Board Meeting Minutes

February 11, 2002

Time: 8:30 A.M.
Place: Latham & Watkins, Conference Room
Present: John Adkins, Past-President; Joan Allen-Hart; Pat Bermel; Sheila Corman; Mary Garcia, President; Barbara Glennan; Carol Hyne; Margaret McDonald; Amy Moberly; Sushila Selness, Secretary; Carolyn Vega.
Absent: Donna M. Gagnon, Treasurer; Amy Hale Janecke, Vice-President, Kim Kane, Pat Lopez, Jean Willis.

I. Treasurer’s report.

Mary gave a summary report for Donna who was not able to attend the meeting due to illness. The treasury balance is approximately $9000.00. Donna has not received any more membership renewals. All the bank statements are in.

Donna is about to complete the membership list of names and addresses. She will forward copies to: Sushila for the newsletter, Carol Hyne for posting to the web site, Margaret to file in the Archives, and the Daily Journal to produce the directory. Sushila will give Pat a copy to mail out ballots. Carol requested that when Donna provides her with the membership list, she clearly identify those members who do not want to be listed on the web site.

II. Scheduling of Annual Meeting and General Election.

The annual meeting was originally scheduled for June 7 which is a Friday. The Friday scheduling allows any visiting AALL member to take advantage of the weekend for a longer stay in San Diego. Mary suggested that a Monday schedule would serve the same purpose and proposed June 3 as a possible date. However, Pat would like the extra four days to get a slate ready. The nominations committee works on a tight schedule, dictated by the bylaws, once the annual meeting date is set. June 7 will remain the date for the annual meeting contingent on finalization of the date with AALL.

Nominations Process. Article 9, § e of the current by-laws reads:

“Receipt and Counting of Ballots. Election ballots shall be received by the Nominations Committee thirty (30) days before the annual meeting. The Nominations Committee shall then tabulate the results and report the names of the new officers to the Chapter. Following the reporting of the election results, the committee shall destroy the ballots.”

It provides no specific guidelines on where the tabulation occurs and how long to retain the ballots. It was proposed that the written policy be amended to clarify the two issues as follows:

1. The members of the Nominations Committee each year may not have access to an appropriate private space for the counting of ballots. If this occurs, the Nominations Committee should contact the President so that an appropriate location can be secured for the tabulation of ballots.

2. The ballots will be held in a secure location for 10 working days after the election results are reported by the Chair of the Nominations Committee to SANDALL members via the SANDALL list serv. The ballots shall then be shredded.

   Since this is a procedural clarification, there is no need to change the by-laws.

III. AALL Issues.

1. Chapter VIPs. AALL provides each chapter with two free conference registrations for invited VIPs. In the past SANDALL has sponsored up to two trustees from the San Diego County Public Law Library. SDCPLL has funded their transportation and lodging expenses. This year it is questionable if SDCPLL can provide funding. There was discussion about the value of this to SANDALL. It was suggested that Mary contact SCALL and NOCALL to see if we could “piggyback” onto their VIP choice. Alternately, we may want to wait till the results of the membership survey are in before making a final decision on this. The survey should indicate how members feel about the use of SANDALL treasury resources for this type of activity. (See item VI. Member Survey, below).
   
   
2. SANDALL Table at AALL. After a brief discussion it was decided that having a SANDALL table in the activities area at the annual conference is not feasible at this time. Future possibility was not ruled out.

IV. Status of Publication of Directory.

As stated above, Donna will have the current membership list ready by the end of this month and a copy sent to the Daily Journal who will publish the directory in mid-March. In return for this service the Daily Journal has asked that it be allowed to insert ads in two to three locations within the directory. This is acceptable to the board as long as the ads are discreetly placed. The Daily Journal currently publishes the SCALL directory as well.

V. Notice of Next Brown Bag.

The next brown bag will take place March 14 at the San Diego County Public Law Library. Dawn Yandel, current president of the San Diego Paralegal Association, will discuss the various paralegal training programs in San Diego county, give pointers on the top ten questions to ask paralegal candidates when interviewing them, and provide a list of the association members who speak a language other than English.

VI. Member Survey: Created by the Long Range Planning Committee.

John presented a draft of the general membership survey he has put together working with members of the Long Range Planning Committee. This will be the first ever survey soliciting member input on use of treasury funds, types of programs, outreach, recognition of member contributions, and how they would like to get involved with the chapter. The Committee hopes that it will provide an accurate picture of membership needs. The results will be tabulated and presented at a town hall meeting in early April.

Various methods of distributing the survey were discussed. All present agreed that a color paper insert (4 pages in 2, copied back to back), in the upcoming issue of SANDALL News would be the best way to reach all members. To facilitate return, the 2-page pull out insert will have a return address and postage paid stamp so members can fill it out, fold it, and mail. Members will have the option of remaining anonymous or signing their name in case they want to be contacted for committee work or running for office, or any other follow through requested.

