NCLPA Business Luncheon NCLA 59 th Biennial Conference October 5, 2011, 12:00 Noon Hickory Metro Center Welcoming remarks were made by Jackie Frye, NCLPA Chair. She expressed thanks to the NCLA and the State Library for recognizing the value of library paraprofessionals. She emphasized that leadership in both organizations has been supportive and inclusive. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Membership increased by 40% Association hosted five programs Executive Board members attended 28 programs representing NCLPA TREASURER S REPORT Linda Hearn Balance $1,891.86 BYLAWS COMMITTEE Linda Hearn, Chair Several minor changes to the Bylaws were proposed, requiring a vote of the active NCLPA membership today. Those changes included changing the following: Executive Committee to Executive Board Gender neutral language Calendar dates for each action leading up to election of officers, the standard adopted for the NCLA Bylaws Motion: To accept the changes to the Bylaws, a motion was made by Cathy Wright. Second by Gloria Nelson. Passed by show of hands vote. SCHOLARSHIP WINNER Jackie Frye introduced Jonda Sanders, winner of the Meralyn G. Meadows Conference Scholarship. Jonda is Youth Services Specialist at the Watauga County Public Library. Jackie Cornette, Chair-Elect, presented her with a check for $100 and a certificate. DOOR PRIZE WINNERS Cathy Wright from Alamance County won the ALA membership Susan Hopkins from Carteret Community College Library won the ECU Paraprofessional Conference Registration. MORE CONFERENCE WINNERS Alesha Lackey, winner of the free raffle held at the NCLPA display table, received a membership to ALA. Each section and roundtable made a gift basket for raffle tickets to be sold at NCLA. The NCLPA basket s theme was Making Memories. The basket was filled with photo and scrapbooking material in a rolling crate. The winner of the drawing held on Friday, October 7, was Sarah Hudson. NEW BOARD MEMBERS After thanks to current officers, committee chairs, and committee members, Jackie Frye presented the officers for the 2011-2013 biennium. Chair: Jackie Cornette Vice-Chair: Harry Frank
Secretary: Gloria Nelson Treasurer: Linda Haynes Region 1 Director: Gloria Nelson Region 2 Director: Vacant Region 3 Director: La-Nita Williams Region 4 Director: Evelyn Johnson PASSING OF THE GAVEL Jackie Frye introduced Jackie Cornette as the new Chair. Jackie Cornette thanked Jackie Frye for all she has done to further the mission of the NCLPA and presented her with a plaque in In Grateful Appreciation For Your Dedication and Commitment as Chair of NCLPA 2009-2011. REPORTS ATTACHED Treasurer s Report Bylaws Membership Report for 2009-2011 BUSINESS MEETING ADJOURNED Respectfully submitted, Marcia Johnson Secretary Jackie Cornette introduced Jeff Robbins, who provided musical entertainment during the luncheon: Jeff Robbins, Mountain, Music, Stories, and Dance Note Do you enjoy some good old mountain music? Join NCLPA for lunch with Jeff Robbins who brings traditional Appalachian music back into our hearts, intertwined with stories, history, and laughter. From the hills of southeastern Virginia, Jeff has listened to these sounds since youth and has performed in fairs and festivals, on television, and in schools and libraries throughout the United States. INVITATION TO OTHER NCLPA PROGRAMS AT THE CONFERENCE: Today, 3:45 5:00 p.m., Room E Come on Down! Make a One String Pork & Bean Can Guitar! with Jeff Robbins Thursday, 9:00 10:00 a.m., Room D E-Readers and You! with Jeffery Hamilton, State Library
NCLPA Biennial Treasurer s Report October 5, 2011 On hand: December 31, 2009 $ 2, 203.94 NCLA withdrawal $ 749.34 (34%) Balance (1/22/2010) $ 1,454.60 Balance (1/1/2011) $ 1751.86 Expenses $ 27.74 Income (workshops and memberships) $ 437.26 Balance as of June 30, 2011 $1,891.86
NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY PARAPROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION BYLAWS ARTICLE I. NAME The name of this organization shall be the North Carolina Library Paraprofessional Association, a round table of the North Carolina Library Association. ARTICLE II. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this organization shall be (a) to unite in this group North Carolina Library Association members interested in the Paraprofessional Association, (b) to provide an opportunity for discussions and activity, and (c) to seek to fulfill the objectives of the North Carolina Library Association. ARTICLE III. MEMBERS Members of the North Carolina Library Association who state a preference for this Round Table at the time of payment of the Association dues shall become members. ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS The officers of this organization shall be: Chair, Chair-Elect, who shall serve as Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and four Regional Directors. The officers shall serve for a two-year term, or until their successors are elected and have assumed their duties. ARTICLE V. EXECUTIVE BOARD The Executive Board shall consist of the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, the immediate past Chair, the four Regional Directors and the chairs of all standing Committees. The standing Committee chairs shall serve as non-voting members. The Executive Board shall have general supervision of the
