Session - American Library Association



AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONExecutive Board Meeting Minutes2020 Midwinter MeetingPhiladelphia, PAThe ALA Executive Board met in the Independence Room at the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia, PA from January 24-28, 2020.Session I: Friday, January 24, 2020: 8:30-12:00 p.m.The Board convened at 8:30 am on Friday, January 24, 2020 with President Wanda Brown presiding. All board members were present.Procedural/Consent ItemsBy consent, the Board accepted the following items: Midwinter Board Agenda, EBD #9.5.4President’s Report EBD #7.2President-elect’s Report EBD #7.3Executive Director Report EBD #12.24 Fall Board Meeting Minutes EBD #2.4Vote Tally from Fall Board Meeting EBD #1.2Center for the Future of Libraries Report EBD #12.36Update on CORE: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures EBD #12.37Publishing Report EBD #12.38Executive Committee ReportPresident Brown briefly reported that the Executive Committee met on Thursday, January 23, 2020. She thanked Ms. Garcia-Febo for assisting her with facilitating her first Executive Committee meeting at Midwinter. The committee discussed the following: BudgetResponse to ACRL and PLA regarding their letter stating they will not support SCOE without a financial analysis. The taskforce working on the financial implications will be identified by April and work through October. The analysis may be ready earlier. Preparation for Council sessions. Review of Midwinter Board Talking Points Executive Director, Mary Ghikas developed a document of Midwinter Board Talking Points, which were distributed.Public Policy and Advocacy Office Report - EBD #12.25 & Public Policy & Advocacy Office Q4 Dashboard and Scorecard - CBD #17.0Washington Office Associate Executive Director Kathi Kromer reported on the following activities:National Archives and Records Administration will send a response back to ALA’s January 21st statement regarding the altering of photos used in an exhibit. The library presidential forum with the New Hampshire Library Association in Concord on January 11 was cancelled as many candidates are in the United States Senate and without an impeachment schedule, none were able to confirm. Ms. Kromer shared ALA’s 2020 Congressional Calendar, produced with Advocacy investment funding, which includes both Federal and State events. ALA worked for two federal nominations: Hugh Halpern as Director of the Government Publishing Office and Crosby Kemper as Director of IMLS. His nomination took 51 days and had three federal holidays. The nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service has noted that it currently takes about 115 days. In the Reagan administration, it was less than 57 days. ALA’s advocacy in this area was successful.The President is tentatively scheduled to announce his budget on Monday, February 10. ALA will be on the Hill with an advocacy group on February 11 to be meet with key offices about priorities. ALA released an updated version of the Libraries' Guide to the 2020 Census this week, with a couple sessions here at Midwinter.ALA National Network: Alabama, Florida, and New York are pilot states. As of the end of last year, they all identified their key contacts. They had their first training two weeks ago, as well as a webinar Monday night to learn about the differences in the roles in congressional offices and the differences between a district office and federal office. The National Network Advisory Committee meeting is in person here at Midwinter, and we'd like to thank President-Elect Jefferson for hosting the group.Registration for National Library Legislative Day is off to a strong start with over 150 registered. The investment funds enabled ALA to contract out the registration platform, which has streamlined the process. Mr. Garcia noted that as ALA was part of the NCGS group that sent a letter to ICANN about the dot org domain sale and asked if there was a response from ICANN. Ms. Kromer noted that the ICANN Board meets on February 17 to discuss the issue. Mr. Garcia asked if it would be beneficial to sign on to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s statement. Ms. Kromer noted the difference between the letter that ICANN sent was actually not opposing the sale but saying if it happened, whoever purchased it should adhere to the same principles that were out there abiding by, like the nonprofit conditions, whereas the Foundation’s statement opposed the sale. Mr. Garcia motioned that Board authorize ALA to sign onto the Electronic Frontier Foundation statement opposing the sale of the dot org domain to a for-profit business. Ms. Wong seconded. Voted, to authorize ALA support the Electronic Frontier Foundation Statement to oppose the sale of the dot org domain to a for-profit entity. Ms. Kromer also provided an update on social media outreach. About 29% of the content coming out of ALA crosses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Social media efforts around the Census reached nearly 20,000 people. Ms. Kromer acknowledged the strong work of Emily Wagner and the advocacy social media team. Development Office Report – EBD #6.3Sheila O’Donnell, Director of Development, updated the Board:2020 first quarter was slow in terms of fund-raising and number of donors, but December saw significant in terms of cash in the door and a spike in the number of donors. Raised close to $4 million in December 2019 versus about $430,000 in 2018 Received a portion of the Google money, $1.5 millionReceived?a contribution of $1.5 million from an anonymous donor to support PPO's efforts and work with rural libraries. Giving Tuesday was December 3 in 2019, which is generally in November.Development is working with Membership and other units to