HSLI President, Fran Kovach, M.L.I.S, is the reference and education librarian at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
The summer Board meeting was held on July 26, 2011 at La Salle Public Library. We had an opportunity to see the facilities for the Annual Conference to be held in the Fall at Starved Rock State Park. Laura Frizol, Director, La Salle Public Library was our host. Ten members attended the meeting and two by teleconference.
The Board is at work on the following: (1) Reinstatement of the non-profit status, (2) Revision of the consortiulists, (3) Conference planning, (4) Inventory of the archives, (5) Scholarship opportunities, (6) Bylaw revisions, (7) Updating the website, (8) Elections of President-Elect and Secretary, (9) Consortial purchasing, (10) Advocacy, (11) Membership recruitment, (12) Advisory capacity, (13) Keeping the membership informed, and (14) Communicating with the State Library.
The reinstatement of the non-profit status is due to a change in the 2006 tax laws. We were not required to file for three years unless we received a notice by the IRS to file. We did not receive the postcard from the IRS in 2010 informing us to do so. In 2011, we were informed that because we did not file in 2010, our non-profit status had been revoked.
“Reach, Balance, Achieve” is the conference theme this year and the conference planning committee has invited a host of speakers, educators, and vendors to Starved Rock State Park, October 13-14, 2011. Please join your colleagues to reach goals, to advance your knowledge, to network, and to relax. The details are on the HSLI conference website hsli.org/Conference and online registration is available through Acteva.
The bylaws were under review again this year by the board. Later, the membership will be approached with the proposed changes to the bylaws. Joy Kennedy, Bylaws chair and Linda Feinberg served in this capacity to scrutinize this document for the organization. Thank you both for your effort.
The consortial agreements, Virginia Gale is working with two vendors this year, Ovid and EBSCO. We appreciate that Virginia is willing to undertake this task again. Discounts for group purchases are crucial due to the current economic conditions.
Stay cool, the Fall is just around the corner. Hope to see everyone at Starved Rock.
Fran Kovach