[CALIBK12] CSLA membership

[Connie Williams]

Hello Calib folks
  Just got back from a long meander in the park where I was able to  
ponder the recent posts. The first of my ponderings to tell you is  
that I, as president, am 150% behind our decision to move to ARC –  
Association Resource Center – as our operations partner in managing  
CSLA business.
  It took months of research, discussion and debate to decide that a  
move to an association management firm was the best solution to serve  
the needs of our organization. As Pete said in his email, the business  
of far too many Board meetings had been directed to discussions  
including finding new office space, hiring a secretary, or negotiating  
new office furniture. Since the move to ARC, under the direction of  
our Executive Director Deidre Bryant, numerous scaffolding changes  
have already occurred including a realignment of our financial assets,  
our protocols for insurance, taxes and daily operations.
  The Presidents and the Board no longer have to coordinate or manage  
the day-to-day operation of an office, an office building, leases, and  
other legal negotiations for which they are ill-equipped to handle.  
Remembering that the officers of the Board are volunteers who nearly  
all hold full time jobs, the incredible amount of time and personal  
expense should be spent on doing those activities that they  
volunteered for: creating an effective professional organization for  
its members.
  To answer Richard’s concern about the membership meeting format  
change, I wanted this year’s membership meeting to solicit the input  
from the membership so that we could get concrete examples of what the  
membership sees as good and useful action for the coming years as we  
prepare for strategic planning at our January Board meeting. This  
strategic planning is when we will be creating the vision statement  
and setting priorities and goals for the next year and for the next  
five years. The input from the membership meeting is a major part of  
this planning. Posting those results will happen after the first of  
the year.
  As soon as possible after this strategic planning, here are some  
examples of changes I expect members will be seeing in the next few  
months:
-       Web site updating and reformatting: changes will be made  
quicker, and the ‘look’ will be updated.
-       A wiki – or other 2.0 tool- will be created for member input  
on legislative Advocacy ideas and other interactive sharing.
-       New looks to the Journal and other publications.
-       Legislative updates.
-       Toolkit templates.
-       Identifying new benefits for CSLA members.
-       Streamlined protocols for things like membership renewals and  
reminders
-       More effective information dissemination about awards,  
scholarships and other timelines.
  There was a comment in one post that suggested that CSLA’s financial  
position would leave the association “out of business” in less than a  
year. On behalf of the Board, we are pleased to report that CSLA’s  
financial position is good and stable. And it has not always been this  
way.
  Next year's membership meeting will change to reflect a 'true'  
business meeting and will include a business report – including  
financial information – a membership report, and actions taken by the  
Board.
  As far as conferencing in Ontario goes - contracts for our  
conference venues were signed years ago. Ontario 2009 is our last pre- 
negotiated conference venue site. With the clout that ARC brings to  
the conference table, we will be able to look further abroad now at  
other conference venues because we can negotiate from the strength of  
numbers that we just didn’t have when we negotiated on our own. This  
is yet another of the reasons that the Board felt that it was time to  
move to the next level of operations.
  I invite everyone to please consider becoming part of the CSLA  
leadership by volunteering to be on a committee or running for  
office.  The success of this organization is dependent on the time,  
energy, and creativity of its volunteers.
  CALIBk12 is a wonderful forum for a variety of discussions and ideas  
but please note that it is not run by CSLA, nor is it a CSLA  
membership benefit. CSLA includes the moderator as a committee partner  
under the jurisdiction of the VP Communications.  Please direct CSLA  
membership questions, Board related questions, or other questions to  
me at any time. I will answer them to you personally or to the list if  
it is a question of a general nature.
  Many questions about the Board actions in relation to the move to  
ARC can be read in the newsletters from last year. These newsletters  
are available on CSLA’s Web site.  Watch for your January newsletter  
after the first of the new year for information about legi day and  
other coming activities.
  I wish each and every one you a wonderful winter break with time for  
family, relaxation and fun.  Change is everywhere this coming year.  
Let us embrace it with open hearts, good will and lots of energy -  
we'll need it!

Connie

Connie  Williams
President
California School Library Assn
CSLA 2.0 Team

chwms at mac.com




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