January 27, 2006
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Attending the meeting were Emily Rafferty, Barrie Howard, Roger Lawson, Rebecca Cooper, Kathy Woodrell, and Sally Stokes.
1. Minutes.
Minutes from the last meeting were read and approved.
2. Treasurer’s report:
Barrie Howard reported that we have a total of 5,137.33 in the chapter account. This includes fees from 20 people who have joined the chapter for 2006. Barrie sent mailings to previous members, as well as to a few people who have been inactive in order to generate more members.
We discussed the chapter’s contribution to the ARLIS/NA welcome party. It appears that many people from this region may not attend the Banff conference due to the additional costs of plane fare and accommodations. We believe that the Chapter usually contributes $250.00 to the welcome party; Barrie will look at previous files to determine the actual amount.
3. Newsletter and Chapter website:
Roger Lawson and Rebecca Cooper are responsible for the ARLIS DC-MD-VA newsletter, which is distributed to the membership on email, and is available in print by request. (Only one person requests a print copy of the newsletter.) Roger and Rebecca have examined other chapter newsletters for ideas about the DC-MD-VA newsletter. Rebecca suggested that the newsletter incorporate a weblog. The current newsletter has many announcements, but is light on news. It was suggested that a blog could be the venue for announcements. Discussion ensued about a moderated list vs. a blog. Rebecca has another weblog for which she serves as moderator. In that instance only members can list something on the blog, but as the administrator she can forward something to the list by a non-member, as appropriate. We are not certain whether members would need a password to access a blog. Rebecca agreed to investigate the technical aspects.
We are encouraged to look at the Texas/Mexico chapter website! We also discussed the interaction and possible linkage between the ARLIS DC-MD-VA website and the ARLIS weblog. Roger and Rebecca plan to discuss this new universe with Joan Stahl.
4. Future meetings:
In past years the membership has met at the annual conference. Since only one person at this meeting is planning to attend the conference in Banff, and it appears that attendance will be light from this region, discussion ensued about holding a Spring meeting elsewhere. Emily will send a message to poll the membership about this change in venue.
Sally teaches a summer institute at Catholic, and suggested including students in the meeting, with hopes that they will be hooked as lifelong members of our dynamic organization. Sally and Barrie will work together to see if a Spring meeting at CUA is possible, once they have heard back from Emily and the membership. Possible dates are April 7 or 28, 2006. Barrie suggested that one of our meetings be a retreat to hold a strategic planning meeting to discuss organizational priorities. He suggested a few aspects of our work for discussion, including education, outreach, professional development, recruitment, community building, and communication as aspects to be discussed.
Summer and Fall meetings:
July 2006: Richmond Virginia Museum Fine Arts. We plan to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond for this meeting. Roger Lawson will contact Suzanne Freeman, head of the Museum of Fine Arts Library, who will welcome the group.
October 2006: Annapolis – Joint meeting w/ VRA Mid Atlantic. Although a date has not been chosen, Emily Rafferty reported that St. John’s Art Gallery and Library has agreed to host us, and a tour of the Hammond Harwell House will be included. They will choose a date carefully avoiding boat-show weekends!
Backlund Award:
Sally Stokes attended the meeting to speak to the officers about the Caroline Backlund award for travel. Established in 2001, the Backlund award of $500.00 is given to assist a Chapter member attending a conference. Because the costs associated with the Banff conference are higher than most conferences it was suggested at the October 2005 that we raise the 2006 award to $750. In reconstructing this discussion, Sally recalled that she is the person who suggested $750; no one else suggested an alternative amount. At the October meeting the membership voted to raise the award to $750. Much discussion about the amount of the award for 2006 has taken place via email among the ARLIS DMV officers.
Discussion ensued about the award amount, about why we have so few applicants for the award, and about whether the award should be based on at the amount of institutional support that individuals receive. Comparisons between the student (diversity) award and the Backlund award were also drawn.
The student award includes membership in the national and regional ARLIS organizations, registration for the conference, and $750. The Backlund award, usually $500.00 is given to offset travel costs. Sally asked if we maintain separate accounts for the Backlund and the student awards to accommodate contributions to those awards. Barrie responded that we do not have separate accounts for these awards.
The guidelines for the Backlund award have been revised since the December 2001 version, which Sally distributed at the meeting. In the 2001 version chapter officers had priority as award recipients, but now the award is open to anyone, including officers. Sally will review guidelines to ensure that they indicate that all members can apply for this award. In light of concerns for fiscal responsibility, and the fact that the membership had previously voted on the $750 amount for the Banff conference, the officers determined to maintain the Backlund award at $500, with the 2006 award amount set at $750. We also discussed the fact that no other ARLIS chapters seemed to be offering more than $750, including the national ARLIS organization. Raising the amount of the Backlund or the Student awards is a topic that needs to be raised and discussed with the membership, taking into account Chapter priorities and financial constraints and commitments.
Applications for the student award will be accepted until February 15; applications for the Backlund award will be accepted until February 25, 2006.
The meeting was adjourned at noon.
Respectfully submitted by Kathy Woodrell.