pursue corporate membership and sponsors.Development collaborated with PPO to utilize Salesforce for an "E-books for All" fundraising campaign just before Thanksgiving, which resulted in about $11,000Ms. O’Donnell briefly discussed the December results & analysis (CBD #24.0).Working to provide Salesforce metrics to provide BARC and the Board to highlight the benefit of Salesforce. The investment budget was used for Salesforce, new staffing, and a limited amount for additional resources for printed materials and mailings. Development Office is again fully staffed. Genevieve Hicks is the New Assistant Director working on gifts. The Philanthropy Advisory Group (PAG) Report - EBD #6.4 Ms. Lenore England, Chair, provided the PAG update:PAG has been underway for seven months and now has a full officer roster. The group conducted a very successful retreat, where they voted on offices and brainstormed on actionable projects.Had a brainstorming session on strategy, organized by ongoing; near-term, future, and big-picture ideas. PAG will have regular quarterly meetings. Working on reaching out and attending functions and events. In the near future, PAG will involve members. For 1876 and Legacy Society, PAG wants to have regular reports to the Council and build a pool of ambassadors. Key strategy for these groups is communications, a video strategy and gift strategy. In the future, everyone should know about those two groups. PAG is developing the protocol and developing a strategic direction for stewardship. Ongoing funding: PAG will look at advocacy and building a major gifts initiative, evaluating the membership renewal packet, changing the solicitation strategy and schedule, and partnering with the Membership department to help with funding. Communications: Develop a communications schedule about philanthropy. Write an article for AL Direct in the future, which is part of an effort to promote a culture of philanthropy and develop the culture of philanthropy through the divisions' materials. Eventually ensure there is a public facing donation portal that is communicated more clearly. PPP group (philanthropy policies, procedures, and protocol) was established to research and investigate how to enhance philanthropy, particularly building coordinated efforts across divisions. PPP is also looking at developing an organic giving culture, major gifts program, and a single robust governance structure. Ms. England is currently chairing the Nominating Committee as there is not yet a past chair yet. The committee is looking at succession planning and developing a timeline for recruitment efforts. Equity Diversity and Inclusion Updates - EBD #12.26Martin Garnar, Chair of Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services (ODLOS) Advisory Committee, noted that as the previous Taskforce was sunsetted, an official report has not been provided. He and Ms. LaHurd, Interim Director of ODLOS, took questions regarding ODLOS’s efforts in EDI:Ms. Wong asked what they viewed as the most pressing priorities for this work:Mr. Garnar noted that the vacant Director position and other staff shortages are a challenge and have slowed implementation of some initiatives. He also noted that, as reflected in the Implementation Working Group's final report, what is needed is a change in culture at all levels of the Association. That work needs to be broad-based and not just conference-based.Ms. Lahurd noted that ODLOS has offered significant continuing education work this fall. Staffing is not at capacity but continues to thrive in many ways. She also emphasized the importance of better and coordinated communication throughout the association, which will aid this work. Mr. Dawes commended the work of ODLOS, ACRL, PLA, ARL on cultural competency. He asked how the association is improving on communications, if there are any recommendations as to how that change happens: Mr. Garnar noted one consideration is how to utilize the existing member bodies and what is the appropriate role for the ODLOS Advisory Committee and Committee on Diversity. These committees need a specific sense of a mission.Ms. Lahurd noted that a both a new ODLOS Director and ALA Executive Director will benefit from participating in these early discussions.Ms. Garcia-Febo provided the following updates:There was a meeting with the state library associations, and all library associations came together to affirm their commitment to EDI ARL is working with ACRL, ODLOS, and PLA to develop a framework for cultural proficiency in racial equity. COSLA, the association of state libraries, is building on that statement as well. The video series on EDI in our libraries will be featured later today on the ASCLA Forum on Deaf Culture. Ms. Garcia-Febo also asked about the status of the trainings that ALA staff are receiving on EDI. Two sessions for staff and one for supervisors was held, but further sessions are on hold. Dan Hoppe, Associate Executive Director of Human Resources, reported that given the numerous changes for staff, such as the move, trainings were tabled until the next fiscal year to ensure stronger focus and strategy. Mr. Dawes noted that focus on EDI for staff is needed now, even with all the current change, and tabling the work sends the wrong message.Ms. McCauley asked if there is coordination on the staff side around EDI and goals that every office has within their work, and if that is coordinated with ODLOS. Ms. Lahurd noted that the strategic direction is more a universal guiding tool. Many projects come through ODLOS for support and for coordination. In terms of shared goals, ODLOS is not always privy to how units implement the principles. ODLOS held a retreat and mapped the guiding principles in the final report to our current projects and to upcoming projects.Ms. Pelayo-Lozada