Academic Assembly of Librarians
General Assembly Meeting
November 8, 2005 

1. Approval of minutes:  the minutes of the September 20th meeting were approved.
2. Report/Question & Answer Session – Larry Alford:
   • General Education Curriculum Committee/Information Literacy – A required information literacy component has been included in the General Education plan since summer.
   • Larry reiterated the need for selectors to spend the extra funds that have been allocated to the Libraries.  This includes the half million dollars for monographs and $100K for print materials to support the research needs of new faculty.  Sandi Thompson asked about the purchase of DVDs for community and regional planning; Larry replied that purchasing these materials would be allowed as long as they are intended to support research.  There will probably be between 600K and 800K for the purchase of books, backfiles, and one-time electronic resources. We need to establish principles for collection; selectors should then collaborate to create a prioritized, consensus-based list of databases and serials for purchase.
   • Searches for open librarian positions are going slowly.
   • Penelope Myers reported that discussion has begun on selection criteria for materials to be moved to Kardon.  Larry said that selectors can look at lists that have been created, but they need to be careful that the bulk of any one subject does not get removed.  Sandi asked about moving microfilm to Kardon.  Larry stated that the first priority is reducing the volume count in Paley in order to absorb other collections; then attention can shift to other locations (Traylor, government documents, and microfilm).  Penelope noted that delivery of articles from Kardon will be via Ariel; patrons will also be able to borrow bound volumes if needed.  Larry noted that a couple of the rooms can be designated for temporary storage of bound journal runs when patrons require such for their research.
3. David Murray reported on the brown bag lunches.  David and Brian Schoolar organize them, and they are held on the first Friday of each month.  The first was held on November 4th.
4. Fred Rowland gave an update on the Continuing Education Committee.  The Committee is comprised of Derik Badman, Susan Golding, Nik Barkauskas, and Fred.  The first session will be about open source programs and will be held on December 13th.  The Committee’s next program will be on copyright and will probably be held in February.  Penelope suggested that the Committee ask David Post of the Law School to participate.  The Committee is trying to plan a visit to the Philadelphia Art Museum in the spring to see the collection that Evan Towle oversees.
5. Sandi reported on the status of the Merit Committee.  There is a meeting planned between the Merit Committee, Larry, and Jonathan Le Breton.  Sandi recommends that librarians begin collecting their documents.  If anyone has concerns about the merit process, the Merit Committee should be contacted soon, preferably prior to the meeting with Larry and Jonathan.  Mark Darby noted that any guidelines will most likely end up in arbitration as they were geared more towards faculty.  Sandi reminded the assembly that applicants should submit their CVs and annual reports as the Merit Committee does not have access to personnel files.
6. Fred gave an update on the AAL website.  It is slowly getting back in shape.  If something cannot be located on the website, he recommends looking in the AAL folder on the H: drive.
7. Old Business/New Business/Announcements:
   1. Penelope announced that Temple filled the 400,000th E-ZBorrow request.  She thanked librarians for recommending the service to patrons:  there was a 66% increase in materials requested this October vs. last October.
   2. David Murray reminded the Assembly about the Faculty/Staff Campaign event in Schusterman on Thursday.

The meeting adjourned at 3:00 PM.