May 14, 2013

by Brian Boling

ACADEMIC ASSEMBLY OF LIBRARIANS

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

TUESDAY, May 14, 2013

PALEY LIBRARY, LECTURE HALL

MINUTES

Attending: Doreva Belfiore, Brian Boling (Recorder), Jim Bongiovanni (Chair),  Carla Davis Cunningham, Mark Darby, Kristina DeVoe, Erin Finnerty, Andrea Goldstein, Justin Hill, Eugene Hsue, Joshue Hurtado, Delphine Khanna, Carol Lang, Molly Larkin, Krystal Lewis, Jill Luedke, Katherine Lynch,  Gerald Mahlman, Gregory McKinney, Penelope Myers, Katy Rawdon, Jackie Sipes, Adam Shambaugh, Matt Shoemaker, Margery Sly, Sandi Thompson.

Meeting called to order at 2:06 p.m.

  1. Approval of Minutes (B. Boling)

All minutes are drafted, but currently in early stages of the review process.

  1. Introduction of New Staff

Delphine Khanna introduced Matt Shoemaker, the Digital and Web Services Librarian in Digital Library Initiatives.  He comes to us from the Pennsylvania Historical Society where he was Director of Systems and Digital Collections.  Prior to earning his MLIS degree, he worked in the IT sector.  He has a dog, several geckos, and is a beekeeper; thus, he has over 10,000 pets.

  1. Remarks by the Interim Dean of Libraries (C. Lang)

Library space planners from the consulting firm Brightspot visited the library on May 2nd and 3rd to do unobtrusive observation of library users.  They also did interviews with 6 representative students, including undergraduate students from various disciplines (including engineering) and graduate student researchers.  They met with Joe Lucia and the Library Executive Group to explain the planning process.  This process will consist of structured workshops on topics such as collections, community, learning, research and scholarship.  They will visit once per month during June through August.

Dean Lang discussed the Visualize Temple campaign, a master planning effort started under President Theobold.  As part of the effort, the Provost is putting together working groups, including one on “Library & Learning Commons”.  This separate effort will be occurring simultaneously with the Snohetta/Brightspot planning for the new library building.  Steven Bell will co-convene the campus master plan’s library working group, as Dean Lang will retire prior to the deadline for submitting recommendations.  In response to a question about Temple 2020, Dean Lang mentioned that some of the older plan had been accomplished, but this new campaign hopes to incorporate current information about campus and its needs.

  1. May Elections (C. Cunningham)

Jim learned the day prior to the meeting that Eugene Hsue was appointed to the Faculty Senate Library Committee, a position that was previously elected by AAL members.  Discussion with the Faculty Senate Vice President Mark Rahdert revealed that their Steering Committee felt the Faculty Senate Constitution trumped the published committee bylaws that indicate that this is an elected position.  Eugene apologized for his honest mistake.  It was agreed that he would be the library representative on the committee, but that the Library’s Representative Senators would need to press for clarification on the committee constitution in light of librarians being accepted into the Faculty Senate.

Other election results were as follows:

Vice Chair/Chair Elect of AAL Steering Committee: Molly Larkin

At Large member of AAL Steering Committee: Erin Finnerty

Continuing Education Committee: Joshue Hurtado (two year term), Doreva Belfiore (one year term)

Nominations and Elections Committee: Jackie Sipes

Selection and Appointment Committee: Katy Rawdon, Latanya Jenkins

Promotion and Regular Appointment Committee: Adam Shambaugh, Fred Rowland.

  1. Review and Vote on Proposed Bylaws changes pertaining to AAL Representation on Faculty Senate (J. Bongiovanni, C. Cunningham)

The bylaw change included information on the election of members to the Faculty Senate Library Committee.  The bylaw vote was postponed until the AAL Steering Committee determines what additional changes are required by new understandings of committee make-up.