VII. Other business.

John presented to Joan a plaque recognizing her service to SANDALL. This was originally meant to be presented to her in June 2001 but was delayed because of illness.

Sheila Corman put forward a job shadowing idea whereby law librarians from different types of libraries would visit each other’s place of work to observe the different work environment.

VIII. Roundtable Discussion with SANDALL Committee Chairs, Representatives, and Liaisons.

1. Newsletter. Sheila Corman and Amy Moberly would like to invite members to write about any developments at their library, any programs of interest, any personal or professional achievements, or any news that they would like to post in the SANDALL News. They are also looking for more substantive content beyond the notices and announcements that make up the bulk of the newsletter. Sushila commended the two co-editors for doing a great job with a difficult assignment and thanked Barbara for helping with training and a smooth transition. During this meeting lots of ideas were generated for articles for the newsletter.
   
   
2. Employment. Carolyn Vega forwards all job announcements, local, regional, and national, to the list serv. The out-of-region announcements may be useful to those who anticipate a move in the near future.Carolyn would like to solicit names of librarians who would be interested in being listed in a pool for possible part time or job sharing positions.
   
   
3. Government Relations Liaison. Joan, SANDALL’s government relations contact, works closely with her counterparts in SCALL and NOCALL. The three government relations committees are hosting the second joint Legislative Advocacy Day on Tuesday, March 12, in Sacramento. Attendees will learn about legislative advocacy.

   The main goal this year is to garner support for a bill, to be introduced by assemblyman Howard Wayne, to create a strategic planning commission to study and make recommendations to the legislature on the future of county law libraries. Charley Dyer has been working with Wayne's staff on the bill language. March 12 was chosen because it is the day after the meeting of the Council of California County Law Libraries directors and trustees in Sacramento.

   Joan will soon have the registration form for this and will make an announcement about its availability on the SANDALL list serv. It will be inserted in the upcoming issue of the newsletter as well.

   There is also the possibility of a "Day in the District" whereby SANDALL members may advocate for this issue with a visit to their state legislators' local offices without having to travel to Sacramento. The bill is intended to be bi-partisan. Joan will summarize this for the newsletter. Mary also encouraged Joan to write about this for the Daily Commerce.

   Joan also serves on the AALL Government Relations Committee. They have been awarded a grant from Aspen Publishing to conduct a 50-state survey of laws regarding public access to government information. The end product of the survey may be a print publication. There is concern in the library community because in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy, information was either restricted or taken off from many government web sites and depository libraries were asked to withdraw some publications from public access.

4. Archives. Margaret would like to remind everyone that she collects anything SANDALL related for the archives. Copies of e-mail regarding SANDALL business, brochures and hand-outs given at programs, significant news of member activities, are all good candidates for the archives.
   
   
5. Project LEAP. Mary reported on Cal Western’s participation in Ground Hog Day sponsored by Project Leap. This innovative program allows a high school student to be a job shadow at your site for one day. A student from the School for Performing Arts spent a day at the Cal Western library observing circulation, reference, computer research functions and sat in on a class. It was a worth while experience for both the institution and the student. John suggested that creation of an internship model based on this experience would be a worthwhile endeavor for future SANDALL member participation in LEAP.
   
   
6. By-Laws. Barbara reported that there was not much activity so far this year. The procedural clarification for the Nominations Committee that was discussed earlier today should be separately published in the newsletter in addition to being reported in the minutes. This will alert members to the change.
   
   
7. Web Site. Carol has cleared up a lot of the outdated material from the web site and tried to get everything consistent. Under “job openings” she only posts those that are in the Los Angeles area and points south. For part time jobs, she posts only the San Diego and Orange County listings. Kim Kane tracks these and updates Carol when jobs are filled. John suggested that the “events” menu item be more prominently displayed.

   Carol invites members to notify her via the list serv when they learn about events of interest to the membership. She will provide links to the source where the events originate.

   Carol will post photos of members attending the various SANDALL events as soon as she develops the film.

8. Internet Resources Group. Mary reported for Kim Kane that the group has changed its meeting format. They no longer meet in person every month. Instead ideas are submitted by e-mail and shared with members via the list serv.
   
   
9. Grants. Mary reported for Jean that the committee has provided grant opportunities for registration fees for the SANDALL workshop (one was awarded), and for the upcoming SCALL institute (two grants are available).

   Mary thanked all committee chairs for their continuing work. The meeting was adjourned with a heart felt thank you to Carolyn Vega for hosting it and providing a sumptuous continental breakfast.

IX. Next board meeting. Date, time and place to be announced.

Respectfully submitted,
Sushila Selness, Secretary
February 12, 2002