Joint ARLIS DC-MD-VA and Visual Resources Association (VRA) Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting
Friday, July 20, 2007
University of Virgina, Charlottesville, Virginia
- Chapter bylaws modification to reflect the signed affiliation agreement:
- Assessment Committee for ARLIS/NA: Changes to the organizational structure
- Review/Distribution of the Chapter Goals.
- Financial Report
- Report from the Backlund Award Winner – moved to the Fall meeting
- Report from the Student Award Winner – moved to the Fall meeting
- Fall meeting – Several possibilities for the Fall meeting we discussed. Many people seem interested in going to some of the recently re-opened or renovated libraries in the DC Metro area.
Kathy brought up the fact that the chapter bylaws need to be revised in light of the changes made at the ARLIS/NA level about membership of the Chapters. Kathy has looked at some of the other Chapters, and distributed a document from the New York Chapter about changes to their bylaws as a guide.
One result of our Chapter’s signing the Affiliation Agreement with ARLIS/NA is a confirmation of the longstanding policy, stated in the ARLIS/NA bylaws, and in the ARLIS DC-MD-VA Chapter bylaws, that all members of the Chapter must also be members of ARLIS/NA.
This requirement has not been enforced at either the national or local level, due in part to a widespread belief that the cost of the membership rates to belong to ARLIS/NA were an impediment to local participation. Many ARLIS DC-MD-VA members have felt that the fees would cause a hardship to students and to local members whose professional affiliations are organizations other than ARLIS.
Kathy proposed establishing a “friends” group of some sort, and asked the membership for feedback. Rather than “friends,” it was suggested that we establish “Associate” or “Affiliate” members of the local Chapter. Associates or Affiliates would not be able to vote in elections for the local chapter, but would be able to take part in all other activities. Membership fees for the Chapter have been $15.00 for several years. It was suggested that Affiliates or Associates pay a small additional fee, such as $25.00 for membership. The Chapter also needs to determine if Affiliate/Associate members would pay an additional fee to attend some meetings or programs, or the extra registration fee is sufficient. Both members and affiliates or associates would be included on the chapter mailing list.
It was also suggested that Affiliates or Associates could host a meeting.
There was some discussion about whether or not to charge students to join the Chapter, or whether to offer interested students free Chapter membership as an enticement to join the Chapter and/or ARLIS/NA.
It was determined that the Board would write proposed changes to the Bylaws and would circulate these to the membership before the Fall meeting.
Kathy mentioned changes to the organizational structure of ARLIS and asked if there were any questions about the recent messages that were sent out through the listserv. No discussion followed.
Kathy distributed the Chapter Goals which were requested in July, 2007.
Yuki Hibben was unable to attend the meeting, but sent a copy of the financial report to the meeting.
Paypal account discussion:
It was announced that the Chapter had established a PayPal account. If we opt to use this service then Members and Affiliates/Associates will be able to register for meetings or pay for memberships using this service. One problem is the small transaction fee (approximately $1.00 for a $25.00 charge.) The Paypal account was established because some members wanted to attend the July meeting but could only pay with a corporate credit card. Their institutions are unable to reimburse them if they do not use the corporate card. Yuki asked the membership to discuss whether we should offer Paypal, and how we should handle the transaction fee. There was a general consensus that the person using the Paypal service should pay the additional fee.
There was discussion about the awards traditionally given by the Chapter. As part of the Financial Report we received a Report on Award Funds. The Caroline Backlund Award fund had a balance (as of 2007) of $2,240.50. The student award fund has a negative balance of -$848.00.
The report stated:
The Student Travel Fund has a substantial negative balance because of the shortage of donations to replenish funds. To keep the award active, the deficit has been paid from our general/membership fund for the past two years.
Several options were included in the report, which is attached to this document.
Discussion about the student award ensued. Lucie Stylianopoulis stated that the Student award was begun as an award for diversity, but that it was difficult to recruit people appropriate for the award, so that it slowly became a general student award, rather than one that targets students to encourage diversity.
Some members suggested that we should have one travel award – and that any member/affiliate/associate – including students – could apply for the award.
It was decided that the Chapter would form a subcommittee to study the feasibility of student memberships, and to try and rally students at local universities that offer library degrees, including Catholic and Maryland. Kristen Regina will chair the committee, and Anne Simmons and Sarah Falls will serve on the committee.