  1. Annual Reports from Standing Committee Chairs

PARA Committee (Molly Larkin):

Molly Larkin chaired the committee, also composed of Carla Cunningham, Kristina DeVoe, and David Murray.  During the fall, the committee reviewed three applications for contract renewal and one application for regular appointment and submitted positive recommendations for all four candidates.  Dean Lang and Provost Dai concurred.  Adam Shambaugh was granted Regular Appointment

The committee reviewed three additional applications for contract renewal in the spring and submitted positive recommendations for all.  The committee also reviewed one application for promotion and recommended that Jim Bongiovanni be promoted to L2 rank.  Dean Lang and Provost Dai concurred with all of these decisions.  Molly consulted on eight occasions to determine the rank for new hire librarians.  She and Krystal Lewis also met twice with new hires to explain AAL and the PARA process.

Merit Committee (Adam Shambaugh):

Adam Shambaugh chaired the committee, also composed of Rick Lezenby, Doreva Belfiore, Jackie Sipes, and Aslaku Behanu.  They reviewed eight applications for merit awards and submitted their recommendations on January 26th.  Applicants have received merit letters from Dean Lang, but the Provost’s office is waiting to send their final decision until faculty merit units are distributed.

Continuing Education Committee (Adam Shambaugh, on behalf of Jenifer Baldwin):

Jenifer Baldwin chaired the committee, also composed of Adam Shambaugh and Penelope Myers.  The committee presented a December 16th presentation on research undertaken by Jenifer Baldwin, Anne Harlow, and Rick Lezenby on how faculty share course content.  They also organized an April 17th trip to the Barnes foundation and a tour of the Barnes Library.  A final program (date to be determined) will include a tour of the Kardon Library Depository space.

Faculty Representative Senate (Kristina Devoe):

Kristina DeVoe and Noa Kaumeheiwa served as library representation on the Faculty Senate.  President Joan Shapiro considered this senate to be serving a transitional era for Temple in which to promote shared governance.

Faculty took part in the successful searches for University President, Provost, and Library Dean.  Dean searches for the College of Education, College of Media and Communication, and College of Health Professions and Social Work are still underway.

Frequent topics of discussion at Faculty Senate Meetings were the new budget model adopted by the university and how to improve student access, intervention (meaning advising), and retention.  Another issue of note was the numerous vacancies on various Faculty Senate Committees.  In spite of librarian interest in serving on these committees, it is unclear in which cases librarians may serve.

            Faculty Senate Library Committee (Penelope Myers):

The Faculty Senate Library Committee met four times.

On October 17th, the group discussed the Library Dean Search and the new building.  Jonathan Lebreton presented on the library budget and Steven Bell presented on the LIBQUAL results.

On December 5th, the group discussed improvements in ARL ranking, while noting that staffing rankings were still low.  Jonathan Lebreton presented on the change from print to electronic materials.

On February 20th, the group discussed the need for the new building, noting that studies indicated the current building would cost more to renovate.  Fred Rowland attended and presented on the Library Prize competition.

On May 9th, Joe Lucia attended and discussed the planning process for the new building, the location of the new library, and fielded feedback on the future direction of the Faculty Senate Library Committee.

Selection and Appointment Committee (Fred Rowland):

Fred Rowland chaired the committee, also composed of Rick Lezenby, Andrea Goldstein, and Krystal Lewis.  Three searches begun in fiscal year 2011-12 were completed this year.  Doreva Belfiore accepted her position in September 2012 and Jackie Sipes and Katy Rawdon accepted positions in October 2012.  Five searches were completed in the fiscal year, with Joshue Hurtado, Latanya Jenkins, Erin Finnerty, Justin Hill, and Matt Shoemaker accepting positions.  The CAMS Librarian Search is nearing completion and searches are underway for the Science and Engineering Librarian and Curator of Rare Books.  Fred mentioned that the large number of searches meant that one search, for Access Services Librarian, did not include a Selection and Appointment Committee member.  This search did include three representatives from the AAL Steering Committee.

  1. Pet Photos (K. Lewis)

A slideshow of librarian pets, created by Krystal Lewis and scored by Brian Boling, was viewed.

  1. Old Business

None.

  1. New Business / Announcements

Jim thanked Dean Lang for her service to the library and AAL.  A surprise sheet cake was announced.

Meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

This entry was posted in Minutes.