Executive Summary Minutes Board Meeting 3-24-2021

Massachusetts School Library Association 
Executive Board meeting 
March 24, 2021 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Virtual Meeting

Attending:
Michael Caligiuri, Co-Director Central Region
Jennifer Dimmick, Secretary
Patsy Divver, Co-Director Metrowest Region
Deeth Ellis, Co-Director Boston Region
Christi Farrar, MLS Liaison
Michelle Fontaine, Treasurer
Wendy Garland, Awards
Laura Harrington, Co-Director Northeast Region
Morgan Keohane, Co-Director Boston Region
Emily Kristofek, Office Manager
Laura Luker, President
Daisy Magner, SLIS Student
Ingrid Mayyasi, Awards
Greg Pronevitz, Director of Outreach
Reba Tierney, Forum Co-Editor
Georgina Trebbe, Co-Chair Advocacy
Pamela Vallee, Co-Director Central Region
Jen Varney, President Elect
Alix Woznick, Professional Learning

Welcome, call to order,  --- Laura Luker
Patsy Divver motioned to approve reports and minutes of February meeting , Jen Varney seconded, all in favor.

MLS liaison update --- Christi Farrar 

• Heading into spring continuing education season, take a look at the calendar
  • Transforming Team Services is full, with waitlist, but reach out to Christi if you’re interested in having it run again
• MLS has been in conversation with Gale about their curation practices and some problematic content. They have developed new curation practices. Hoping for a webinar and more information about this in the fall. Statewide databases page. 
  • And if you have any questions or concerns about Gale content, you can submit them on this form.
• Database RFP/procurement process will start in summer for fiscal year/summer 2023.
• Section 1 of Project Ready cohorts are wrapping up; second section of this is more practical/hands-on, especially for schools. Cohort leaders should contact Christi (christif@masslibsystem.org) with names of participants so she can issue PDPs, 26 hours. Cohort leaders will vouch for demonstration of learning of participants. 
• April/Christi are functionally our librarians, so reach out to them with any needs!

Elections for next year --- Jen Varney

• Secretary, Treasurer and Area Directors are all elected positions.
• Nominating committee was formed -- Carrie Tucker, Reba Tierney, Laura Harrington (if her AD position is not up), Alix Woznick, Deeth Ellis, Morgan Koehane, and Patsy Divver. One goal of the committee will be to create a more diverse board. 

Conference --- Alida Hanson, Alix Woznick, Luker, Jen Varney, Michelle Fontaine

• Lots of very positive feedback on the conference.
• Universally positive feedback for Gholdy Muhammad.
• Mostly positive feedback about the virtual format
  • Formal report and assessment to follow
  • Numbers are smaller than is typical with an in-person conference, but we came out in the green.
• We did likely get some people attending who would not have been able to attend if it had been in person.
• Greg Pronevitz noted that MLS is joining other organizations to support them; he suggested we consider offering institutional memberships in the future. It’s simply a financial gesture of support, not an expectation for some kind of payback (except perhaps membership rates for conference attendance). 
• Christi Farrar noted that the Teen Summit had a carrot for people to go through a book seller, like a discount, plus a signed bookplate. Something to consider for next time - like offering Gholdy Muhammad’s book that way.
• Reba Tierney noted that one of the international librarians raved about her experience; suggested we should consider trying to expand that in the future.
• Virtual format allows for more options for keynote speakers, so something to consider keeping an option for that in the future.

Treasurer --- Michelle Fontaine

• Negative cashflow last month, but strictly a function of conference expenses before the revenue came in.

Advocacy --- Georgina Trebbe

• Met twice in March vs. February
• Lost 2 members, now down to Claudia Palraman, Debbie Froggat, Georgina Trebbe and Greg Pronevitz.
• Reached out to Senator Eric Lesser’s office and spoke with an aide (Joel) who suggested that we write a letter seeking his support, which Greg Pronevitz is drafting. 
  • Eric Lesser wants to see that resources we spend money on get used. He’s very focused on spending, so we plan to use this data.
  • Reviewed MLS data that shows how powerful schools are in using MLS resources; 50% of database usage, and Sora use is rising.
  • We’re going to ask for a school library/certified school librarian audit; will consult prior studies for design.
  • We have some certified librarians who are not part of MLS or MSLA; we need more advocacy to reach them.
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • Conference theme inspired: starting with joy
  • Designing an Equity Audit- plan is to develop a tool that all school librarians can use. Debbie Froggatt will be leading with BPS.
    
    

Outreach --- Greg Pronevitz

• Report link
• Goal is to point out how we don’t have equity of resources in MA.
• Without a census we can’t say how effective having a library is.
• A school without a librarian will not use resources effectively -- so the resources are going to waste.
• Hoping to get Senator Lesser to support legislation.
• Greg will be at all of the library legislative day meetings on April 6, 7 & 8; let him know if you would like to present.
• Greg has prepared a checklist for school-based legislative event -- let Greg know if you’d like to host one.
• The orientation for legislators by MBLC includes school libraries appropriately; MBLC has identified a legislator they think will share it with other legislators; plan to follow up with our “ask” for a census.

Office manager report --- Emily Kristofek

• We are getting steady renewals, perhaps due to lapsed member initiatives by ADs.
• We are working on PDP certificates.

Question from Melanie Kimball of Simmons U. about library curriculum

• Discussion: students go to practicum and supervising practitioner has no set curriculum in place. This is because DESE does not have one. Would we want to partner with Simmons in proposing one to the DESE?
• Discussion ensued about what exactly the problem is, who should be involved, various standards currently used (e.g., AASL, ALA, Social Studies, Digital Literacy and Computer Science), etc. 
• Laura will get back to Melanie to update her on our discussion of the topic.

Other news/topics from board members 

• Deeth Ellis did an interview with Carol Kuhlthau today!
• Reba Tierney announced that Katherine Steiger will be stepping down from The Forum, so please reach out to her with suggestions for a new Co-Editor. The biggest challenge is getting people to follow through and submit promised articles.

Reba Tierney motioned to adjourn, Laura Harrington seconded, all in favor.


Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Dimmick