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2007 Annual Report
Opportunity Knocks, this year's Conference theme reflects the work of our Association during 2007. Our financial status is good and membership remains stable with many students becoming members. In addition to our ongoing activities, CLA developed a number of new collaborations with the State Library and CALTAC. In addition, the Statewide Summer Reading Program received another year of LSTA funding.
The Legislative Committee continued their innovative work with a successful Day in the District, Legislative Day and podcast as well as participation in Federal Legislative Day. Senator Simitian introduced a new public library construction bond measure. Although it did not pass the Legislature in 2007, the bill is on suspense and will be considered again in January 2008. While the Association was shocked when the Governor reduced PLF and TBR in August, our lobbyists and the Legislative Committee immediately developed a campaign to ask the Governor to restore those funds. The campaign will kick off at conference. Please make a phone call or write a letter to the Governor asking for the restoration of PLF and TBR.
At the beginning of the year, I challenged our association with this question, "Is CLA well positioned for the 21st Century?" In September 2006, our leadership retreat determined that we needed to take a look at how CLA's governance affected member value. We hired a consultant, Paul Meyer from Tecker Associates, who is an expert in nonprofit associations to help us evaluate the governance of our organization. Paul conducted qualitative interviews with individuals who have knowledge of governance and an online survey of the membership. We discovered that members want a nimble, innovative organization. They envision an organization that can provide increased communication both for networking and member input as well as meaningful leadership opportunities. Our members want to use technology to allow more individuals to participate in the organization.
In order to address these findings, I appointed a task force who, with the assistance of our consultant, developed recommendations for ways we can adapt CLA to the needs of our members in the 21st Century. During Conference, these recommendations will be presented to both the outgoing and incoming Assembly for input. Immediately after Conference, these recommendations will be posted on the CLA website for your comments. All comments will be collected and provided to the Executive Committee at their meeting in January. I hope that you will find the time to look at these recommendations and provide comments by December 31, 2007.
Finally, I want to thank the CLA staff and all the members of our Association for a great year. It has truly been an honor to be the President of this organization.
Margaret Todd, 2007 CLA President
Posted on November 9, 2007 9:35 AM | Permalink