to be the 2008 conference site. The Mississippi Gulf Coast was brought up as a possible site but concerns were raised as to whether or not the Coast would be ready by then. Jeff moved that Natchez be the site of the 2008 conference. Susan Cassagne seconded the motion. The vote was unanimously in favor of having Natchez be the site for the 2008 MLA Convention. Jeff also suggested that we begin to plan further ahead for our conference sites and that we could email him future conference site recommendations.

Announcements – The date of the next meeting of the MLA Executive Board will be Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 1:30 p.m.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Otha Keys, Secretary

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Mississippi Library Association
Executive Board Meeting
Thursday, May 17, 2007, 1:30 P.M.
MLC Meeting Room

Board members attending:

Catherine Nathan, President
Jeff Slagell, Vice President/President Elect
Carol Green, Treasurer
Susan Cassagne, Immediate Past President
Marsha Case, Public Library Section Chair
Margaret Jane Stauble, ACRL Section Chair
Tracy Carr, Special Libraries

Others in attendance:

Mary Julia Anderson, Executive Secretary
MaryBeth Grimes, ACRL Section Vice Chair
Margaret Bell, Black Caucus Roundtable Chair
Jackie Quinn, Black Caucus Roundtable Vice Chair
Paul Cartwright, Elections Chair

President Nathan called the meeting to order at 1:30 pm. The agenda was presented and a quorum was declared. A sign-in sheet was passed around.

Officer and Staff Reports
A. Secretary – In the absence of the secretary, Otha Keys, President Nathan asked S. Cassagne to take the minutes of the meeting. The minutes of the previous meeting had been distributed via email and were accepted.
B. Treasurer – C. Green presented the Financial Reports, which were accepted.
C. President – C. Nathan had no formal report.
D. Vice-President – J. Slagell submitted a written report on the plans for the upcoming Conference in Vicksburg.
E. Immediate Past President – S. Cassagne had no formal report.
F. Executive Secretary - M. Anderson stated that there are currently 475 paid members.

Section Reports
A. Public Library Section – M. Case reported that Chef Robert St. John will be the speaker for the Public Library Section Breakfast at Conference. (Submitted written report.)
B. ACRL Section – Jane Stauble announced the candidates for office of ACRL. M. Grimes has created a wiki for section news. (Submitted written report.)
C. Special Libraries Section – T. Carr gave a report of Conference plans.

Roundtable Reports
A. Black Caucus Roundtable – M. Bell and J. Quinn gave a report on Black Caucus plans for Conference. Travis Hunter is a possible speaker, but final arrangements have not been made.

Committee Reports
A. Election Committee Report – P. Cartwright presented the results of the election for approval:
a. Vice President Elect – Jan Willis
b. Secretary – Judy Card
c. Treasurer – Amanda Powers
d. ALA Councilor – Sherry Laughlin
e. SELA Councilor – Deborah Lee
The report of the Election Committee was accepted.
B. Legislative Committee – In the absence of the Chair, Deb Mitchell, C. Nathan read the submitted report.
C. Awards Committee – M. Case had no formal report.

Old Business
There was no old business to discuss.

New Business
C. Nathan presented the wording for the advertisement for editor of Mississippi Libraries, which was approved. She also reported that a request from OCLC regarding Digital Archive Harvesting had been forwarded to Attorney Randy Sherard for his opinion.
S. Cassagne reported on plans for the 2008 Conference in Natchez. There will be two new hotels and she suggested that a date be arranged for a site visit. She will contact the Convention and Visitors Bureau for an appropriate date and make the arrangements with the Site Committee.

Announcements
The date of the next MLA board meeting will be August 24, 2007, at 2:00 pm, at the Vicksburg Warren County Public Library, with a tour of the Vicksburg Convention Center to follow.

Adjournment
There being no further business of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. Cassagne
Acting Secretary

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
8:00 a.m.
Vicksburg Convention Center
Vicksburg, MS

A quorum was present and the meeting was called to order by President Catherine Nathan at 8:00 a.m. after which time roll was called by Otha Keys, MLA secretary.

