ARLIS/DC-MD-VA Chapter Meeting
ARLIS/NA Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada
March 31, 2012, 9:30 AM
Present: Sarah Osborne Bender (Phillips Coll), Deborah Brown (DO), Anne Evenhaugen (NPG), Yuki Hibben (VCU), Roger Lawson (NGA), Gregory Most (NGA), Anna Simon (Georgetown Univ), Anne Simmons (NGA), Heather Slania (NMWA), Lee Vivrette (VMFA), Shalimar White (DO), Tony White (MICA), Julia Wisniewski (LOC), Kathy Woodrell (LOC)
Introductions.
1. Approval of meeting minutes.
Minutes from the Fall 2011 meeting held on October 28, 2011 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery were posted online on the chapter website. The minutes were approved.
2. Report from the Chair.
Sarah Osborne Bender noted the need for dedicated time slots and space for chapter meetings at the annual conference. Unfortunately, the self-scheduling times provided at the current Toronto conference were not convenient. Sarah encouraged members to submit this request in the post-conference evaluations and to take note of the suggestion for the DC 2014 conference.
Sarah asked Shalimar White to report on a study trip for German art librarians in DC, organized by the ARLIS/NA International Relations Committee in reciprocation for the Germans’ hospitality during a 2009 study trip for ARLIS/NA members in Germany. The visit, which will take place April 23-25, 2012, was primarily organized by Kristen Regina (Hillwood). The itinerary for the trip will be posted to the listserv and on the chapter website. Chapter members are invited to two evening events to meet our German colleagues, which will take place at the homes of Kristen Regina and Gregory Most. Shalimar also announced that the International Relations Committee is organizing a study tour of Scandinavia (Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden) to coincide with the IFLA satellite conference in August 2012. The study trip is currently filled, but interested chapter members should contact the committee chair, Holly Hathaway, if they would like to be placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.
Sarah asked chapter members for suggestions for locations for the Summer 2012 chapter meeting and future venues. Suggestions included:
- Folger Shakespeare Library and Library of Congress. Previously suggested, but the date didn’t work out. Kathy Woodrell thinks that the timing will work better now.
- Colonial Williamsburg, VA
- Charlottesville, VA (University of Virginia, Monticello, etc.)
- National Gallery of Art
- Corcoran Gallery of Art
- Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
- Sawhill Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA (currently in a temporary location; will reopen in 2015)
- Library of Congress, Packard Campus, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Culpeper, VA
- Hillwood Museum and Gardens
3. Treasurer’s Report.
Megan Halsband was not able to attend the Toronto conference and sent her regrets. Sarah passed around the Treasurer’s report, which was current as of March 2012. Expenses included the chapter’s donation for the Welcome Party at the Toronto conference ($25 more than the previous year), the Caroline Backlund Award conference travel award (2012 winner Heather Slania acknowledged the award and thanked the chapter), and the listserv. Sarah noted that membership numbers are down from previous years and reminded everyone to renew if they have not already done so. Sarah also observed that there are only 3 student members, while there are two library schools in the DC area (at the University of Maryland and Catholic University). Members discussed ways to recruit additional students (see below, item #6A).
4. Web page and Communications Report.
Emily Hunter, Web Manager, was not able to attend the Toronto conference. Roger Lawson, Content Editor, gave a report on recent activities. Emily has added a link for the 2014 DC conference on the chapter website: http://arlisdmv.org/arlis-2014/. Roger reported that the listserv, which was previously hosted by UMD with the assistance of Ira Gold, has now been moved to ARLIS/NA servers. Yuki Hibben suggested sending an official letter of thanks on behalf of the chapter for hosting it for so long.
5. 2014 Conference Committee Report.
The conference committee announced that they would conduct a planning meeting after the chapter meeting was adjourned.
Roger and Anne Simmons reported on the results of a recent conference planning meeting, which took place on March 20, 2012. Following the meeting, Roger and Anne sent recommendations for DC hotels to ARLIS/NA headquarters. The schedule is tight, with hotel availability falling in late April/early May 2014 and room rates falling between $189-240 per night. The current candidates include: the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Ave. near Dupont Circle, the Grand Hyatt Washington on H St., the Capitol Hilton on 16th and K Sts., and the Renaissance Washington on 9th and H Sts. So far, the best bid is the Washington Hilton, but ARLIS/NA HQ will continue to negotiate with the hotels.