discussed the possibility of exploring an EDI Assembly in the Forward Together. She moved that the ODLOS Advisory Committee create an?an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Assembly subcommittee. Ms. McCauley seconded.Voted, to approve the creation of an Equity Diversity Inclusion Assembly, coordinating EDI efforts across the association by ALA Annual. Mr. Garnar recommended implementation after Annual 2020. The Board also discussed the strategy and timing for implementation of the overall cultural change. Ms. Ghikas emphasized the importance of the Executive Director and Board in driving intention and change, as well as the importance of communication between groupsIT Strategy Investment Update EBD #12.27 & Technology Investment Plan Budget EBD #12.27a Jim Gibson, Chief Information Officer, provided the following updates:Infrastructure:Focused heavily on the move, in terms of the co-location, moving servers, migrating information to off-site servers, and retiring those legacy server pleted a laptop refresh for all staff in December.Implemented and completed security training for the staff, with 98% compliance. Data Management:Implemented Salesforce, with plans for further enhancement.Hired an Experience Manager, Nick Aleck, who will tackle the recommendations from the digital audit. He will also work on establishing digital management standards, content, and digital strategy. IT Organization Structure:Updated IT ticket tracking system so to help increase service levels and reporting. That is reflected in the December scorecard provided. Contracted positions are flagged to remain so, Managed Service Provider and Quality Assurance Tester. A cross-functional advisory council within ALA helped IT prioritize six or seven projects based on business cases. A sample scorecard for IT is included in the document.Mr. Gibson noted there was an outage on the Store in December that forced IT to make an upgrade and reassessed an operational checklist to ensure day-to-day functions. IT also implemented system monitoring software implementation, called New Relic. Investment Budget:A lot of that money is coming out of we had a lot of money set aside for an AMS replacement. Rather than implementing Salesforce across the organization, IT will upgrade the iMIS AMS system and put more investment around our business intelligence systems and our data so that we can collect data in the central place and then be able to report out on it. Data cleansing will be included in the upgrade.Technology Roadmap:Salesforce Phase 2 and AMS and BI implementation have been pushed to 2021.$900,000 is budgeted for the IT portion of the move, and to date IT has already saved $180,000 through price negotiation with vendors. Plan to implement Store enhancements, but after enhancements, IT will focus less on new project development and more on repairing and improving current things.For savings, IT will look at a Managed Service Provider, which provides network support and desktop support and will release an RFP at the end of January. IT will look for cost savings and potentially transition in May onward to achieve a full quarter of cost savings. Investment-funded positions have been pushed to 2021, including CIO, Business Analyst, and Connect Specialist. The Delcor contract has been extended through the move. Savings anticipated for IT projects: $25,000 in 2020 for the managed service provider and year-over-year savings after that totaling up to half a million by the end of FY2024. Mr. Gibson noted that when Delcor’s contract ends in April, he would recommend monthly check-ins between himself and the interim CIO, as well as some time spent with the new CIO during the transition.Ms. Farrell asked about the depreciation of FY17 & FY18 that have not impacted budgets yet. Mr. Gibson noted that most of that capital overage and then the depreciation expense is from the development vendors. Vendors can no longer overspend or do any kind of work without complete sign-off from IT. Ms. Farrell emphasized that ALA can't afford to overspend, and controls are needed throughout the organization. She also emphasized her disappointment at having a surprise overage of this magnitude at the end of the calendar, which will have significant repercussions over the forthcoming year. Mr. Dawes noted that it would be beneficial to see a projected budget from IT. Mr. Garcia asked what has been put in place to ensure that there is not another extended outage of the store. Mr. Gibson noted that the checklist mentioned earlier, as well as additional monitoring to alert IT more quickly.Mr. Garcia also asked if the $185,000 salary for the CIO aligns with similar positions in the industry and within the Association. Mr. Gibson noted it is on the low-end for Chicago. Ms. Wong asked if there is a plan in process for the move, given Delcor’s contract is up in April. Mr. Gibson and Dan Hickey are in place for the move, along with Ms. Vanyek and Tim Smith, Director of Infrastructure.Office of Intellectual Freedom Report - EBD #12.28Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) provided the following report:Ms. Caldwell-Stone emphasized one aspect of the report, which is that there are significant vocal minorities in the United States who have rejected the idea that libraries are pluralistic spaces that should be offering diverse materials to serve a diverse communities, and they see libraries as places that need to be made safe against any materials or programming that challenge their morality or religious views. She noted the following issues:Groups are bringing significant challenges to books and programming. They are also pursuing legislation, such as House Bill 2024. Meeting rooms in libraries remain an issue, such as the situation in Leander, Texas