Report of the Board of Directors meeting 12-13 November 2000

Group structure from July 2001

The group structure proposed by the National Policy Congress and agreed to by the Board offers opportunities not available under the current divisional structure:

For groups:

• will be self-determining and self-nominating, whether that be to continue the role of a current division, or to fulfil a new role or meet a valid need;
• will be endorsed and funded directly by the Board on the basis of purpose, activities and budget;
• may form, re-form or cease as needs require;
• all groups will have equal access to the consolidated groups funds;
• administrative support will be available as needed; and
• groups can direct their energies and resources towards activities and achieving aims.

For members:

• may choose to participate in as many or as few activities across groups based on interest and need rather than affiliation;
• may contribute needed expertise within realistic and management time commitments;
• may join e-lists and groups without paying a fee;
• will pay only for those services or activities of any groups they choose to use;
• may access information about all groups on ALIAnet.

For the Association:

• will know what the scope and range of its planned group activities are;
• will know what the planned income and expenditure for groups is and so will be better able to manage its resources;
• will be able to identify what interests and needs of the members are not being met through self-nominating groups and act accordingly.

The Board appreciates that the move to this group structure is a major undertaking. The first half-yearly allocation will be made to divisions as previously, and local presence will be funded up to 30 June. An information kit will be available electronically and in print to all groups seeking to apply for endorsement and funding - initial submissions are due by 30 March 2001. National office staff will work with prospective groups in the preparation of their submission to the Board.

The Board anticipates that the consolidated funds from divisions will be between $500 000 and $600 000. From 1 July 2000, groups will be funded from this consolidated fund. The Association's ability to continue to fund groups will depend on the sustainability or growth of this fund through interest earned and return of funds from groups. It is therefore important that groups aim to return a profit or cost-recovery. The Board will though fund activities which are important to the Association and not able to generate income. The Board will provide approximately $150 000 per annum from the Association's general budget for the cost of supporting the groups program.

Following consultation with local presence officers and National Policy Congress representatives the Board is finalising its preferred model for regional support to groups. Details will be available early in 2001.

Timing change for annual report and annual general meeting

To meet ASIC requirements that the annual report be submitted by 30 April and the AGM be held before the end of May, the time-frame for the conduct of the audit and preparation of the annual report has been contracted. The audit will be done in early February and the general and financial reports completed by early March for distribution to members in the April edition of inCite. The AGM is planned for 10 May where the retiring president and two elected directors will hand over to the incoming president, vice-president, and two newly-elected directors. The draft minutes of the 2000 AGM are available on ALIAnet.

2000/2001 budgets

The third-quarter result indicates that the Association is on budget for 2000. In preparing the 2001 budget the Board agreed to invest around $80 000 of reserves into investigating new business possibilities in training or services provision; the Association's possible future IT capabilities for communications and services; and conferencing options.

In brief, the board:

• commends the ALIA2000 conference committee on a highly-successful conference;
• endorsed the National Resource Sharing Code and agreed to publish the Australian Interlibrary Resource Sharing Code information leaflet;
• encourages members to work with ALIA National Office and the Board to identify opportunities for raising the profile of the Association and the sector through the media.

The next meeting

The next meeting of the board will be 2 March 2001. A substantial agenda is already developing, which includes:

• sign-off on the 2000 annual report and financial statements;
• object 3 - consideration of mechanisms for achieving this object, particularly in the areas of education and training, research and quality;
• consider a model for accreditation of library and information services;
• consider policy statements to support object 1;
• decide on membership categories - to change or not to change based on the discussion paper of earlier this year;
• consider training and development opportunities;
• consider future information technology and communications options;
• consider future publishing directions; and
• consider policy and advisory committees to support the work of the Association.