affairs of the Round Table and shall have the power to act for the Round Table on administrative business of the Round Table in the intervals between biennial meetings. Such administrative business shall include only that business which necessarily must be dealt with prior to the regular biennial meetings. ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS 1. The regular meeting shall be held as a Round Table meeting of the biennial meeting of the North Carolina Library Association. 2. Special meetings may be called at the direction of the Chair, the Executive Board, or upon written request, signed by 15 members and delivered to the Executive Board of the Association. 3. A quorum for the transaction of the business of this Round Table shall consist of those members of the Round Table present at the regular biennial meeting or those members present at a specially called meeting of the Round Table. A quorum of the Executive Board shall consist of those members present. ARTICLE VII. ELECTIONS 1. The Chair shall appoint a committee on Nominations in January of the year of the biennial conference. The committee on Nominations shall prepare a slate of candidates for each elective office to be filled by February 1 of the biennial conference year, consent being secured from the nominees. 2. The list of nominees shall be published no later than March 15 of the biennial conference year. 3. Members of the Round Table who wish to add name(s) to the official ballot must (1) notify the Chair of the Round Table of such action in writing by May 1 of the biennial conference year (2) obtain 10 signatures of members of the Round Table on the notification (3) obtain the consent of the nominee(s) to be so indicated on the notification. Nominees must be members in good standing of the Round Table. 4. A ballot containing space for write-in candidates shall be sent to voting members of the Round Table by June 1 prior to the biennial conference. 5. Ballots shall be marked and returned by July 1. 6. Candidates receiving the majority of votes shall be declared elected. 7. In case of a tie vote the successful candidate shall be determined by lot. 8. Election results shall be announced by September 1 of the biennial conference year. 9. The term of office of all officers shall commence at the adjournment of the biennial business meeting of the Round Table.
ARTICLE VIII. SPECIAL DUTIES OF OFFICERS 1. The Chair shall, with the Executive Board, appoint such committees and define their duties as may be necessary to carry on the work of the North Carolina Library Paraprofessional Association. 2. The Chair of the North Carolina Library Paraprofessional Association shall serve as an ex officio member on all committees with the exception of the Nominating Committee. The Chair shall also serve as Chair of the Executive Board. 3. The Chair of the Executive Board shall appoint any liaisons to other sections and round tables as appropriate. 4. The Chair-Elect shall be elected to the office, and shall assume the responsibilities and perform the duties of the Chair in the event of absence, death, disability or resignation of the Chair. He/she shall serve as Chair during the two years following his/her term as Chair-Elect. 5. The Secretary shall perform the duties normally accepted for such office. 6. The Treasurer shall perform the duties normally accepted for such office. 7. The Regional Directors shall serve on the Program committee and shall be ex officio members of the Membership committee. The Regional Directors shall be a liaison between the Executive Board and the general membership of the Round Table. 8. In the event of a vacancy of any elected officer or regional director of the Round Table, the Executive Board will fill the vacancy by the appointment of a member in good standing of the Round Table. Such appointment(s) shall remain in force until the next regular meeting of the Round Table. ARTICLE IX. COMMITTEES 1. All committees shall be composed of members in good standing of NCLA/NCLPA. They shall serve until their successors have taken office, or until the committee is dissolved. 2. The powers and duties of each committee shall be determined by the Executive Board and defined in written form. One or more copies of the powers and duties of a committee shall be given to the chair of each committee at the beginning of his/her chair ship. 3. Standing Committees. The chair of the standing committees shall be appointed for the North Carolina Library Paraprofessional Association biennium. The standing committees shall include the following: Archives Conference Membership Nominating Program Communications (was Publications) Scholarship
3. Special Committees. Special committees may be created and old committees discontinued at any time by the Executive Board provided that such action is not contrary to the wishes of the membership of this Round Table as expressed at the most recent meeting of the Round Table. 4. Chairs of all standing committees shall serve as non-voting members with the elected officers to make up the Executive Board. Unless otherwise directed, the Chair of the Executive Board shall appoint committee chairs only; committee members are to be appointed by the respective committee chair. ARTICLE X. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY 1. Robert's Rules of Order, latest edition, shall be the governing authority in any matter not specifically covered by these bylaws. 2. Nothing in these bylaws shall conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the North Carolina Library Association. ARTICLE XI. AMENDMENTS 1. These rules may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a meeting called in accordance with the bylaws of this Round Table; or by a mail ballot, provided that (1) the request for such action be submitted to the Executive Committee in writing and signed by 15 members of the Round Table, (2) the total number of returned ballots be not less than 25 percent of the membership of the Round Table, and (3) two-thirds of the mailed ballots returned shall be in the affirmative. Adopted October 11, 1989 Revised October 20, 1993 Revised October 4, 1995 Revised October 9, 1997 Revised September 21, 2005 Revised October 18, 2007 Revised October 5, 2011