where they responded to Drag Queen Story Hour by shutting down their meeting room. St. Mary's County had money deducted from its budget for the security costs that were associated with Drag Queen Story Hour. A State’s Attorney noted that this could open the library to lawsuits and funding was restored.Seattle Public Library has been dealing with a controversy with a group called the Women's Liberation Front, a group termed trans-exclusionary feminists.There has been an issue regarding a partisan decision to deny funding for digital access to The New York Times in a Florida library.OIF is studying and working with groups that are promoting access to literature in prisons, most particularly with the Freedom to Learn project in Illinois.Privacy issues: The LinkedIn situation continues with the status quo.The Privacy Subcommittee has worked on updating vendor guidelines for privacy contracts, and there is discussion of a Council resolution regarding vendor privacy. Facial recognition and general surveillance in libraries remain an issue.In Michigan, a library director worked with a local legislator to propose significant changes to the Michigan library confidentiality statute that would place all privacy decisions to the discretion of the library director. ALA is working with leadership at the Michigan Library Association to combat that.Ms. Caldwell-Stone commended Kristin Pekoll, Ellie Diaz, and Yumeka Brown in the Office. OIF is currently working on the following issues:Daily reports of challenges In process on developing a new edition of the Intellectual Freedom ManualDeveloping new relationships and working very closely with the State Advocacy Manager, Megan Cusick.Mr. Garcia thanked OIF for its work on First Amendment auditors. Ms. Caldwell-Stone noted this work is part of the newly appointed Surveillance Task Force that's working under the Intellectual Freedom Committee. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) - EBD #12.29Emily Drabinski, International Relations Chair; Julius C. Jefferson Jr., ALA President-elect; and Michael Dowling, Director International Relations Office provided updates on the UN SDGs:Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Dowling, and Ms. Garcia-Febo attended a meeting at the University of Illinois, called the U.S.-Russian Dialogue Group, sponsored in part by the Kettering Foundation. The meeting presented an opportunity for ALA to take a leadership goal in promoting SDGs in libraries.Mr. Dowling noted that EBD #12.29 provides background on the SDGs. As the U.S. and Russia are countries where there is less focus on these goals, IFLA proposed a task force to promote the SDGs.Ms. Garcia-Febo noted that she was part of the IFLA delegation advocating for access to information, which is at the core of the work at the United Nations. Through that work, ALA shared the goals with libraries and membership. She also noted that Australia, Sweden, and Finland are three countries that have developed documents about the relationship of libraries with the SDGs. Mr. Jefferson moved that the Executive Board approve the Task Force on the United Nations 2020 Sustainable Development Goals with the charge and composition outlined in the accompanying attachment. Mr. Garcia seconded.Voted, to approve the creation of the Task Force on the United Nations 2020 Sustainable Development Goals.Sustainability Task Force Update - EBD #10.2Rebekkah Smith Aldrich and Rene Tanner, Co-Chairs, provided the following updates:An appendix to EBD #10.2 provides highlights and recommendations to the new Executive Director for the coming years. New York Library Association (NYLA) has developed a sustainability toolkit and proposal.The task force recommends an ALA webpage devoted to sustainability in libraries, as well as reflecting ALA’s efforts at organizational sustainability, like with the move to a LEED building. Sustainability was added as an emerging policy issue to the ALA legislative agenda, due to the great work of task force member Sara Dallas, who also sits on the Legislative Committee.The task force created dashboard tool to help multiple stakeholders.Working to align the task force with the work of the Sustainability Round Table.Discussed with Ms. Ghikas about the transition to the new Executive Director. New York Library Association Sustainable Library Certification Program: A letter from the Executive Director of the NYLA references a project created by 25 members of the New York Library Association for a certification program. 50 public libraries and 15 school libraries are also about to launch an academic library program to create methodical approach to certification.The task force recognized at the IFLA Conference in Athens, Greece, and was the first United States organization to win an award through their Green Libraries program. Mr. Garcia moved that move that ALA officially offer a sustainability pledge for all future ALA conferences. Ms. Wong seconded.Voted, to approve a sustainability pledge for future ALA conferences.The Board discussed bringing the Sustainable Library Certification Program to the national level. Ms. Ghikas noted that ALA is looking into collaborating with NYLA on this topic. Mr. Garcia requested a status report on this project be provided at Annual. Budget Update EBD #12.39Ms. Ghikas and Denise Moritz, Interim CFO, provided the following updates:Significant changes are necessary to ensure a sustainable association. There will be a reassessment of projects that do not forward the mission of the organization. Ms. Wong asked if checks and balances are in place to ensure that significant overspend does not happen again. Ms. Ghikas noted that the IT spending occurred in order to get the Store running no matter what, but had she been aware of the overspend, other things