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President's Column
As conference comes ever closer, I am upbeat about registration and the potential for a really great conference. Thanks to Richard Berta at our CLA office, we now have weekly registration statistics. Compared to registration last year at this time for the San Jose Conference, numbers are up 10.5%! It is heartening to know how valuable conference is to our members despite the economy! So if you have not yet registered, consider doing so and come network with your colleagues. And remember the fun events and tours available. If you have just a few mad dollars to spend, the CLA's special events are a good bargain for a great time. Also, we have also just received confirmation that ALA President, Camila Alire will be at conference making a presentation on advocacy on Monday at 9 am. We will be pleased to have her join us.
I have been contacted by some Interest Group chairs who are already planning their year ahead. Many are interested in some sort of virtual option which is not only green but smart. The availability of the technology infrastructure for a truly virtual interest group is still pending until CLA has offices and staff that can accommodate it. However, in the interim, Groups are using conference calling, "Go to Meetings" and other creative options. For any CLA member who would like to form a new Interest Group contact the CLA office for information. I will be attempting to join all Interest Group meetings being held at conference to share your enthusiasm and hear about what you want to do.
CLA is in preliminary contract negotiations with the Association Resource Center, the association management company that may run our operations. The CLA Board will discuss the draft contract during a telephone conference meeting on September 24th and begin final negotiations for a planned decision by Conference. The Finance Committee has already reviewed the fiscal impact of the draft contract. In addition, the Board is very much aware that we need to find a permanent Executive Director and will also be discussing how best to achieve that.
It is my pleasure to be able to share that CLA is now an Associate Member of the Urban Libraries Council. This membership will allow CLA complete access to all the member benefits including events, committee participation, discussion listservs and research publications. ULC will be offering their Foresight 2020 Initiative as one of the Unconference topics in Pasadena. It is my hope that having access to all the research done by this remarkable organization will allow CLA to share ULC findings as appropriate with all CLA members, many of whom do not meet the membership criteria to be members individually. CLA also encourages any library meeting their membership criteria to become a member and increase California membership in this organization.
Your three presidents - current, immediate past and president-elect - are all busy with appointments and nominations. I am nearly complete with my appointments to the new Leadership Development Committee. Monique and her nominations committee are very close to having a slate for the regular election and Kim is working hard on her committee appointments for next year. I know I speak on behalf of all three of us when I say THANK YOU to all who have agreed to serve or stand for election. This state is blessed with CLA members who care about the organization, who believe in working together and are so very generous with their time.
I am so excited that we now have an electronic newsletter and I hope that you all forward it on to colleagues or fellow staff that may not be members. It’s a great way to understand what's going on with CLA as well as a way to introduce the possibilities of CLA to others. Please give me your feedback and share what you hear from others so we may make this member benefit the best it can be.
Submitted to California Libraries by:
Barbara Roberts
CLA President
Posted on September 23, 2009 9:59 AM | Permalink