NCLPA MEMBERSHIP REPORT 2009-2011 October 4, 2011 On October 26, 2010, NCLPA had forty-six members. On September 21, 2011, membership increased by nineteen to sixty-five members. As we are all aware, all libraries are going through a difficult period. Many are struggling just to keep the doors open and many of those who are able to stay open are having trouble maintaining a full staff and finding funding to purchase new books/materials for their shelves. Many of the directors with whom we spoke said they simply could not think about staff memberships in NCLPA at this time. Hearing this, the Membership Committee determined that it would be more of an aggravation to continue to contact libraries about membership at this time. We agreed, along with the NCLPA Executive Board, to place on hold the MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN (to give a $100 prize to the person bringing in the largest number of members to NCLPA). When the nation s economy improves, this campaign will be considered again. The Membership Committee discussed membership and concluded that the key to helping NCLPA grow involves not only recruiting new members, but also keeping them. So for several months, we have concentrated on making sure that the members we do have will renew when it is time to do so. A strong retention program begins by making members feel that being a member of our organization is worthwhile. Keeping our membership informed about our work on a regular basis is important. We can do this by reporting in our newsletters anything that NCLPA is doing programs, membership information, reference to newspaper articles highlighting libraries, a message from our president about recent accomplishments or details about a new prospect. It is very important that we recognize our members publicly and regularly to let them know their support is important to NCLPA. We tried to use the following methods to increase our membership: 1. Direct Appeal (through letters, phone calls, and messages). We asked Board members to write a 7-9 sentence paragraph about what they receive from being a member of NCLPA the importance of membership. These paragraphs were then posted to our website for all to see. 2. Members of our Board attended the New Members membership dinners and appealed to those attending to join NCLPA. 3. We contacted other roundtables/sections to see if we could sponsor informational booths at workshops/conferences they were sponsoring. 4. We have continued to give discounted registration fees for NCLPA activities and to advertise this discount.
5. We took the message to NCLA and NCLPA meetings that there is a place for everyone in NCLPA. This includes paraprofessionals, support staff, aides, clerks, and librarians anyone with any title who works in a library. All are welcome to join. Everyone receives the same rights and privileges of membership. This includes discounts on conference fees, the opportunity to work on NCLPA committees, and voting rights in elections and membership meetings. In the long term, we had planned to do the following: We discussed ways to respond to the question Why should I join NCLPA? Here are some of the answers we thought would be good: 1. NCLA/NCLPA is our public voice. Many library workers remain silent because of work circumstances. But through our committees, conferences, and publications, our organization becomes our voice. NCLPA is a unified voice for our library community and it can be a powerful voice. Together with NCLA, we are watching things that need to be watched. It takes expertise and time to keep tabs on our political arenas. Working together makes it a whole lot easier. 2. NCLPA offers professional training. Through the biennial conferences and through workshops, the roundtable is a key provider of this training. Things change fast in the library world and training matters. This applies not just to librarians, but to paraprofessionals, friends, trustees, and volunteers. This is the reason why all these groups should join our association. 3. NCLPA gives us perspective. It is so easy to get trapped in the issues of our own job. Getting out, hearing that our problems aren t unique, and that, in fact, some of these problems have been solved somewhere else, will make us better library workers. 4. NCLPA offers opportunities for personal growth. Serving on committees means you develop friendships and partnerships that make your work life more fun and more interesting. It sharpens your skills. It helps you become or grow as a leader. These are some of the membership points that we tried to emphasize in 2009-2011. We invited and encouraged all library workers to join our roundtable. We reminded every that we could help them and they could help us. Submitted by: Meralyn Meadows Membership Chair for 2009-2011