might have been deployed to mitigate it.IT has been instructed to keep their own set of books, and Ms. Ghikas and Ms. Moritz are looking into other ways of getting a handle on IT expenditures.ALA is also reassessing the current development environment. An RFP is being created for a potential new developer. Ms. Farrell called attention to page 8 of the document concerning short-term investments and noted the following:Current cash on hand is just under $2 million from a high in 2016 of $14 million. ALA cannot afford the current deficit and current operations are financially unstable. ALA should consider Forward Together with the financial lens, while ensuring the core piece of Forward Together - member services and member engagement – is not lost.Encouraged Ms. Ghikas and Ms. Hall, as she steps into the ED role, to work with managers to tighten up the revenues and the expenditures.Mr. Garcia asked if there was an update on the success of the publishing the grab-and-go pamphlets pilot from 2018. Ms. Ghikas noted it was not a successful pilot and will not be pursued. The Board entered into closed session.Session II: Monday, January 27, 2020: 2:00-4:00 p.m.The Board convened at 2:00 pm on Monday, January 28, 2019 with President Wanda Brown presiding. The Board entered a closed session.The Board reconvened and made the following amendments to the agenda: Report on Endowment Trustees Report EBD #13.1 & Endowment Transfer Policy EBD #13.2 is postponed.Membership Report EBD#12.30 is postponed until the next Board call.Joint Budget Analysis Review Committee (BARC)/Finance and Audit (F&A) Committee Report - EBD #3.13Maggie Farrell, ALA Treasurer, provided a summary from the recent BARC/F&A Meeting:EBD #3.13 was just finalized after the BARC/F&A joint meeting on Friday afternoon. FY19 year-end financials, as well as the FY20 3-month results, were reviewed.In FY19, there was a net expense or expense over revenue of $4.5 million. As of November 30, 2019, FY2020 are tracking another net expense of minus 2.3 million. While that is only three months numbers, this year is tracking slightly better.The F&A Committee met with the auditor this morning. The committee will likely review the final audit findings in February and bring a recommendation to the Board after the review.F&A, with concurrence of BARC, recommends to the Executive Board the Presidential Program's preliminary budget submitted by the 2020-2021 ALA president, EBD#3.25. Voted, on the recommendation of F&A with concurrence of BARC, to approve the presidential programs preliminary budget submitted by the 2020-2021 ALA President (EBD #3.25)FY 2019 Audit Report EBD #3.14John Fedus, a partner with Mueller & Co., ALA’s external audit firm, presented the following report. He was joined by Tim Koehl and Nina Moeller:The statement of Reports of Independent Financial Accountants is provided. Auditors are still working on wrapping up some open items in the financial statement audit. The single audit has been completed. Mr. Fedus provided the following highlights from the initial report of the Financial Statement Audit:New accounting standards are impacting nonprofits this year, so there are many differences between last year’s report and this year’s. Two new standards were adopted, the non-for-profit financial statement standard and post-retirement and pension footnote disclosure.Statement of Financial Position: Short-term investments are down from 9.3 million to 4.9 million. As a result of the new standards, there is a new line called Building Held for Sale, so the ALA Headquarters, since it was held for sale during the audit period, it was pulled out from property and equipment and recorded it at the net book value. Liabilities and Net Assets: Used some funds from line of credit: $2 million to fund some operating expenses. Paid down much long-term debt: $2 million outstanding between current and long-term portion last year is now down to $900,000.Increased post-retirement accrual. In prior years, some revisions and amendments to the post-retirement plan that benefitted the organization to reduce the liabilities. Similar kind of curtailments were not available this year, so the liability calculation was a little higher. There are some changes in wording in the audit pronouncement due to the change in standards.Statement of Functional Expense: ALA spends at 78%: 4.42 million of 5.4 million related to programming, which is 78%.Outside watchdog groups like to see about 20% to 25% of your cost to be in that management in general and fund-raising. Two of the expenditures, the net periodic pension cost other than the service cost and the pension-related changes, are now listed in non-operating. Excess operating revenues and other support over operating expenditures before nonoperating activities resulted in approximate loss of about $4.6 million this year. For the year the organization has changes in net assets of a decrease of about 7.3 million. Mr. Fedus provided the following updates on footnotes:Liability increased this year. With actuary calculations, the decrease from 4.2 to 3.25 had an impact on the liability calculation. Note on page 34: there is significant activity subsequent to August 31. Auditors are required to make the reader aware of that and describe your new lease arrangement for your new lease property you are going to be getting into. On the letter of credit on the lease itself, ALA has a new financing agreement for the propertyLeasehold improvements are part of ALA’s lease from the new lessor. Larger grants in the future next year are over the materiality threshold.Note U is the last of the new footnotes related to the new financial statement standard. This is the Liquidity and Availability, and it provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the assets