2003 AASL Affiliate Assembly Minutes ALA Midwinter Meeting 2003 Philadelphia, PA Sunday, January 26, 2003 8:00 a.m. – 12 Noon Philadelphia Convention Center Room 204C Opening/Welcome/Roll Call of States AASL Board Executive Committee – Toni Negro AA Chair-Elect –J. Linda Williams AASL President Nancy Zimmerman AASL Treasurer –Carolyn Hayes Arizona Library Association—Teacher Librarian Division -- Debra La Plante, Judi Moreillon California School Library Association – Lesley Farmer, Linda Jewett, Susan Maass Connecticut Educational Media Association – Rebecca Hickey, Julie Hullen Colorado Association of School Librarians –Betty Bankhead Delaware School Library Media Association –Barbara Ruszkowski, Courtney Kaczka Georgia Library Media Association-Melissa Johnston Illinois School Library Media Association-Katherine Oberhardt, Leslie Forsman Association for Indiana Media Education –Bonnie Grimble, Judy Williams, Leslie Preddy, Ann Abel Florida Association of Media in Education –Sandra Mc Michael Kentucky School Media Association-Tammy Rich, Crystal Smallwood Maryland Educational Media Organization-Jay Bansbach, J. Linda Williams Massachusetts School Library Media Association-Dorothy Mc Quillan Michigan Association of Media in Education –Karen Lemmons, Diane Nye Minnesota Educational Media Association – Doug Johnson, Judith Rodgers Missouri –Karen Vialle, Kay Rebstock New England Educational Media Association –Charles White, Irene Kwidzinski North Carolina School Library Media Association –Edna Cogdell Educational Media Association of New Jersey – Susan Heinis, Cathie Miller, Hilda Weisburg School Library Media Section/ New York Library Association –Rosina Alaimo, Catherine Marriott Nevada School and Children’s Librarian Section –Robbie Nickel North Carolina Library Media Association –Rusty Taylor Ohio Educational Library Media Association –Linda Cornette, Suellyn Stotts, Joanna Mc Nally Oklahoma Association of School Library Media Specialists -- Jayme Seat, Buffy Edwards Oregon Educational Media Association –Jim Hayden Pennsylvania School Librarians Association – Geneva Reeder, Linda Carvell Region I Director Elect – Sylvia K. Norton Region II Director Nancy Everhart Region II Director-Elect -- Sara Kelly Johns Region IV Director Donna Shannon, Ann Martin Region V Director –Jim Carey Region VIII --Kay E. Evey, Jane Barnard Region IX Director Elect –Joanne Proctor South Carolina Association of School Librarians – Janet Boltjes, Martha Taylor Texas Association of School Librarians-Susan Meyer Tennessee Association of School Librarians-Diane R. Chen, Nancy Dickinson Vermont Educational Media Association -- Madeline Sherman Virginia Educational Media Association –Ann Tinsman Washington Library Media Association – A. Elaine Twogood, Jan Weber Wisconsin Educational Media Association –Cara Cavin, Mary Lou Zuege Wisconsin Association of School Librarians-Valerie Edwards Cyndi Phillip, Affiliate Assembly Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:05. She welcomed everyone to Philadelphia. Cyndi thanked SIRS for our breakfast this morning. Elliott Goldstein, SIRS, spoke to the assembly and welcomed everyone. He said that he and his wife founded SIRS in 1973, 30 years ago. He wished us a great meeting. Mr. Goldstein invited everyone to a luncheon today. Hilda reminded everyone that SIRS has been a long-standing friend of AASL. Cyndi presented Keidra Chaney, Coordinator of Member and Affiliate Services -- AASL, with a gift to thank her for all she does for Affiliate Assembly. Cyndi introduced Carol Gordon and Dawn Vaughn, two candidates who are running for AASL president. Carol spoke to the assembly. She gave her background as a school media specialist. She then gave her background in AASL. Her vision for AASL includes a grassroots, politically motivated movement to increase our profile as library/media specialists. We need to train ourselves through AASL to become more politically active and to raise our profile as educators. She also wants us to become more involved in other organizations, such as the International Reading Association. Dawn Vaughn spoke to the assembly. She gave her background as a media specialist and librarian. Her platform is lifelong learning through continual professional development. She gave her background in AASL. She wants AASL to increase professional learning opportunities for members. She would like for AASL to sponsor more workshops and to provide credit, if possible. We must continue our growth as well as continue to help promote growth in others. Cyndi reminded everyone to sign in on the roll call sheet on the table in the back of the room. Review of Minutes – Atlanta 2002 The members of the assembly reviewed the minutes of the two Affiliate Assembly meetings during the annual ALA meeting in Atlanta. Cyndi told everyone to check for spellings and to give corrections to Keidra. Reports from Affiliate Assembly Executive Committee Cyndi thanked the executive committee for their time in the executive committee meeting on Friday night and announced that there would be reports from the