Part of this comes from comments on the employee survey about a lack of clarity of the vision and story of the new library. The Strategic Action working group will be working on creating an annual cycle of vision and goal sharing. The Dean says he is committed to following through with the ideas and intentions of these actions.

The building design for the new library is complete and the cost estimates are in process. One estimate is close to the original budget. Over the next month they will get all of the decision points together to make sure the budget estimate matches with the needs of the building.

Soon the Dean hopes to get staff input on the design for the furniture and staff spaces. It is possible that some site visits will take place. He wants engagement from the staff but cautioned that there is a limit to the budget.

The Digital Scholarship Center is waiting for its furniture delivery. We are still interviewing CLIR fellows.

1. AAL General Assembly Membership & Attendees The Assembly voted unanimously to approve the proposed amendments.
2. Continuing Education Committee Composition The Assembly voted unanimously to approve the proposed amendments.

1. Andrew Diamond The Assembly expressed no concerns about voting this candidate into membership.
2. Jessica Lydon The Assembly expressed no concerns about voting this candidate into membership.

1. Continuing Education Committee (J. Hurtado) The Continuing Education Committee was comprised of Aslaku Berhanu, Josue Hurtado, Caitlin Shanely, and Richie Holland. The Continuing Education Committee hosted 3 events this year: one about the DPLA in which Temple University Libraries’ involvement with them was announced, Nancy Kranich spoke about Privacy in Academic Libraries, and the nGen Performance Group spoke about generational differences. The last event was co-sponsored by the Dean’s Office. The bylaws were changed at this meeting so the website can now reflect the current practices of the Continuing Education Committee.
2. Faculty Senate Library Committee (E. Hsue) Eugene Hsue was absent from the meeting and the Assembly did not hear the report from this committee.
3. Merit Committee (B. Boling)
   The Merit Committee this year consisted of Brian Boling, Kristia De Voe (Chair), Erin Finnerty, David Murray, and Caitlin Shanley.

   The Committee considered 15 applications for merit awards, the most in recent history. The Committee met twice in person to deliberate and rank them, and submitted their recommendations to the Office of the Dean of Libraries.

   Three applications were recommended in the Highest category of meritorious activity; eight were recommended in the Outstanding category; three were recommended in the Deserving category; and one applicant was not recommended. One application was later withdrawn due to a departure. Applicants were informed via email that the merit award recommendations submitted by the Dean of Libraries to the Provost had been approved as submitted. Letters confirming award units have yet to be received as of this writing. The available merit pool consisted of 64 units at $350 per unit.

   The merit calendar was similar to prior years as the committee decided to give applicants additional time to submit materials, selecting the day following the return from winter break as the submission deadline. Committee members fielded questions early on from newer librarians concerning available position descriptions, the submission of two most recent annual reports and supervisor recommendations. Supervisors had the rest of the month of January to review applications and write evaluations. The merit process was discussed in Steering Committee and General Assembly meetings.

4. Promotion and Regular Appointment Committee (F. Rowland)
   The PARA Committee reviewed 12 applications for contract renewals this year and approved all. Doreva Befiore, Leanne Finnegan, and Matt Shoemaker were promoted from L1 to L2; Adam Shambaugh was promoted from L2 to L3; Jill Luedke earned permanent appointment.

   The contract was changed this year so that instead of four one-year contracts and a two- year contract, employees would have three two-year contracts before being eligible for permanent appointment. Six people who would have received a one year contract this year were given two year contracts. Carla Davis Cunningham and Rowland are working on revising the PARA procedures documentation to reflect the TAUP contract changes. There will be no more fall contract renewals. They are also looking into making the contract and promotion documentation one document, but there are some problems with that plan.

5. Representative Faculty Senate (F. Rowland)
   The Representatives from the Libraries this year were Fred Rowland and Kristina DeVoe. One of the most discussed items on the Faculty Senate this year was the RCM budget model. There were also many questions about the promotion and tenure process that came up in the TAUP contract renewal process.

   Another issue that arose this year was the organization of adjunct faculty. There was a movement to have them form their own union and then a push to have them join TAUP. The Faculty Senate Steering Committee voted to remain neutral on the issue.

   Oher topics that came up included the Master Plan, the Fly in 4 promotion, and the reorganization of the calendar and curriculum. The Committee acknowledged that not all bylaws across Colleges are consistent and there’s an effort to correct this.

