ALIA Board Blog

Today is the last day of Library Day in the Life 6.  There is even a #libday6 Twitter Fountain.

The weekend is often a time for reading, writing, listening and thinking. 

READING:- Just a few bits for this weekend include - OCLC’s Perceptions of Libraries 2010 report & Gartners 2011 Tech Predictions (via twitter).  I am also catching up on the Google Australia blog and tweets, seeing as I will be introducing fellow Safer Internet Group member, Iarla Flynn on Tuesday at ALIA Information Online.  

I have a couple of library news feeds and this one came through :  South Korea to Open 180 Libraries, UK to Cut 400 (& mention of ALIA Disaster Recovery resources and Australian libraries and floods).        and all the tweets for #ALIAioc of course.

This coming week if you are an ALIA Member you will be hearing about our support for our colleagues in the UK and we hope that you join in the Save our Libraries Day campaign on 5th February 2011.  Tweet, blog and email to let the world know that libraries are valuable, and should not be closed.

WRITING:  I needed to do a few notes for speeches for the coming week at #ALIAioc. Also the finishing touches to a brief submission this time for Book Industry Strategy Group (I always wish for more comments from members for our submissions as we mostly get only a handful of comments or less).     Also a few notes for our Boardroom Bound workshop session tomorrow.  Have you thought about becoming a board director?  ALIA conducts these sessions usually at our larger conferences.   And finally the writing has included this blog post.  I have enjoyed doing abit more blog writing this week (it is my 5th Anniversary of blogging and starting as ALIA ED this month), but may have to cut back abit as conferences, board meetings and travels start to overtake the next few weeks.  I will try to be more regular with my 2011 blogging now that #libday6 has finished.

THINKING and LISTENING:  It’s good to have some uninterrupted time to think, plan, ponder, create, consider ideas.  I love driving (except for extreme long trips) and the four hours from Canberra to Sydney (with a good Coffee Stop in the middle) is a good amount of easy driving time.  It’s also great listening with the iPod on shuffle, including a few new songs downloaded before the trip to mix it up abit.  Music is the other thing that keeps me going.

Tonight,  a walk around Darling Harbour and Pyrmont, and a beautiful Sydney sunset, before the next week at a fantastic ALIA Conference. 

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Each year as Executive Director I reflect on this week - it’s the biggest week of the year at ALIA National Office.  I’ve realised that I have not summarised the activity of the ‘third week of May @ ALIA’ before on the blog.  Here is abit of an insight ….

Monday starts with the induction of new Board members.  This year we welcome Margaret Allen, John Bayliss, Andrew Hocken and Julie Rae.     You can find more about the new directors here.   The incoming President and outgoing President assist with the induction. We spend the day going through ASIC Duties and Responsibilities, matters relating to being on a Board of a Company Limited by Guarantee, talking through many induction and company documents, meeting the National Office staff and answering questions from our new board members.   The day concludes with the new board members being introduced to other board members over dinner.

Tuesday is an all-day board meeting where outgoing board members hand over their Standing Committee responsibilities and we cover off any financial and legal requirements for the changeover of the board.  Both current and future board members are all present, as well as Executive Staff members.  Further audit reports and other financial matters are tabled. Strategic matters and the strategic plan are discussed with outgoing board members offering their perspective from their time as directors, sharing of knowledge, updates on recent ALIA projects and initiatives in-progress, and often some good tips and advice for ongoing board members.  We are usually cramming to complete the 20-or-so Agenda items for the day by 5pm.  There is then a ‘quick change’ as the staff ready ALIA House for 6pm on Tuesday when we welcome many more members to the Annual General Meeting.  It is presided over by a distinguished member, and again this year it will be Averill Edwards, past president.  We must have 21 members as quorum for the AGM (so we always hope that the May Canberra weather won’t be too cold).  The President and Executive Director give reports, we confirm the Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements as well as our Auditors for next year and discuss any questions that the members in attendance may have.  Jan Richards (ALIA President 2009/10) summarised 2009 here on the blog and also in our Annual Report.   The AGM is also a time to celebrate the year with ‘a glass of something’.  The Board concludes the night with a smaller farewell gathering for outgoing board members, this year being Michelle Brennand, Helen Partridge, Philip Keane (all of whom have served four years on the board) as well as Jan Richards.    My sincere thanks to Jan, Helen, Michelle and Philip - for all that they have contributed to ALIA during their terms as board members.

