ALIA Board Meeting 10 December 2007

The December Board meeting held in Canberra provided a very valuable opportunity to consider the years activities and financial outcomes. A major focus of December meetings is planning for the coming year, particularly taking into account the outcomes of the National Advisory Congress (NAC).

Planning: ALIA's 2007 achievements were based on planning which incorporated the input of the 2006 NAC, focusing on support for groups and increasing membership. 2007 was an active and successful year with a wide range of national and local activities. The 2007 National Advisory Congress provided insights into the importance of regional activities, education and employment issues, and professional development issues. The 2008 goals were reviewed and key issues from the 2008 NAC incorporated into the final plan.

Review of Advisory Committees: Work continued to finalise the recommendations of this review, including consideration of responses from Advisory Committees to the review's recommendations. The Board agreed to extend the terms of all current Chairs of Advisory Committees to May 2008 (the ALIA Annual General Meeting) and to call for nominations for membership of Advisory Committees. Rule changes were referred to the By-laws committee. The Board thanked all committees for their extensive and tremendously valuable work done for all members and the profession.

Balanced scorecard report: ALIA's membership has increased, finances are on track, new support mechanisms for groups have been introduced and advocacy activities have been undertaken.

Budget and finances: Noting that there were considerable expenses planned for 2008, such as implementing a new membership system and accommodation changes at ALIA House, the Board adopted a proposed budget for 2008. Finances for 2007 were on track and considerable discussion occurred about using the Association's finances wisely to support members and also potential areas to increase income.

Fellowship: The Board was delighted to agree to award Associate Professor Gillian Hallam with the award of Fellow of ALIA.

Policy reviews: The Board agreed to member consultation to review the following policies:

• Statement on library and information services staff appointments - http://www.alia.org.au/policies/library.staff.html (last amended 2004)
• Policy statement on non-standard employment http://www.alia.org.au/policies/non-standard.employment.html (last amended 2001)
• Statement on library and information services staff appointments http://www.alia.org.au/policies/senior.staff.html (last reviewed by the Board in 2006)

Evaluation of members' needs and priorities: Work has been done on a draft survey by the Membership and Awards Standing Committee. After discussion it was agreed that the survey would be a topic of discussion at the next Board teleconference.

ALIA Conference manual: The Board thanked all those who have provided such valuable feedback to the draft ALIA Conference Manual and agreed that further revision and consultation work take place with the final manual to go to the March 2008 Board meeting.

IFLA 2010: The Board noted a proposal by the Chair for a National Committee and three possible logos and these which have been forwarded to IFLA.

Next meeting by teleconference in January 2008.