   Also this year the Provost spoke about a 2+2 program with a university in China.

   The topic of the new library came up a few times, but the Dean of Libraries was advised not to speak about it at the Faculty Senate.

6. Selection and Appointment Committee (K. Rawdon)
   The Selection and Appointment Committee for 2014-2015 consisted of Katy Rawdon (Chair), Brian Boling, Latanya Jenkins, and Nancy Turner.

   One search begun in the 2013-2014 fiscal year was completed this year. Kimberly Tully accepted the position of Curator of Rare Books, Special Collections Research Center and began work in January 2015. Andrea Goldstein was the committee representative.

   During 2014-2015, one search was completed. Matthew Ducmanas accepted the position of Special Collections Cataloging Librarian, Cataloging & Metadata Services, and began work in January 2015.

   Katy Rawdon was the committee representative.

   Current searches are Collections Analysis Librarian, Acquisitions and Collection Development (committee representative is Nancy Turner), and Reference and Instructional Services Librarian, Reference and Instructional Services (committee representative is Katy Rawdon).

   Brian Boling will be the committee representative for a forthcoming search: Digital and Web Services Librarian, Digital Library Initiatives.

7. Steering Committee (M. Larkin)
   The Committee met monthly. Meetings generally consisted of the Dean’s report, which often led to further discussion, and the reports of other AAL committees. The Committee also made appointments of 3 TAUP librarians to help compose the Merit Committee. Following discussions on what constitutes a professional in today’s academic libraries, the Committee recommended that a by-law amendment be proposed that would open guest attendance at General Assembly meetings to be more inclusive of those serving the Libraries in professional-level positions but whose job titles do not fall into the traditional definition of a librarian. The Committee also requested that the Continuing Education committee review their committee composition and make necessary by-law changes to reflect the Assistant Director for Administration’s permanent membership on this committee. Both these by-law changes were discussed at the March 2015 General Assembly meeting and will be put to vote at the May 2015 General Assembly meeting. In addition, the Committee discussed the applications of two library personnel, Andrew Diamond and Jessica Lydon, who requested full membership into the AAL. The Steering Committee wholeheartedly concurred with their requests. Their applications for membership will be discussed at the May 2015 General Assembly meeting and, if there are no objections, voted on at the September 2015 General Assembly meeting. Finally, the Committee addressed concerns raised regarding the merit process and the proposed elimination of the Librarian annual report.

   Ongoing issues for the Steering Committee include:
   Electronic voting for AAL elections. The Nominations and Elections committee did not have the opportunity to explore this any further this year. 
   Ensuring that the PARA process is in agreement with changes agreed to in the latest TAUP contract
   Establishing a means for storing archives of the organization and to efficiently transmit information from one committee to the next
   Emeritus status. The Dean has made several inquiries, but has not received any response from Temple’s administration.

   General Assembly Meetings
   The General Assembly met 5 times, in September, November, January, March, and May. In November, Caitlin Shanley spoke about the ACRL Assessment in Action program, which the Libraries are participating in. Also at that meeting, Kristina De Voe and Fred Rowland led a discussion on the direction of the Libraries following concerns raised at the Faculty Senate meeting. This discussion resulted in a separate meeting being held on December 9, 2014 to allow members of the AAL to continue an open discussion with the Dean about the future of the Libraries both in terms of the physical building and the Dean’s vision of what a 21st century library should be.

   Following the departure of David Murray, a special election was held as part of the regular May elections to elect a chair for next year’s Committee. The person elected to this position will serve one year as chair.

8. Nomination and Election Committee (J. Sipes)
   The Nominations and Elections Committee met once in March and the annual election was the only business.

Election results as follow:
Steering Committee Chair: Fred Rowland
Steering Committee Vice Chair/Chair Elect: Kristina DeVoe
Steering Committee Member at Large: Matt Ducmanas
Representative Faculty Senate: Katy Rawdon
Continuing Education Committee (2 year): Rebecca Lloyd
Continuing Education Committee (1 year): Doreva Belfiore
Nominations & Elections Committee: Erin Finnerty
Selection & Appointment Committee: Justin Hill and Jackie Sipes
Promotion and Regular Appointment Committee: Andrea Goldstein and Molly Larkin