The North Dakota/Manitoba Chapter of ACRL met Friday, June 9, 2006, in the United Hospital Auditorium, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, at 9:30 a.m. Present for the business meeting: Cheryl Bailey, Pat Berntsen, Betty Braaksma, Phyllis Bratton, Karen Chobot, Mary Drewes, Shelby Harken, Marilyn Hedberg, Barb Knight, Char Myhre, Lila Pedersen, Kaaren Pupino, Janet Rex, Judy Rieke, Wilbur Stolt The meeting was called to order by Chair, Phyllis Bratton, with our chapter gavel. She mentioned that we also have a website and a blue banner that can be used at any display booths.

The meeting was called to order by Chair-elect Lila Pedersen.

1. Minutes of the last meeting: July 22, 2003:
Motion: Cheryl Bailey moved that the minutes of the 2003 meeting be approved. Mary Drewes seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

2. Treasurer's Report

A. We have two Treasurer’s Reports. Mary Drewes compiled both reports (July 2003-June 2004 & July 2004-May 2006) and sent the July 2004-May 2006 report to Jim Sutherland, so he could submit the report. No dues were collected for 2004-2005, because the chapter was not active. The dues that we just paid are for 2005-2006. We will need to renew our dues again in September for the upcoming year. Jim Sutherland sent renewal forms. Motion: Betty Braaksma moved that the Treasurer’s Report for July 2003-June 2004 be accepted. Shelby Harken seconded the motion. The Treasurer’s Report for July 2003-June 2004 was approved.

B. Discussion on the July 2004-May 2006 report: Mary Drewes announced that we added 3 new renewals, so we have 37 members at this time. The Secretary of State-Corporation filing fee of $20 reflects the $10 per year fee to be incorporated in North Dakota. We are not incorporated in Manitoba, but Judy Rieke reminded us that we only need to be incorporated in one place. Motion: Kaaren Pupino moved that the Treasurer’s Report for July 2004-May 2006 be accepted. Judy Rieke seconded the motion. The Treasurer’s Report for July 2004-May 2006 was approved.

4. III. OLD BUSINESS:

A. ACRL National Conferences: A few people attended the ACRL National Conference in Minneapolis in 2005. Judy Rieke spoke about the excellent programs revolving around the theme of “Currents and Convergence.” There was a simultaneous virtual conference. The opening keynote speaker, William J. Mitchell, spoke about designing architecture and spaces to accommodate learning; and he emphasized that our current architecture does not need to revolve around technology anymore, because technology is mobile. Cheryl Bailey said she attended a pre-conference session about information literacy. She still uses a lot of the links, and she gives samples to faculty. She used the connections and speakers for a Bush Grant. Others mentioned the impressive reception, with a chocolate fountain, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the excellent exhibits; and the numerous poster sessions, including one about using candy Peeps for instruction. It was wonderful to have the conference in Minneapolis, so a number of people from our area were able to attend it. The next ACRL Conference will be in Baltimore, Maryland from March 29-April 1, 2007. The theme is “Sailing into the Future.”

B. Membership Renewals: Mary Drewes reported that the form for membership renewals has an outdated Canadian exchange rate on it. Phyllis Bratton reported that the conference registration rate also dropped for Canadians. Phyllis said we could set the exchange rate on August 15th each year. Motion: Mary Drewes moved that the Treasurer determine the exchange rate every year on August 15th and place this date on the website and on the membership form that is distributed at that time. Judy Rieke seconded the motion. The motion passed.

C. Sponsoring Officers to National Meetings: Judy Rieke emphasized that we should send our chapter officers to ALA at Midwinter, because the chapters get together and one hears about speakers and funding. Cheryl Bailey remarked that the summer meeting is informative as well, and we have subsidized $200 for the Chair before. Phyllis Bratton remarked that we should probably always send the Chair, because only the Chair is allowed to vote. Betty Braaksma said that the Canadian chapter provides free registration for chairs, so their budget could support the midwinter registration each year, perhaps up to $300. Betty will investigate this possibility. Phyllis said we will come up with a plan before we vote on the matter.

D. Electronic Voting: Lila Pedersen mentioned that in the past the vote has been sent out electronically, but respondents have preferred to mail or fax their returns for confidentiality. This year we did the entire vote electronically. Cheryl Bailey said that this year we were lucky to find candidates for each office, and we are not a competitive group. Kaaren Pupino said electronic e-mails did not seem very secure in the past, but our members are not as concerned about that now. Phyllis Bratton said that faxes or letters also aren’t very secretive or secure. Motion: Wilbur Stolt moved that we conduct our elections electronically. Shelby Harken seconded the motion. The motion passed.

