WLTA BOARD MEETING

The Board of Directors of the WISCONSIN LIBRARY TRUSTEES AND ADVOCATES group met on Saturday, May 19th, at the Portage Library for it's second quarterly meeting of 2007. Twelve people were in attendance, including two new representatives from Appleton and Madison.

The financial status of the group was discussed. As of this point, proceeds from the WAPL conference held in early May have not been determined. A report will be issued when this information becomes available.


The WLTA representative on the WLA board gave an extensive report. The WLA Board has issued a draft proposal for a Unit Advisory Council that, potentially, would give the divisions, sections, and roundtables of WLA a structure for greater collaboration and communication. The WLTA secretary will Email copies of this proposal to board members. Under changes to the WLA Bylaws, unit By-Laws would be replaced by Policies and Procedures. Only WLA would operate under By-Laws. A draft of the new Policies and Procedures for WLTA will be available for discussion and potential adoption at our August meeting.
The WLTA website will be reviewed and streamlined. It will include a link to the Friends of Libraries - USA website (FOLUSA), so Friends can get direct access when visiting our site. These revisions will be in place and available for discussion at the August meeting.


The WLTA representatives on the COLAND board (Council on Library and Network Development) reported on discussions at their recent meeting. The top issue was the competition between WISCAT and OCLC. It was felt that a state-wide conference must be held to address and resolve the issue.
Also discussed was the fact that several Wisconsin school districts are on the brink of bankruptcy with the resulting effect on libraries.
FBI surveillance under Patriot Act provisions was also mentioned.

Our representative on the LD & L board (Library Development and Legislation Committee) reported on several issues. Included was discussion on My Space access in libraries as well as other social-networking sites.
Also discussed was Police access to surveillance videos. The problem is the videos record not only people who are committing crimes but also other patrons of the library as well. A bill to allow public libraries to release the videos without a court order under very specific circumstances may be introduced this session. WLA is working to make sure that the bill is narrowly constructed such that the privacy rights of patrons are maintained.


The ADVOCACY Mission Report included comments regarding the favorable results of the Joint Finance Committee voting on library issues in the Governor's Budget Proposal.
The Gates Foundation software package on communicating your libraries value in your community that we had discussed in our February meeting was distributed to all attendees of the "Greener Pastures" Rural Library Sustainability series of workshops. Information of this software as well as books available at the FOLUSA website were listed in the lastest WLTA newsletter.
It appears that no one from our group will be attending the ALA & ALTA convention in Washington DC in June.
Status of planning for Wisconsin Library Legislative Day (2/22/08) was discussed.


The TRUSTEE EDUCATION Mission Report included distribution of a one-page summary of Essential Number Two from the Trustee Essential manual. These summaries are being prepared by the Director of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service, who has just announced her intent to retire in fall.


The FRIENDS OF LIBRARIES Mission Report included information that Tomahawk Public Library will receive WLTA assistance at an orgnizational meeting to be held to launch their new Friends Group.
It was reported that the MCPL Friends group will be deciding this month on a variation of the Eau Claire model of "sponsoring" new members, in order to increase the membership ranks.
People in the SouthWestern portion of the state are interested in conducting a Friends Conference similar to the Northwoods Conferences of recent years. WLTA will play a major role in putting on this conference, and hopes to conduct conferences in other quadrants of the state in future years.


The CONVENTIONS Mission Report included a recap of the WLTA presentation on THE TOP TEN THINGS LEARNED AT THE NORTHWOODS CONFERENCE that was given at the WAPL conference. It was decided that a review of this presentation should be included in the next WLTA newsletter.
WLTA will be very busy at the WLA conference in October. We will be co-sponsoring the Pre-Conference with IFRT (Intellectual Freedom Round Table), co-sponsoring a RSRT program (Resource Sharing Round Table), co-sponsoring an IFRT program, putting on a WLTA luncheon and business meeting, as well as putting on three programs of our own. The programs will center around Libraries Involvement in Their Communities, Open Meeting Laws, and "What's My Role?" The group also discussed potentially having a Newsletter display at the conference. We will have a lot on our plate.

Under Association reports, the Executive Director of WLA discussed the association's strategic plan with three major goals: Advocacy, Community, Education (ACE).
They are working on putting together a directory of library supporters for help in the legislative activities.
They will also work on producing a directory of Friends groups in the state.

The DPI report included an excellent report on Trustee Education Resources by System. We will attempt to create a link on our website so it is available to all. Also submitted was a list of 2007 library related meetings in this state.


Under OLD BUSINESS we discussed the absorption of FOWL into WLTA. The discount program on WLA membership was related.
Creation of a new WLTA brochure was discussed. Two "volunteers" were annoited. This work will begin after the Policies/Procedures and the Website revisions are completed. Artwork and layout will be coordinated through the WLA office.

A motion was passed requiring board members to attend a minimum of two meetings per year to maintain an "active" status. Provisions were made for excused absences. This ruling is important for establishing what constitutes a quorum for us to legally conduct business.

Adding WLTA board members to a WLA list-serv has been accomplished.

Further work on the WLTA Wiki has not been done. Coordination with the WLA Wiki was discussed. Action will be reported on by the August meeting.


Under NEW BUSINESS library digitization was discussed. Some libarians have expressed the opinion that they do not feel libraries are being measured properly in the age of computers and internet access. The WLA Executive Director reported that there is a national organization working on a system to do this. People at the Department of Public Instruction are involved in these efforts.

A pitch was made for all board members to sign up for WISPUBLIB. This communication distributes a ton of library related information which should be very useful. It was determined that many people in positions of responsibility are not on the system.

Extensive discussion was held on WLTA funding a scholarship program for 2008 LLD. Several alternate plans were proposed. It was felt we should discuss this among our constituents and library directors and make a decision on a program at the August meeting.


CONCERNS AND COMMENTS among board members generated many interesting ideas. Library and Friends brochures were shared. A great idea was presented by the Janesville representative. They issue Library Discount Cards similar to those sold by high school sports teams. This is a fund raiser for their Friends group and Library.

The moderator of the meeting suggested the possibility of joining AAAA. This is the American Association Against Acronyms.