September 11, 2012

by Brian Boling

ACADEMIC ASSEMBLY OF LIBRARIANS

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

TUESDAY, September 11, 2012

2:00PM

PALEY LIBRARY, LECTURE HALL

MINUTES

Attending: Jim Bongiovanni (Chair), Krystal Lewis (Vice-chair), Brian Boling (Recorder), Carla Cunningham, Molly Larkin, Jonathan Lebreton, Cynthia Gingrich, Doreva Belfiore, Penelope Myers, Delphine Khanna, Brian Schoolar, Kristina DeVoe, Margery Sly, Steven Bell, Adam Shambaugh, Mark Darby, Fred Rowland, Carol Lang (ex-officio)

Meeting called to order at 2:05 p.m.

  1. Approval of minutes from the Sep 2011, Nov 2011, Jan 2012 and March 2012 AAL GA meetings (KML)

a.  The outstanding minutes from Sept 2011, Nov 2011, Jan 2012, and March

     2012 were approved.

  1. Remarks by the Interim Dean of Libraries (CL)

a.  New faculty reception –  Dean Lang mentioned that the annual reception for new faculty would be held that evening.  Lauri Fennell will attend.  Doreva will be invited next year.

b.  Hiring and vacancies – The search for Coordinator of Technical Services for SCRC will wrap up soon.  Final interviews were held the preceding week for the African American Studies/Government Information Reference Librarian position.  Searches for Access Services Librarian, Coordinator of Public Services for SCRC, and Bibliographic Assistant in Access Services should post shortly.  Two other exceptions on the horizon will create Web Services and Digital Services Librarian positions in DLI.  Permission will be sought to replace Susan LaValley in Health Sciences and to fill at least one of the two Science Librarian vacancies.

c.  Dr. Dai – Dean Lang hopes that the new interim Provost Dr. Hai-Lung Dai will attend the All Staff Meeting on September 25th.  He has been interested in the many new things he’s learning about the library.  In their meeting on September 12, the Dean and Provost will discuss ARL rankings and library statistics, as well as the PARA process.  Dean Lang also hopes to discuss additional vacancies at the library and the possibility of emeritus status for librarians.  David Murray and Richie Holland have worked together on documentation regarding the question of emeritus status.  Dr. Dai has been engaged in the process of planning for the new library and has added that subject to the meeting’s agenda.

  1. Vote on Proposed By-Laws Revisions
    1. Incorporating HSL and Law librarians into AAL  –  This change was uncontroversial, though there continued to be discussion of whether the language about librarians with advanced degrees in librarianship was a tautology.  Dean Lang mentioned that some library B.A.’s have Masters of Library Science degrees, but are not in librarian positions with librarian-specific duties.
    2. PARA, further clarifying who can vote and serve on committees involving bargaining-unit members  — Fred Rowland expressed concerns that the language in this section was unclear, though he admitted that the TAUP agreement, as a legal contract, would trump the AAL bylaws if any conflict were to arise.  Other members felt that the language was clear in its intent (ensuring that HSL and Law librarians could not serve on PARA, Merit, or Selection & Appointment committees).  To allow HSL and Law librarians to join AAL prior to the faculty senate vote, the assembly decided to vote on the current changes, but to continue investigating if further tweaks will make the intent clearer.  Mark Darby motioned to vote.  The changes passed with 13 in favor of the current revisions.
  1. Old Business

No old business was discussed.

  1. New Business / Announcements

a.  Steven Bell attended an August 21 presentation by the three architecture teams chosen as finalists for the new library.  Each team gave a 45 minute presentation and spent 45 minutes answering questions from the committee.  The presentations were supposed to focus on philosophical issues (e.g., what is the role of the library in academia?), rather than design issues.  The committee hoped to determine which firm would work best with Temple stakeholders.  The selection committee’s favorite, decided at the end of the meeting, was Snohetta.  Past Snohetta projects were seen as impressive and visionary.  They had also paired up with a local engineering firm that worked on Alter Hall.

  1. Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.

This entry was posted in Minutes.