Present: Larry Alford, Carole Bell, Carol Brigham, Mark Darby, Carla Davis Cunningham, Susan Golding, Andrea Goldstein, Frank Immler, Margaret Jerrido, Laura Lane, Carol Lang, Molly Larkin, Jonathan LeBreton, Byron Mayes, David Murray, Penelope Myers, Fred Rowland, Kathy Szigeti, Sandi Thompson, Tom Whitehead

Fred Rowland opened the meeting at 2:04 PM.

1. Approval of minutes: the minutes of the November 8th meeting were approved.

2. Sandi Thompson gave an update on the merit process.

a. All documents related to the process have been distributed. She thanked colleagues and administrators for their diligent work in getting them prepared.

b. The deadline for applications is Monday, January 16th .

c. Mark Darby requested that librarians be informed of what is important in the process. Carla Davis Cunningham replied that there is no need to categorize performance; candidates should focus on their total performance. Sandi said that the focus is on selling yourself. The criteria themselves have not been altered too much.

d. Larry Alford asked for opinions on whether merit funds should be spread around or allocated to a very few people. Mark noted that unless everyone gets exactly the same raise each year then there is competition. Unlike faculty we do not generally focus on individual achievement as we tend to work together on things. Laura Lane said there are years when assigned projects or output is so much higher than average. Mark did note that when he has chaired the Merit Committee there usually is someone who is clearly at the top.

3. Report/Question & Answer Session – Larry Alford:

a. Larry reported that Margaret Jerrido, Carol Lang, Brooke Walker, and Brenda Galloway•Wright have been working on Black and Women’s History Months displays and events. Ronald Gauthier (February 9th), Dr. Charles Willie (February 16th), Jacqueline Small (February 23rd), and Leslie Banks (March 2nd) are all scheduled to appear.

b. There will be an all•staff meeting soon.

c. Some headway has been made with obtaining donors. We continue attempts to increase prospects for donors to the Libraries.

d. Shepley, Bullfinch, Richardson & Abbott have been working on building planning: a study of large•scale potential for what could be done on campus. The firm is not tasked with program planning which is a study of specific needs and how to meet them, e.g. how much square footage each cataloger requires. Shepley, Bullfinch will give a presentation for the University’s architect and facilities; there will be a later presentation for the President and the Provost. Larry hopes to have them give a presentation for library staff.

e. Twenty computers have been ordered from Technology Fee funds for the Paley first floor information commons. It is most likely that the stand•up PCs will be moved. Plans include the addition of soft seating around the windows. In the short term, much of this area will be converted to study space. In the longer term, a committee will work with a space planner to look at the use of the space and make more permanent plans, with the understanding that these plans and any modifications may not be permanent should a major renovation of Paley be approved. Some suggestions for the space include relocating the reference desk, creating a media center, and relocating current periodicals. Penelope Myers asked about the tables in the SIC. Jonathan LeBreton reported that some have been taken to Room 209; Athletics Tutoring will take some; some will be put back for possible use in the media center; and the remainder will go to storage/surplus.

f. The Tuttleman computer lab will be closing at 9:00 PM during the week and will be closed on Saturday and Sunday. Larry is looking into the possibility of hiring temporary part•time help to staff the library desk in the TECH Center. If there are a lot of substantive questions asked there, he may ask for the creation of a couple of new librarian positions.

g.  This year’s collection budget is projected at $7.2M, with $1.2M in recurring increases including inflation funding. (Last year’s budget was $4.7M.) There are enough new sources of funding that we will probably be able to sustain close to $7M in successive years. Larry stressed the importance of spending all of these funds so that we can justify further increases to our budget.

h. Larry discussed aspects of our search committees. In the past, there were efforts to contain the cost of searches. This has changed; we need to sell ourselves to candidates and should plan to take candidates to dinner at nice restaurants, pay for taxis, etc. He noted that the public sessions and presentations by candidates are important to see how the candidates conduct themselves and how they respond to questions on a variety of subjects. Larry gave an overview of open searches along with positions yet to be advertised: literature subject specialist, digital reference librarian, curator for special collections, a librarian to deal with general education curriculum and other instruction issues, associate university librarian position, head of cataloging, digital resources librarian, and a serials cataloger.

4. Laura Lane provided a report on the activities of the PARA Committee.

a. She expressed her gratitude to Mark for his substituting for Barbara Wright during her absence.

b.  There were six candidates for contract renewal. All were recommended and approved for renewal.

c. She congratulated Carla Davis Cunningham and Carol Brigham on receiving their regular appointment.

d. PARA will be considering candidates for promotion in the coming weeks.

5. Old Business/New Business/Announcements:

a. Penelope announced that the laptop loaner program will be moving to the Circulation/Reserve Desk.

b. Carole Bell has selected an intern to help Brian Schoolar.

c. David Murray reported that the brown bag lunches are gaining in popularity.

d. Penelope reported that Iren Snavely has left the Harrisburg Library. The Harrisburg Library will be closed during intersession. All requests for intra-campus loans of Harrisburg materials will be re-routed to Interlibrary Loan.

e. All articles and book chapters for Paley reserve will be put on electronic reserve with no paper copy stored at the desk. The unit will be storing backups on CD.

f. Andrea Goldstein reported that Ann Mosher is the new bibliographic assistant in the Tyler Library.

The meeting adjourned at 3:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Carol Brigham