of the organization. As of August 31, ALA has approximately $9.8 million available for general operating. There is $14 million in board-designated endowment. If ALA ever had to use that, the organization could obviously go to the board. On page 36, there is a detailed breakout for the property held for sale. Single Audit Summary Annual Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards: A summary of all federal awards that were expended during the year, $1.4 million this year compared to last year at about $1.6 million. No prior year findings at all to report, which is commendable to the organization to not have any findings reported for the testings and the financial statements and/or the single audit testing of major programs. Mr. Koehl noted that the Conclusion Letter of the audit is included, and there would an Internal Control Letter, if any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses were found, but none were. Ms. Moeller noted that the letter would contain a list of information auditors would be required to disclose under certain circumstances. She noted the following:No disagreements with management. Not knowledgeable of any consultations with other accountants. As part of our general procedures, auditors communicate with the management very frequently regarding adoption of accounting policies as part of their services. Encountered some delays in obtaining some documentation as auditors are finishing up testing. This is primarily due to changes that have been made at ALA's headquarters. With regards to corrected and uncorrected misstatements, auditors did not identify any material adjustments during audit, but the last page outlines some uncorrected misstatements that have been discussed with management:The first two related to inventory is related to prior years. The first one is regards to inventory price testing. We had to extract areas we found were minimal and then we have this variance. The variance of $28,000 is significantly less than in prior years, which was about $80,000, which was also waived. During analysis on inventory reserve, auditors identified that the allowance for the reserve included both sales of hard and digital copies. The analysis has since been revised by management, and moving forward, they will only include hard copies of sales when determining that, as digital sales do not have a cost associated.The final adjustment identified was an $800 error in timing for deferred conference revenue and one that would be recognized, so that variance had to be extrapolated across the whole population.This list is, as of today, complete, but as auditors wrap up testing, there may or may not be additional items included.Mr. Fedus noted that in total, the net aggregate related to those adjustments, management deemed to be not material to the financial statements, and auditors agree that they were not material to the financial statements.Session III: Tuesday, January 28, 2020: 12:30-4:30 p.m.The Board convened on Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 12:30 pm.Steering Committee of Organizational Effectiveness (SCOE) Update - EBD #12.31Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, Executive Board Member, provided the following updates:Feedback at Midwinter and virtual session:Shift in focus reflects a sense of urgency, especially concerning the fiscal implications and the need for change. There is support for the Forward Together recommendations, but with a few sticking points:Council: There are quite a few quiet supporters of what potentially will be no more Council in Forward Together, but we have a lot of vocal concerns that need to be worked out. 1% round table issue for members is particularly difficult. The conversation has shifted a little bit, especially in light of the fiscal conversation, and it's shifting more growing membership. How can Round Tables continue to grow? More visible committees of the Association and Council are concerned about how their work will be accomplished in the new model. SCOE is looking at the ‘how-to” of this.“SCOE groupies” are self-named individuals who trying to dig deep into the Forward Together recommendations. Representation and participation are an issue, how the two work together and who gets a seat at the table. Reaffirmed the need and the mechanism of Phase 2 to assess the “how,” conducting fiscal analysis, and articulating what member participation and member valueHeard feedback that Forward Together is still operating under the right principles but there is still work to do.Next Steps:SCOE team is building an initial timeline for Phase 2.More regular communication, highlighting reports and issues, potentially through blog posts and or videos.Building FAQs for the website.Increase the frequency of talking points to set up Phase 2 for success. February 13 webinar scheduled.Plan to schedule a Council webinar for the governance piece in particular. Expected report from Constitution and Bylaws to help map out the changes in governance. That report will be considered along with Eli Mina’s initial parliamentarian report, which outlines weaknesses that identified in our Constitution, Bylaws, and structure that need to be addressed regardless of Forward Together.Continue discussions with Chapters.Need to begin the process of identifying potential team members for the Phase 2 plan. Initial plans aimed to have the team in place by May, and those appointments would be made by Ms. Brown. The Board discussed the importance of ensuring inclusivity both in Phase 2 team and in implementation. The Board also discussed the importance of clarifying the Midwinter Meeting changes and Forward Together are separate initiatives.Ms. Farrell noted that some direction or clarification is needed from the Board on the financial aspects of