[CALIBK12] CSLA membership

Thu Dec 25 09:11:06 PST 2008

Yes, I agree with Tom - thanks to Connie for her excellent post about the
decisions that led to changing to a management company. When I was on the
board, we spent much of every meeting dealing with paperclips and other
office stuff. That was when we moved the office to Sacramento, another hard
decision that hurt a long-time employee, but was the best decision at the
time.
However, this is not "the association's listserv."  It is an
independent forum intended to be a tool for California School librarians,
whether or not they are members of CSLA. See www.calibk12.net for
information about the listserv.
Happy Holidays to everyone!

On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 10:38 PM, Thomas Kaun <tomkaun at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks, Connie, for this response to the posts we have recently seen on the
> Association's listserv.
> I think we are very fortunate to have you "at the helm" at this time. Cool
> heads and informed decisions are what we continue to need as an
> organization.
>
> I, for one, don't believe in conspiracy theorists and am annoyed with folks
> who have specific responsibilities to the Association and step beyond the
> bounds of proper behavior as (former) Board officers.
>
> Decisions need to be made, responsibility for those decisions needs to be
> assumed, and we need to move to the next order of business for the good of
> the group.
>
> Thank you for your clear leadership. I'm looking forward to our strategic
> planning meeting on the 10th when we, as an organization, will chart a
> course for the future.
>
> I hope everyone of our members and friends is having a restful and
> fulfilling holiday season with those they love and cherish.
>
> Happy holidays.
> Tom Kaun
>
>
>  On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 9:13 PM, Connie Williams <chwms at mac.com> wrote:
>
>>   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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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Thomas T. Kaun
> Teacher Librarian
> Bessie Chin Library @ Redwood High School
> 395 Doherty Drive, Larkspur, CA 94939
> tomkaun at gmail.com | Library Web site: http://rhslibrary.org | Professional
> development blog: http://tomlmt2.blogspot.com/ | Library news blog:
> http://libraryleaves.blogspot.com
>
> Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day,
> something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else
> would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of
> unanimity.
>  - Christopher Morley
>
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