Opening

The regular meeting of the Richmond Academic Library Consortium (RALC) Board Meeting was called to order at 10 am on May 5, 2020 via Zoom meeting (virtual meeting) by Nancy Falciani-White.

Present

  • Christopher Richardson (Union Presbyterian Seminary)
  • Suzanne Sherry (John Tyler Community College)
  • Hong Wu (J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College)
  • Kevin Butterfield (University of Richmond)
  • Pamela Foreman (Virginia Union University)
  • John E. Ulmschneider (Virginia Commonwealth University)
  • Elsie S. Weatherington (Virginia State University)
  • Sandra G. Treadway (The Library of Virginia)
  • Nancy Falciani-White (Randolph Macon College)
  • Irene Handy (Richard Bland College)
  • Michael Rawles (VCU)
  • Pattie Sobczak (VCU)
  • Will Weaver (J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College)
  • Teresa Knott (VCU)

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved as distributed after it was determined that a quorum was present.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Jan. 29, 2020 meeting were approved with no changes.

Treasurer’s Report

Current RALC finances are in good order with a projected FY end balance standing at $15, 001.  Expenses for 2019-2020 are projected at $2,542. Discussion on increasing membership dues for 2020-2021 to $750 per institution for a projected revenue of $7,500. Directors prefer to maintain current dues of $500 per institution. Agreed to keep dues at $500 for the 2020-2021 FY.

Projected expenses for 2020-2021 are $6,209 for 2021 Bootcamp, scholarship, TILC sponsorship and RALC website domain fees. The projected year-end balance for FY2020-2021 is $15,292.

Committee Reports

Professional Development and Networking Committee:

  • VLA Professional Forum originally scheduled for June 2020 postponed due to concerns regarding COVID-19.  Rescheduled (tentatively?) for Jan. 2021.
  • Boot camp scheduled for 2021.

Outreach Committee: 

  • Website redesigned to be more “dynamic”.
  • Hosting site for website:  annual costs of $34.00.
  • RALC listserv should be moderated as opposed to completely open to potential new subscribers.
  • Old RALC website will be redirected to new website to make the transition easier.
  • RALC archives will migrate to new site.
  • RALC twitter, not quite launched but it is up and running.
  • Suggestions for website:
    • Add a table of contents.
    • Regarding archives, is there a way to make documents that are currently in PDF, OCR machine readable?
    • Can the text in the blue box on the home page be changed to be more representative of the 10 institutions in the consortium without specifically referencing academic libraries?
    • Where does “contact us” form go to?  Response:  Will Weaver is currently the recipient of the responses.
    • Regarding the visually impaired, there was a question about the lack of contrast for the wording in the heading which is a gold against white and that it might be difficult to read.

Old Business

RALC Archives

  • LVA is able to house. They would be considered ‘private’ records.
  • Will begin the process of collecting records from the various institutions.

Keys to Creativity & Innovation Survey

  • Shall RALC continue or table for later discussion? Due to COVID-19 concerns, RALC will discuss later.

TILC 2020 cancelled.

  • RALC will roll sponsorship to next year.

New Business

  • Nominations and election of officers:  Secretary
    • Sandy Treadway self-nominated. Nomination properly seconded and approved.

Announcements:

  • UPSem.: 10% budget cut looming; virtual graduation; new position advertised in library for retiring librarian.
  • JTCC: online but there is an issue with some students not having online access; 150 digital devices checked out; staff development taking place amid COVID crisis; working on grants including one for hot spots for students who lack access to internet.
  • VSU: Elsie Weatherington retiring June 2020; budget cuts likely; library down by 3 positions.
  • Richard Bland: Irene Handy laid off. This is her last RALC meeting.
  • JSR: going forward, mostly online; different scenarios for Fall opening and how to be safe and still provide service; laptop loan program is robust with 120 laptops.
  • VCU:  all library services online; virtual graduation; John retiring-new interim dean is Teresa Knott; VCU Libraries looking for ways to deal with space in the age of COVID-19 (distancing, number of people in a space, #sq. ft per student, etc.)
  • UR: library services all online. Fall classes at institution ?  Expecting a 5-15% cut in budget.
  • RMC: 1st time ever with online classes-institution got everything online in 2 days.
  • LVA: may open as early as May 15 but early June opening would be the preference; 85% are working from home.  Budget cuts likely.
  • VUU: online classes; closed to community. Budget cuts likely.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 11:48 am by Nancy Falciani-White. The next meeting will be announced at a later date; exact date, time and location to be announced at a later date.

Minutes submitted by: Pamela Foreman