meeting. She then called Keidra to report on re-affiliation. Keidra said the deadline for re- affiliation applications was on December 15. There was a good response. Only 5 states did not respond. This does not mean that they cannot apply, but they will not be included in the new listing of affiliates. Keidra has created a chart of affiliates to present to the AASL executive committee. She reported that the process went smoothly. Keidra will email the states that she has not yet heard from. She then asked for questions. There were none. Keidra then reported on the new member packet. The AASL office is working on it. They hope to have a new, more attractive brochure by spring to send to new members. Cyndi told everyone there are copies of the new AASL application brochure on the back table. Cyndi reported on the AASL Affiliate Assembly Self-study. She introduced the committee who worked on the self-study and had them stand. The committee did a lot of the work via email. It was a virtual committee in many respects. They looked at four areas, which are in bold print on the report. She asked everyone to take some time to look at the report which will be on the website and to email her with input by February 27. She wants the self-study in the handbook for the summer affiliate assembly. AASL is looking at the document and comparing it to the board policies to make sure there are no conflicts. Please send comments to Cyndi. Keidra will make a link on the website to Cyndi’s email for comments. Her email address is [email protected]. A committee to develop a vision statement was appointed as a result of this report. The committee includes Hilda Weisburg, Sylvia Norton, Ann Martin, and Jan Weber. Cyndi asked for input on the vision statement as well. Another committee was formed that will study professional development opportunities. Perhaps at winter conference on Saturday there will be a leadership forum, open only to Affiliate Assembly delegates. Watch for more information. Cyndi asked Hilda to report on membership, “Celebrate Conference,” and the Information Literate Student Award. Hilda reported on membership first. The past chair of Affiliate Assembly is the chair of membership and the executive committee is the membership committee. As the chair of AASL membership, Hilda is on the ALA membership committee. Chair-elect of Affiliate Assembly, Linda Williams, chairs the ALA membership committee so we do have a voice in ALA. Look for information on membership in the AASL newsletter. Hilda shared a pie chart of ALA membership and showed us that our share is large. She reminded us that AASL in Kansas City will be a great opportunity for our membership to grow. Encourage everyone in your state to come and make sure they join AASL. The more members we have, the louder our voice gets. “Celebrate Conference” will be at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday in Toronto. There will be loads of gifts to raffle. It will also be held in Kansas City at 7:30 a.m. on the first day of conference. The Information Literate Student Award’s purpose is both for membership as well as for getting ourselves known in the schools. Anyone who is a member of AASL can give the award. Students must be familiar with the nine principles in Information Power. Hilda gave an example of how she conducts her award process. The logo from AASL and the AASL President’s signature can be placed on the certificate. This award can only be presented by members of AASL. Do not share this award with non-members. Give them a membership form! ALA Executive Director – Keith Michael Fiels Cyndi introduced Julie Walker, AASL executive director, to introduce our new ALA executive director, Keith Michael Fiels. Julie stated that Mr. Fiels became director in August, 2002. He is originally from New York where he started his library career as a school librarian. His immediate past career was State Librarian for Massachusetts. Mr. Fiels said he was thrilled to speak to us. He learned first-hand how to get a book into the hands of a child and to see how that motivated them and improved their reading skills. He learned how important it is for libraries of all types to work together. To get books to children, he believes in resource-sharing and interlibrary loan. School libraries are a key and important component in the Campaign to Save America’s Libraries. The school campaign will begin in the spring. There is a plan to generate national media attention for school libraries. Hopefully the attention will spread to the local level. Mr. Fiels looks forward to accomplishing many good things by helping to lay the groundwork to build stronger libraries in our school. Julie Walker assured us we are well on our way to this campaign. Regional Caucus/Reports Cyndi began the regional caucuses. She gave us an hour and a half to caucus. At 10:10 we began the regional caucus reports. Cyndi announced that each region director-elect would report on each topic individually. We would start with state initiatives, followed by recruitment, state standards, and finally concerns.