On Wednesday the ongoing board members ‘the new board’ re-convene to start planning and discussing future board matters.  There are the standing committee confirmations and discussion on way forward for the Strategic Plan.  This year, with new Executive Staff and the new structure in place, we are also planning staff activities relating to board planning.  This Wednesday will also have reports on the project plans for the National Year of Reading 2012 and our many advocacy initiatives, and how our board and members will be a part of this.  During this board meeting we also confirm the National Advisory Congress theme and dates for August - October.  This is again an all-day meeting.  Most board members depart late at night, and after three full days & nights they welcome the peace of the aeroplane to home.  Being on the ALIA Board is a significant commitment and responsibility - not just for the first three days of inductions and meetings, but for all that the company’s directors undertake in their duties.

This year we are also hosting the ALIA Roundtable 2010 meeting on Thursday 20th May 2010. Graham Black as incoming ALIA President will chair this full-day meeting.  This meeting of peak library associations and groups is an opportunity to discuss the compelling issues for our profession (and in an election year, it’s an important time to be speaking with one voice).  The outcomes of this meeting will be reported on the ALIA Roundtable 2010 webpage in coming weeks. 

It is always a very exhausting week for everyone ; the staff who manage all the logistics, agendas&papers, presentations&reports, and every other detail both before and after the meetings ; and our volunteer board members. 

There is only then a weekend to recover however before Library and Information Week is upon us.   [More on that in my next posts].

To the ALIA staff and the Board - my sincere thanks again for all that goes into making this coming ‘Marathon Week in May’ a reality  ….

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Hi ALIA members, just a reminder to get your vote in for the 2008 ALIA Board of Directors elections. Closing date for votes is 5pm Wednesday 9th April.

I just listened to the Rural and Regional NAC meeting teleconference recording (available to ALIA members on the ALIA website).

A special thanks to the regional and rural ALIA members who took the time to phone in and participate in this NAC teleconference.

You raised some important topics and discussed issues not covered from what I can see in the NAC face-to-face meetings in the more metropolitan areas.

This goes to highlight the importance of ALIA regional and rural member engagement in ALIA activities and direction.

At the final NAC teleconference Gemma raised the idea of a toolkit for regional and rural members on how ALIA could help them be more involved in both a PD and strategic manner. I think this is a great idea and something I will follow-up with ALIA Office.

Katy Watson.

The ALIA board met by teleconference on 2 November and considered at the following issues:

·         2007 National Advisory Congress: the full report of the regional meetings and final teleconference are on the ALIA web site http://www.alia.org.au/governance/nac/2007/ and will be discussed in detail at the December Board meeting at the teleconference thsome major issues such as support for members in regional areas, employment, education and advocacy were discussed;

·         Federal Election 2007: The President and Executive Director have approached major and minor parties about library issues, further advocacy is continuing;

·         Conference manual: The Board agreed to extend the consultation period for the draft manual to 20 November 2007 and that a second teleconference be held in December;

·         Information Online 2009: A Professional Conference Organiser was agreed for this conference.  

Regards 

Roxanne

ALIA has an elective leadership and governance structure, but is constituted as a company. This makes it a little more complex as an organisation than your average local soccer club (although maybe not - I know nothing about local sporting clubs). ALIA is keen to foster participation by its members.

This is an important issue for all voluntary organisations, and this posting is to encourage people to be involved. You can start off by having a look at our new program to demystify board membership, help people to decide to contest an election, and get involved in the process. The new Boardroom Bound program is located right here. It tells you what being a member of a company board means.

Next May there will be four positions on the Board up for election - two directors elected by members, one director elected by institutional members, and a vice present (president elect). Nominations will be called fairly soon, so start thinking about it now. In fact, its not too early to start thinking about 2009, either.