January 12, 2010

by Gerald Doyle

Academic Assembly of Librarians
General Assembly
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Paley Lecture Hall, 2:00 PM

Attending: Larry Alford, Derik Badman, Steven Bell, James Bongiovanni, Carol Brigham (chair), Carla Cunningham, Mark Darby, Sebastian Derry, Anne Harlow, Carol Lang, Molly Larkin, Jonathan LeBreton, Krystal Lewis, Rick Lezenby, Gregory McKinney (recorder), Penelope Myers, Fred Rowland, Brian Schoolar, Tom Whitehead

  • Approval of minutes of the 11/10/09 meeting:
    • Minutes delayed.
  • Remarks by the Dean of Libraries (L. Alford):
    • Larry will meet with the Provost to ask that Emeritus Status be put on the agenda for discussion.
    • In regard to the budget, the hiring freeze is still in effect although there has been some moderation in how positions are dealt with. Larry will speak to the provost about this.
    • State funding did pass; when next we assemble, there may be more news about this.
    • Larry met with the staff of Urban Archives to discuss the new library building. Urban Archives will be merged with Special Collections, something that will evolve over time. It will be an opportunity to build one reading room and display area, thereby improving overall efficiency. Margaret Jerrido’s position will be used to create a new position; not quite a department head position, it will be a quasi-director level position which will plan how to integrate the various collections. Fred Rowland asked whether Urban Archives and Special Collections had been separated because of space considerations. Larry replied that Fred Miller had created Urban Archives as a separate department in 1992.
    • The University President has talked about the new library. The Administration is moving ahead and will begin seeking funding for the 1st components. Work on McGonigle and Pearson Halls is being finished. The Board of Trustees will confront a series of decisions and, assuming that each is ‘yes’, we may be able to begin planning, with groundbreaking next year, and with an opening in 4 years.
    • Larry expressed his appreciation for the comments received in response to the new library building vision document. This document is for interior purposes and will help to address the questions which have been received from people.  This is the first part of a long process. The President is very committed to a new building; current thinking about Paley is that it will be renovated for classroom or lab space.
    • Larry clarified a comment in the document about specialized collections; it did not mean specialized collections within the building but was meant to acknowledge that collections like music and science have had branch locations.
    • Larry ended by mentioning that the space now occupied by the SEAL would be taken over by the Architecture department.
  • Merit Committee Update:
    • Andrea is the chairperson. The other members are Derik Badman, Jim Bongiovanni, Carla Davis Cunningham, Sebastian Derry, Krystal Lewis, and Andrea Goldstein. Some dates in the Merit process have been changed: applications are due January 4th; supervisors’ letters are due January 20th; applications are sent to Larry on February 19th. Twelve applications were received this year.
    • Carol Brigham asked whether we knew how many merit points we have. Larry stated that he didn’t think we knew.
  • Brief introduction/updates on AAL Committees:
    • AAL Steering Committee (C. Brigham)
      • Carol read a statement of the purpose of the AAL Steering Committee. The members of the committee are Carol Brigham, chair; Kristina De Voe, vice-chair/chair-elect; Gregory McKinney, recording secretary; Jim Bongiovanni, member-at-large; Sebastian Derry, member-at-large; and Larry Alford, Dean of University Libraries, ex officio.
    • Selection & Appointment Committee (A. Harlow):
      • Anne described the purpose of the committee as having to do with how we hire librarians, making sure the process is going smoothly and according to guidelines. The members of the committee are Anne Harlow, chair; Jim Bongiovanni, Kristina De Voe, and Thomas Heverin.
    • Nominations & Elections Committee (B. Schoolar)
      • Brian stated that the committee has nothing to do until March, at which time it will oversee an election. The members of the committee are Brian Schoolar, chair, and Sandi Thompson
    • Faculty Senate Representative (M. Darby)
      • Mark stated that there was nothing about this position in the documentation. The Senate serves for the whole University, what AAL does for this group. He then read a description of the position.
      • Larry wondered what the political considerations would be among the faculty of including librarians as fully voting members of the Faculty Senate and mentioned examples. He suggested it was something that the AAL Steering Committee might consider.
  • Old Business:
    • There was no old business.
  • New business/announcements:
    • Carla asked whether we could be more involved in the planning of the new building. Larry thought it a great idea and suggested that it needed to be discussed within the departments, and there needed to be a general discussion throughout the library.
  • Adjournment:
    • Adjourned at 2:55 PM.

 

This entry was posted in Minutes.