Massachusetts School Library Association
Executive Board meeting
November 14, 2018 4:00 - 6:00
Massachusetts Library System
225 Cedar Hill Street, Suite 229, Marlborough, MA 01752
View full meeting minutes here.
Attending (V=Virtual):
Allison Barker, Co-Director Southeast Region
Rachel Barrett, Co-Director Southeast Region
Lani Blechman, Co-Director West Region
Michael Caligiuri, Co-Director Central Region
Karen Davidson-Heller, Boston Area Co-Director
Jennifer Dimmick, Secretary
Patsy Divver, Co-Director Metrowest Region
Maria D’Orsi, Co-Director Metrowest Region
Deeth Ellis, Co-Director Boston Region
Barb Fecteau, Co-Director, Northeast Region
Kathy Lowe, Executive Director
Laura Luker, President Elect
Meg O’Neill, Private school Liaison
Claudia Palframan, Co-Director West Region (V)
Ann Perham,Conference Co-Chair, Awards Co-Chair (V)
Greg Pronevitz, MSLA Communications Specialist (V)
Linda Redding, Liaison Digital Commonwealth (V)
Amy Short, Advocacy Co-Chair (V)
Sarah Sogigian, MLS Interim Executive Director
Katherine Steiger, Co-Editor, MSLA Forum
Carrie Tucker, President
Jen Varney, Cambridge, Treasurer
Welcome, call to order, approve reports and minutes of October meeting --- Carrie Tucker
Carrie Tucker thanked to Sarah Sogigian and Steve Spohn for graciously providing meeting space.
Advocacy report --- Greg Pronevitz and Amy Short
Amy Short, Robin Chicchetti, Carol Gordon and Anita Cellucci all presented at the NESLA conference and it went well. It was nice to present to other states who were unfamiliar the commission’s work.
A few weeks ago members of the team met with the ALA President on her national tour. They had an hour with her during which they shared the study findings with her and conclusions about lack of equity in MA. She was very receptive and interested in our work. She came to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School where and Emily Houston (CRLS Librarian) at school gave her a tour before a ceremony that followed at the public library attended by local dignitaries. Her speech talked about school libraries and equity of access to school libraries and librarians. Amy Short thanked Greg Pronevitz for coming in and contributing to this effort.
Robin Cicchetti is finishing proposal to present at AASL in the fall. Anita Cellucci and Amy Short are working on 2 subcommittees: the logo/branding team, spearheaded by Anita, and the customizable presentation team, spearheaded by Amy. The goal of the latter is to create a customizable presentation that members can use for local needs to present to school committees, etc. to advocate for school libraries.
Robin Cicchetti, Greg Pronevitz and James Lonergan (MBLC) worked together to prepare a proposal for a presentation at the Mass. Library Association Conference in May on MSLA advocacy and the Commission Report/Recommendations.
MBLC Legislative Agenda --- James Lonergan, Director, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
The MBLC has a working group from about 9 states that focuses on involvement with school libraries and supporting and advocating for them.
James Lonergan thanked school librarians for responding to the a statewide survey sponsored by the MBLC. He shared the MBLC’s FY2020 Legislative Agenda and associated funding request.
Katherine Steiger moved that the board draft a letter in support of the MBLC’s legislative agenda.
Sarah Sogigian welcomed us all to the MLS offices and shared an update about MLS activities including:
Professional learning --- Laura Luker
Annual conference update
Upcoming events
Upcoming board meetings
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Dimmick
Executive Board meeting
November 14, 2018 4:00 - 6:00
Massachusetts Library System
225 Cedar Hill Street, Suite 229, Marlborough, MA 01752
View full meeting minutes here.
Attending (V=Virtual):
Allison Barker, Co-Director Southeast Region
Rachel Barrett, Co-Director Southeast Region
Lani Blechman, Co-Director West Region
Michael Caligiuri, Co-Director Central Region
Karen Davidson-Heller, Boston Area Co-Director
Jennifer Dimmick, Secretary
Patsy Divver, Co-Director Metrowest Region
Maria D’Orsi, Co-Director Metrowest Region
Deeth Ellis, Co-Director Boston Region
Barb Fecteau, Co-Director, Northeast Region
Kathy Lowe, Executive Director
Laura Luker, President Elect
Meg O’Neill, Private school Liaison
Claudia Palframan, Co-Director West Region (V)
Ann Perham,Conference Co-Chair, Awards Co-Chair (V)
Greg Pronevitz, MSLA Communications Specialist (V)
Linda Redding, Liaison Digital Commonwealth (V)
Amy Short, Advocacy Co-Chair (V)
Sarah Sogigian, MLS Interim Executive Director
Katherine Steiger, Co-Editor, MSLA Forum
Carrie Tucker, President
Jen Varney, Cambridge, Treasurer
Welcome, call to order, approve reports and minutes of October meeting --- Carrie Tucker
Carrie Tucker thanked to Sarah Sogigian and Steve Spohn for graciously providing meeting space.
