ALIA Board of Directors March 2009 - Take home messages

March 2009

• The President and Executive Director reported further on the meeting held in Melbourne on 20 February 2009 regarding support for bushfire affected areas and the appointment of Jane Grace as Acting ALIA Disaster Recovery Support Manager.
The 2009 ALIA Public Libraries Summit has been postponed. A new date in July 2009 is still to be confirmed, soon following discussions with Senator Ursula Stephens ' office.
• The Vice-president and Executive Director recently met with Public Libraries Australia representatives to further the MOU between the two organisations.
• Online voting for the 2009 ALIA Board of Directors election has been a great success so far.
• The Library Technician Course Recognition visits are progressing well and thanks goes to Gillian Hallam, Dianne Walton-Sonda and local LT’s that have taken part in the panels.
• The revised ALIA-ASLA Joint Policy Statements were approved. Our thanks to the ALIA-ASLA Policy Advisory Group and others who contributed to reviewing these key policy documents.
• The Board continues to focus on the 2008 Member Survey results and use these for future planning.
• The Global Financial Crisis has also impacted on ALIA financials. Budgets were again reviewed and will be monitored closely by the Board.
• The ALIA Board approved the establishment of two new Advisory Committees; ALIA TAFE Libraries Advisory Committee and ALIA Special Libraries Advisory Committee
• The NAC consultation with member meetings in 2009 topic will focus on Lobbying and Advocacy - an outcome of the member survey, which ranked this third amongst member priorities.
• The Board considered the informal resolution made at the Dreaming08 Biennial Conference relating to Indigenous and heritage issues and decided to consult further with peak bodes such as the Collections Council, ATSILIRN and NSLA in order to advance indigenous issues in libraries and other cultural institutions.