The following individuals were in attendance:
Catherine Nathan, President
Jeff Slagell, Vice President/President-elect
Susan Cassagne, Past President
Marsha Case, Public Library Section Chair and Awards Committee Chair
Jacqueline Quinn, Black Caucus Roundtable
Margaret Bell, Black Caucus Roundtable
Randy Sherard, Trustee Section Chair
Diane Willard, School Section Chair
Marybeth Grimes, ACRL Vice-Chair
Sharman B. Smith, Mississippi Library Commission
Sherry Laughlin, ALA Councilor
Carol Green, Treasurer
Molly McManus, Parliamentarian
Otha Keys, Secretary

Minutes from the last meeting were read with corrections noted. A motion was entertained by Susan Cassagne and seconded by Marsha Case to approve minutes from the meeting on August 23, 2007. The notion carried unanimously and permission was given to have Molly McManus post them on the MLA Web site as well as in Mississippi Libraries.

Carol Green reported on the finances, which included expenditures and expenses from September to the present. However, Green explained these figures would change as a result of the convention. Green reported an income of $53,443.91 with expenses to date of $38,628.54 leaving a net income of $14,815.37. A motion was made by Cassagne to accept the report and it was seconded by Case. The treasurer’s report was approved.

Susan Cassagne – No report.

Jeff Slagell gave a conference report and update. He reported that we have fewer booths than last year with about thirtyseven, but he hopes that the $7,000.00 in sponsorships will make up for this. He also reported that we have eight new exhibitors this year. The conference numbers are changing minute by minute, but as of this meeting we had 450 attendees registered, which is up from last year. We have a total membership of 561, which is up from last year, as well.

Catherine Nathan presented the president’s report. She stated that Prima Plauche, former MLA president, would be in attendance at the conference, but due to her family situation she would not be able to devote the time needed to her membership committee duties. Therefore, Nathan asked Victoria Penny to take over these duties. It was also reported that Nathan hadn’t had the opportunity to discuss with SELA an upcoming joint conference in 2008. Nathan said she would contact Dr. Gordon Baker (her SELA contact) about the possibility of co-hosting the conference in 2009 or 2011. Diane Willard, the school section chair, reported that several school librarians brought up the idea of a school section roundtable to help address various issues faced by school librarians. However, after much discussion, it was determined that all of their concerns, issues, program ideas, etc., could be done within the section.

Margaret Bell petitioned the board on behalf of the Black Caucus Roundtable. Her request concerned how money is allocated to the Black Caucus Scholarship Fund. The members of the roundtable would like to see it endowed like the Peggy May Scholarship with a specific account created for the fund. Slagell stated it was more of an accounting issue and that he supported the request wholeheartedly. He believed it would be a good starting point with the funds from the previous night’s scholarship bash bringing in $750.00 for each scholarship. A motion was made by Cassagne and seconded by Slagell to accept the petition for endowment. The motion carried unanimously.

Sharman Smith from the Mississippi Library Commission reported that as of last week (October 15-19, 2007) Congress was passing the bill to fund LSTA and IMLS, which the president was expected to veto. Congress was to confer because the House allocation was less than the Senate. Nathan took the opportunity to thank Smith and her organization on behalf of all of us for providing MLA the opportunity to apply for and use LSTA funds to help defray speakers’ fees, thus allowing MLA to put on the best conference possible.

Sherry Laughlin, ALA councilor, reported she would be attending the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting and would have information for us shortly thereafter. Marybeth Grimes of ACRL had no report at this time. Randy Sherard had no report at this time.

Marsha Case reported that Robert St. John will speak at their breakfast and that they received a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council to help defray his speaker’s fee. She also reported that the awards luncheon on Friday was all set and all awards would be a surprise to the winners.

Ben Petersen was not in attendance but Nathan gave a report on his behalf for the archives committee. She reported the committee would be meeting with representatives from University of Southern Mississippi to explore the possibility of transferring MLA’s archival materials to the university. A motion was made by Case and seconded by Cassagne to adjourn with the next meeting to be held in December.

Respectfully Submitted, Otha Keys, Secretary

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