Forward Together, particularly as it pertains to Operating Agreements. In discussions, uncertainty about how Operating Agreements will function is a barrier to buy-in.Ms. Brown noted that Division Presidents requests one-on-one meetings for more transparency and clarification.Ms. Pelayo-Lozada outlined the following Action Items:An open call for committee members to work on Phase 2, which will include a specific charge and desired skills and perspectivesMore frequent communicationA separate conversation regarding Operating AgreementsSet up a meeting with Division leadershipContinue working with Chapters and Round TablesThe Board entered a closed session. The Board reconvened after the conclusion of the closed session. Communication and Marketing Office - EBD #12.32Stephanie Hlywak Director, Communications and Marketing Office (CMO), reported the following:In addition to the board document, Ms. Hlywak provided a supplemental media report on the activities at Midwinter:Provide staff with two-page talking points before every major conference.I Love my Librarian event took place at Midwinter for the first time. Ms. Hlywak noted that the event felt big and exciting, though she hoped for a better attendance but there were some conflicts at the time. Her Office will look at various ways to increase attendance in the future. The Youth Media Awards were heldMs. Hlywak commended the work of her staff. Some 40 awards were presented in 90 minutes. Media coverage, as of today, is estimated at a value of $600 million. Streamed live onlineHighlights to the community in terms of promoting our core values through the books that we honor. Since the previous board meeting, the Office placed nearly 7,000 articles about ALA. Moving forward, the Office will implement a last-day-of-conference report, especially as social media can have a more real-time effect. Libraries Transform:Eboni Henry, Chair of the Public Awareness Committee, and Ms. Hlywak will collaborate on a proposal for the April Board meeting to reauthorize the extension of Libraries Transform through 2021, currently scheduled to sunset on August 30. CMO, along with Booklist and a other stakeholders, launched the Libraries Transform Book Pick last fall, which coincided really well with our push around eBooksForAll, and it was an opportunity for everyone with an e-reader and a library card to read the same book at the same time across the country without waiting times or limits on holds. Received a generous contribution from Apple and Oprah's Book Club that will support campaign this year and next in terms of creating materials, videos, and other collateral that help show the value of librarianship and the work of libraries across the country. Libraries Transform is also potentially going to be connected and/or branded as part of the ALA Advocacy Tour this summer. ALA association-wide work:Staff Changes:On February 3, CMO will add its first full-time social media manager. Jan Carmichael will be more outward-facing support for the missioned a number of studies and will work with Delcor to understand website challenges. Lindsey Simon will be revitalizing with a proper content strategy. That remains our public-facing website. Provide support to our presidents and their presidential focus areas, including the Advocacy Tour this summer. Provided support in onboarding new Executive Director Mr. Garcia requested that CMO capture and archive hashtag histories around conversations being had in social media that can be forwarded to Board to inform and facilitate discussions.The Board discussed with Ms. Hlywak issues concerning Oprah’s Book Club and the McAllen Public Library. McAllen Public Library opted not to participate due to problematic aspects of the selected book. Ms. Hlywak emphasized the ALA acts a behind-the-scenes facilitator, connecting libraries with the Book Club. ALA does not actively promote the book or mandate participation from libraries. Moving forward, CMO will explore procedures to vet books.Conference Services Report - EBD #12.33 Earla Jones, Director, Conference Services reported the following:Implementation of Midwinter changes has been pushed to 2022. Following the Conference Committee meeting that took place in November, consultants pulled together conversational data together to provide a matrix with different tools to help the actual planning and design process. At this time, consultants are having conversations with four stakeholder focus groups.Mr. Dawes noted that there continues to be voiced concerns around holding Midwinter in San Antonio in 2022. The Board discussed ensuring that logistics of Board attendance at events is clarified. They also discussed the process of confirming speakers and how sessions are facilitated, as well as other conference logistical issues such as accessibilityMs. Jones presented two actions from the report: 1. The approval of the skeleton schedule for Midwinter and annual for 2021 and 2. The approval of the Annual Conference site for 2028. Voted to approve the skeleton schedule for 2021 conferences. Voted, to approve Denver, CO as the site for the 2028 Annual Conference.Joint Working Group on eBooks and Digital Content in Libraries - EBD #12.34Alan Inouye, Senior Director, Public Policy & Government Relations, provided the following updates:Thanked the Executive Board for its strong support of e-book advocacy The issue is becoming a higher priority in Congress. In the fall, ALA was invited by the House Judiciary Committee to submit comments. Since then, ALA has been reaching out to the members of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law. Mr. Garcia noted that library stakeholders will be part of a round table with Congressman Cicillini, Chair of the subcommittee, on February 3 on issues including the Macmillan