Additional chapter participation is needed for conference planning. Anne Simmons sent around sign-up sheets for four teams: Development, Publicity, Program, and Local Arrangements. She noted that some of the positions have already been filled, but volunteers are needed for other roles. The current roster of positions, both filled and un-filled, has been posted on the chapter website by Emily.
Gregg Most noted that during a recent Board meeting, the Toronto conference chairs’ Report advised chapters not to reinvent the wheel and to seek out their counterparts from current and future conferences for mentoring and advice (in our case, Toronto 2012 and Pasadena 2013). He also noted that there is will be a Conference Planning Advisory Committee (CPAC) wrap-up meeting on Monday, April 2nd.
6. Other Chapter Business.
6A. Student Outreach
Chapter members returned to the discussion of outreach to recruit student members. Previously, Anne and Kim Detterbeck had served on a committee for student outreach and designed a brochure to promote the chapter. Shalimar suggested having a digital version of the brochure available to distribute to interns working at members’ institutions. Additional suggestions included: presentations at local library schools and contacting chapter members who are teaching in library programs, e.g. Sally Stokes and Mary Choquette (Catholic University) and Patti Cossard (University of Maryland). Anna Simon noted the ARLIS/NA Professional Development Committee is developing best practices guidelines for mentoring for local chapters. Sarah suggested organizing periodic Happy Hour events in DC to attract student members.
6B. Toronto Conference Activities
Members were asked to announce their activities during the Toronto conference.
- Heather Slania – moderator at “The Changing Landscape for Museum Libraries and Librarians” session (3/31/12, 4:15 PM) and speaker at “New Voices in the Profession” session (4/1/12, 9 AM)
- Tony White – workshop leader for “A to Z(ine): Building, Promoting, and Sharing Zine Collections” workshop (3/30/12, 9 AM) and moderator and speaker at “Creative Processes and Formats: Artist’s Publishing, Fine Press, and the Altered Book” session (4/1/12, 11 AM)
- Shalimar White– speaker at “Snapshot: A Look at Today’s Photo Archives” session (4/1/12, 9 AM)
Chapter Meeting Adjourned.
2014 Conference Planning Meeting
Kathy Woodrell asked chapter members to take photographs of DC in April and May, so that they can be used for the conference presentation at the Annual Business Meeting in Pasadena next year. These photographs maybe also used for publicity.
Lee Vivrette asked how can chapter members outside of DC can help in conference planning. Yuki Hibben suggested that there should be tours in cities like Richmond and Baltimore, which are accessible by public transportation.
Anna Simon asked whether the CPAC manual could be posted to the chapter website. Anne Simmons noted that it is also available on the arlisna.org site once you login.
Chris Roper, ARLIS/NA’s former association manager at TEI, not yet been replaced. Gregg noted that Paul Rossman of TEI is the current interim conference manager.
Anne Evenhaugen asked what the projected attendance for the 2014 conference will be. Roger estimated 600 attendees, due to the choice of city on the East coast. Kathy Woodrell also noted that local attendance might raise numbers, since there are so many staff at art libraries and museums in the DC area.
Tony White has asked the chair of the design department at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) about the possibility of a student competition for a design for a conference logo. Yuki noted that Virginia Commonwealth University also has the Community Design Center, which provides pro bono graphic design work. Anne Simmons suggested the Corcoran College of Art + Design as another source of graphic design students.
Sarah Osborne Bender asked for suggestions for conference themes. A call has already been sent out to the chapter listserv, but more options are needed for a full discussion. Some suggestions included: Enduring libraries, Sustainable libraries, What lasts?, etc. Gregg Most asked whether a conference theme is necessary. He noted that this trend only started 10-12 years ago. Anne Simmons proposed that a theme committee should be formed to brainstorm and gather additional ideas. The following members volunteered to serve on this committee: Anna Simon, Lee Vivrette, and Julia Wisniewski.
Kathy Woodrell proposed another conference planning meeting before the Summer 2012 chapter meeting. The following date and time was determined: April 30, 2012 from 11 AM – 12:30 PM. Roger proposed using NGA space to host the meeting; he will send an invitation closer to the date.
Conference Planning Meeting Adjourned.