JANUARY 14, 2014

by Brian Boling

ACADEMIC ASSEMBLY OF LIBRARIANS

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014

2:00 PM

PALEY LIBRARY, LECTURE HALL

MINUTES

Attending:  Jenifer Baldwin, Doreva Belfiore, Steven Bell, Brian Boling (recorder), Jim Bongiovanni, Carla Davis Cunningham, Mark Darby (Chair), Kristina DeVoe, Lauri Fennell, Erin Finnerty, Leanne Finnigan, Anne Harlow, Justin Hill, Richie Holland (invited speaker), Josue Hurtado, Margaret Janz, Latanya Jenkins, Delphine Khanna, Molly Larkin, Jonathan LeBreton, Rick Lezenby, Joe Lucia, Jessica Lydon, Kate Lynch, David Murray, Katy Rawdon, Fred Rowland, Caitlin Shanley, Matt Shoemaker, Jackie Sipes, Margery Sly, Gretchen Sneff.

Meeting called to order at 2:06pm.

  1. Approval of Minutes (B. Boling)

The General Assembly approved minutes from November’s GA meeting.

  1. New Staff Introductions
  1. Caitlin Shanley

Caitlin Shanley is our new Instruction Team Leader.  She received her Masters in Library Science from UNC Chapel Hill and her undergraduate degree in literature from UNC Asheville.  She enjoys empowering young women through involvement in Girls Rock Philly.  She has two cats: Maisie and Miss Mandible.

  1. Remarks by the Dean of Libraries (J. Lucia)

We now have a beta of the program for the new library.  Jonathan will be sending corrections and amendments to Bright Spot tomorrow and they will incorporate these changes into a final document that the architects will consult during the design of the building.  The Design Committee (Joe Lucia, Jonathan LeBreton, Steven Bell, Richie Holland, and Sherri Stahler) recently had a first meeting with the architects.  In 4-5 months, we should start to see drawings of the new building.

In response to a question about digital browsing, Joe mentioned the promise shown by ShelfLife, an Open Source software being developed by the DPLA and Harvard.

There will be an All-Staff meeting on Thursday.  On the agenda is a planning and guidance process to encourage creative engagement among library staff.

Dean Lucia mentioned that a Digital Scholarship Center is slated to open in early 2015.

  1. Hiring Process for Librarians and Prospects for the Future (R. Holland and All)

Richie Holland discussed the steps involved in the hiring process.  HR does not currently screen librarian applicants except checking for MLS degrees.  They also have a “rule” whereby 50% of referred candidates for a job must be interviewed.  This 50% rule guards against nebulous hiring decisions being used to eliminate candidates.  These factors mean that search committees often need to do many phone interviews to screen librarian candidates.

Richie next discussed issues with the hiring process.  He indicated that Temple’s administrative process is not likely to change significantly.  He also discussed the small candidate pools we’ve seen for librarian jobs.  On the positive side, these small pools do typically have solid candidates.  Future searches may involve the use of more creative and intentional outreach to attract additional candidates.

David Murray asked whether the library had considered offering fellowships to increase the diversity of library staff.  Dean Lucia indicated that he is meeting with the ARL director of diversity fellowships during ALA Midwinter.  Some problems with this approach were mentioned, such as fixed-term librarian contracts contradicting the TAUP contract, issues that can arise for libraries that want to retain fellows after their term, and general uncertainty in libraries with a large staff of short-term employees.

  1. Mentor Program for Librarians? A discussion (All)

During Larry Alford’s time as Dean, some librarians had complained about the not knowing what to do regarding the PARA process and a formal mentorship program was discussed.  The issue of mentorship has been raised again, both for PARA support and for other professional development.

David Murray mentioned that PARA has always encouraged candidates to ask questions of any committee member.  The committee has also sponsored information sessions.  At a recent session, candidates had access to PARA documents from the four committee members, allowing them to see the general structure and level of detail used in previous applications.  Various proposals for PARA support were made, such as:  following up with people who asked questions, providing a made-up sample application, an FAQ.

In terms of professional development, Steven Bell mentioned that term “mentor” implies a certain type of relationship that may be unnecessary.  Instead of formal mentors, the library could have “specialists” willing to share knowledge of areas such as publishing, professional organization involvement, etc.

  1. Old business

None.

  1. New business/announcements

Kristina DeVoe announced that PARA reviewed nine contract renewal applications and one application for regular appointment.  All were approved.  A message about the promotion process will be sent shortly.

Adjournment at 3:23pm.

 

 

This entry was posted in Minutes.