Advocacy report --- Greg Pronevitz and Amy Short
- LibGuide update
- Cambridge meeting with ALA president
- Library Legislative Day, March 5, 2019
- Next steps/action plan
Amy Short, Robin Chicchetti, Carol Gordon and Anita Cellucci all presented at the NESLA conference and it went well. It was nice to present to other states who were unfamiliar the commission’s work.
A few weeks ago members of the team met with the ALA President on her national tour. They had an hour with her during which they shared the study findings with her and conclusions about lack of equity in MA. She was very receptive and interested in our work. She came to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School where and Emily Houston (CRLS Librarian) at school gave her a tour before a ceremony that followed at the public library attended by local dignitaries. Her speech talked about school libraries and equity of access to school libraries and librarians. Amy Short thanked Greg Pronevitz for coming in and contributing to this effort.
Robin Cicchetti is finishing proposal to present at AASL in the fall. Anita Cellucci and Amy Short are working on 2 subcommittees: the logo/branding team, spearheaded by Anita, and the customizable presentation team, spearheaded by Amy. The goal of the latter is to create a customizable presentation that members can use for local needs to present to school committees, etc. to advocate for school libraries.
Robin Cicchetti, Greg Pronevitz and James Lonergan (MBLC) worked together to prepare a proposal for a presentation at the Mass. Library Association Conference in May on MSLA advocacy and the Commission Report/Recommendations.
MBLC Legislative Agenda --- James Lonergan, Director, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
The MBLC has a working group from about 9 states that focuses on involvement with school libraries and supporting and advocating for them.
James Lonergan thanked school librarians for responding to the a statewide survey sponsored by the MBLC. He shared the MBLC’s FY2020 Legislative Agenda and associated funding request.
Katherine Steiger moved that the board draft a letter in support of the MBLC’s legislative agenda.
Sarah Sogigian welcomed us all to the MLS offices and shared an update about MLS activities including:
- Hosted 10th annual teen summit in September; had 175 attendees from 5 states; good showing from school libraries. Theme was fandom and celebrating what you love. Was a fun day.
- MLS annual report came out. MLS created a new advocacy Tableau tool that allows libraries to drill the value of service from MLS down to the community level,
- MLS has some new school members which is great news.
- Last spring MLS learned that the DESE revoked their pdp certification; MLS has applied to recertify and is hopeful they will be recertified next month.
- Commonwealth ebook collection will have a new enrollment period soon. Those who are interested should play with the Libby app, which is very similar to the Sora app that is designed for the school collection. Discussion ensued about the lack of reciprocity between the school collection and the public library consortium collections as well as the size of the young adult collection and Sarah Sogigian committed to following up with Steve Spohn about the issues.
- Gale Pages is getting a new look in January.
Professional learning --- Laura Luker
Annual conference update
- Laura Luker, Alida Hanson and Ann Perham have been working hard on the conference.
Upcoming events
- Western MA School Librarians PLC: Building a Culture of Reading, Collaborative for Educational Services, Northampton, MA, November 15, 4:30-6:30pm
- Carolyn Jacobs and PBS, a Metrowest event organized by Patsy and Maria, Medford HS, November 15, 2018
- Library Legislative Day, Boston, March 5, 2019
- MSLA conference, “School libraries are for everyone”, March 31-- April 1, 2019, Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center
- MSLA/MLA Library Legislative Day, Mar. 5, 2019 at the State House in Boston
- MLA Annual Conference, May 20-22, 2019 at Sheraton Framingham
Upcoming board meetings
- Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018 4:00--6:00 Virtual, only if needed
- Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 4:00 MLS, 225 Cedar Hill Street, Suite 229, Marlborough
- Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019 4:00--6:00 Virtual
- Wednesday, Mar. 20, 2019 4:00 MLS, 225 Cedar Hill Street, Suite 229, Marlborough
- Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2019 4:00--6:00 Virtual
- Wednesday, May 15, 2019 4:00 MLS, 225 Cedar Hill Street, Suite 229, Marlborough
- Wednesday, June 12, 2019 4:00--6:00 location tbd
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Dimmick
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