embargo and some of the other digital content issues.Joint Working Group on Digital Content met for the first time Sunday morning. John Sargent had this "ask me anything"?session on Saturday morning, as well as a private meeting with Wanda brown, Mary Ghikas, Tracie Hall, Kathi Kromer, and Mr. Inouye.The public meeting was 90 minutes and had over 100 attendees. The sense was that people were not satisfied with his responses. Ms. Brown noted that the private meeting was beneficial, with both Mr. Sargent and ALA leaving with some homework to pursue.BARC Return of Investment (ROI) Metrics - EBD #3.15Ms. Farrell provided a brief background for the investment metrics. The Board proposed in 2017 and finalized in 2018 the Strategic Investment Fund for implementation in 2019. She noted that the commitment to develop accountability for the metrics were shared last year with Council and PBA and was worked on by BARC and F&A with Divisions. That information was widely shared. Peter Hepburn, Chair of Budget Analysis Review Committee (BARC), provided the following updates:Questions have arisen about ROI, and those questions seem to be monetarily focused. However, this ROI framework isn't strictly monetary. There is a focus on some of that in financial and development with the development investment plan budget. The other investment areas focus on member and staff engagement, in terms of ROI. The framework is outlined in EBD#3.15, and Mr. Hepburn thanked Steve Potter and Brett Bonfield for all the work they did in leading this for BARC. ALA Staff also received a copy and had the opportunity to provide feedbackThe framework lays a groundwork for continuous long-term data collection. BARC moves that that Executive Board adopt the Strategic Framework for Return on Investment Metrics associated with the American Library Association's 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 investment budgets. Voted, to adopt the Strategic Framework for ROI Metrics 2019-2021. Board Liaison ReportsMs. Garcia-Febo reported:As shared earlier, REFORMA will be issuing a statement on the Oprah Book Club selection. Attended FTRF meeting, and they provided feedback on the Square protest issue, noting that ALA cannot go through this type of situation again.Not able to attend Retired Members Round Table or the Council on Round Tables but have been communicating virtually with the groups.Ms. Wong noted many groups are excited about the new building, including Chapter Relations, IFC, Committee on Legislation, Conference Committee, United for Libraries.Mr. Dawes noted that he shared EBD#12.39 with his liaison groups, and many groups are concerned about ALA Finances.Ms. Pelayo-Lozada noted that three members of Sustainability Round Table rode their bicycles from New York to Philadelphia to highlight sustainability. They stopped at libraries along the way as well.Ms. Henry reported:Ethics Committee and Education Committee did not meet at MidwinterAttended International Relations Committee and EMIERT. Highlighted positive news – new Executive Director and building, etc. Provided the EBD#12.39 as well and did not receive any feedback but did let groups know to reach out with any questions.Ms. Barnes noted that she had members of her liaison groups are interested in the building and tours. There were also questions about the digitization of records as there will be less storage capacity in the new building. Mr. Garcia reported:Previously shared some feedback from groupsTwo groups did not meet at Midwinter, but was able to attend those that did, except for Office for Information Technology Policy committee due to a conflict with the Monday Board meetingThere is a lot of excitement about Tracie Hall coming on board. SRRT:As mentioned, SRRT has concerns regarding SCOE. Concern regarding the protest square and the ALA Code of Conduct. SRRT wants to know who approves change to the code. Concern from some members of SRRT about the privacy policy that's attached to the ALA scheduler. Ms. Ghikas noted that she will follow-up with SRRT on that concern. Constitution and Bylaws is interested in having Eli Mina to help the committee work through recommendations and changes for Forward Together. Mr. Mina made some comments regarding the changes and potential for going to Council for feedback.Ms. McCauley reported:Also noted that there is a great deal of excitement about bringing Tracie Hall on board.JCLC asked that Ms. Hall do a deep dive into Publishing. There was also discussion about doing a training for staff on the core values.Ms. Schneider reported:Met with LRRT, NMRT, and PPAC as well as a side conversation with the Chair from Council Orientation Committee. Excited about the new executive director. Appreciative about information about Association finances. Active in discussions about ALA structure. Feedback from LearnRT and others is that they want more information about why the reserves were taken. New Members Round Table had a somewhat initial critical response to SCOE but seemed different and more interested at this Midwinter. PPAC is hosting a reception in Chicago in an architectural building.Ms. Farrell reported:Met with ACRL, as BARC liaison to their Finance Committee. They want more information on finances. Mary Ellen Davis, ACRL Executive Director, has announced her retirement in April. Unable to meet with Publishing Committee due to meeting conflicts but exchanged emails. Government Documents Round Table is meeting virtually after Midwinter. Unable able to attend MAGIRT but have been in touch via emailThe Board discussed ensuring that Board Liaisons proactively share official meeting minutes with their groups.ALA President Brown adjourned the 2020 Midwinter Meeting Board Meeting. ................
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