IV. NEW BUSINESS:

A. Officer Nominations: Judy Rieke said that our constitution specifies that officer nominations are the duty of the past chair. Phyllis Bratton asked if anyone else would volunteer. Betty Braaksma nominated Lynn Partington to the committee, and Karen Chobot volunteered. They will work with Phyllis to select officers.

B. Recruitment: Phyllis Bratton asked us to recruit other academic librarians for our ACRL chapter. A list of possible members was passed around. Wilbur Stolt mentioned that we should have a booth at NDLA, and perhaps in Manitoba, to raise awareness of our local chapter. Betty Braaksma concurred that our chapter should do something in Manitoba. Kaaren Pupino said we should see if we can still get a booth at the NDLA Conference in September. Phyllis will write an article for the Good Stuff.

C. Next North Dakota/Manitoba ACRL Meeting: Phyllis Bratton asked if we could meet next year in July after ALA, so we could get a report in the new fiscal year. Betty Braaksma said that July is not usually a good time for Manitoba librarians, because many of them go on vacations in July and August. Lila Pedersen pointed out that in July 2003 there were quite a few people who had attended. Others felt that April or May can be too busy for another meeting. Judy proposed that we try to meet across the border in Manitoba next year with the Manitoba Library Association. Betty said their conference is in Winnipeg in May or June, and she proposed that we have a booth and a program track at the Manitoba Library Association. She said that the University College of the North is quite isolated, and she would like to bring them into the fold. They are mandated to support education for Native Americans and other people who can’t come to the city. She said there are many tenure controversies in Manitoba. Kaaren Pupino pointed out that we do not have faculty status in North Dakota, but Judy Rieke said that we might have a discussion about the pros and cons of faculty status. Judy said we could have a one-day ACRL meeting connected with the Manitoba Library Association (MLA). Librarians could also attend MLA if they wanted to do that. Betty said that MLA is scheduled on a weekend—Saturday/Sunday/Monday—which worked well last time. Mary Drewes said that ACRL could be a pre-conference to MLA. Betty pointed out that it can be good for travel reasons if we can consolidate meetings. Others concurred that we should try to meet with MLA next year.

D. ACRL Programming: Phyllis said we need a program of interest to both sides of the border, which excludes topics such as CIPA, COPA, and the Patriot Act. We are eligible for an ACRL speaker next time, which might draw people to our meeting. We should be able to get $100 and a speaker next year. There is a web page where we can apply for a speaker. Betty Braaksma said we should think about who we might want to get as we plan for MLA next year. They had Roy Tenet and Nancy Pearl last year.

E. NDLA Centennial Conference & Quilt: NDLA’s Centennial Conference will be held in Fargo from September 20-22, 2006. Phyllis said the centennial quilt has been completed. Phyllis said that packets were handed out last September, so people could make parts of the quilt, and it has been completed. It is called the Coat of Gold and it is made up of gold and brown stars. They plan to give it out in a raffle at the conference, and the proceeds will go to a scholarship fund.

F. ALA Conference: The ALA Annual Conference will be held from June 22-28, 2006, in New Orleans. Shelby Harken is attending. Shelby will aim to get onto the Council next year. Phyllis said perhaps if we vote mainly for Shelby, and not give so many votes to others, Shelby can get on the Council next year. Phyllis asked if the people who attend ALA might also attend some ACRL programs and report back to us. The next ACRL conference will be held from March 29-April 1, 2007, in Baltimore, Maryland.

G. Immersion ’07 Program: Betty Braaksma said that the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, and Brandon University put in a proposal to host ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy Immersion program in 2007. She asked if we could send a letter of support to ALA. The immersion program would be open to people from North Dakota. It will be hosted at the University of Manitoba. It is a 4 ½ day information literacy program. It is hosted by a University and ACRL. They applied for the first week in August 2007, which coincides with Folkarama. The program is limited to 90 people, and there is an application competition for individuals to get into the program. Only about half of the people can get into it. The program costs $1500, plus travel. Motion: Judy made a motion for our North Dakota/Manitoba ACRL Chapter to write a letter of support for the program. Kaaren Pupino seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Phyllis Bratton adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Janet Rex, Secretary June 2006