Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, August 1, 2017

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2:00 p.m. Teleconference

Attendees: Virginia Dearborn, Jenifer Gundry, Patrick Milas, Ondrea Murphy, Samantha Rice, Myka Kennedy Stephens
Excused: Chris Schwartz

Approval of the Agenda

The Executive Committee voted to approve the agenda for the meeting.

May 22, 2017 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

The Executive Committee voted to approve the minutes of the May 22, 2017 meeting, pending one typographical correction.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s Report dated May 22, 2017 August 1, 2017, was summarized by Patrick Milas, who reported that SEPTLA’s business account balance was $2,955.76 and the money market account balance was $6,699.97.

Organizational Matters

Leadership changes at member libraries

The committee discussed recent leadership changes at member libraries, including the search for a new library director at the University of Valley Forge. Additionally, the consolidation of the two regional Lutheran seminaries into the new United Lutheran Seminary; Evan Boyd will be serving as the new library director and based in Philadelphia.

Membership application for the new United Lutheran Seminary

After discussion, the committee received and approved the membership application, with no additional site visit required.

Myka will place an announcement on the agenda of the Fall 2017 Business Meeting to outline the Executive Committee’s recommendation to amend the bylaws to allow for a briefer process for merger/consolidation situations going forward.

Committee and Task Force appointments

Myka will issue a call for volunteers or nominees for all “vacant” positions during the Fall 2017 Business Meeting. Additionally, the committee identified a few members that Myka will approach individually to ask about taking on leadership positions.

The committee reviewed and voted to approve the following appointments to Committee and Task Force positions:

1. Continuing Education Committee
   • Chair: Ondrea Murphy – 2017-2019 term
   • Julie Dawson – term ending Fall 2018
   • Lydia Putnam – term ending Fall 2018
   • Alan LaPayover – 2017-2019 term, pending his consent.
2. Communications Committee
   • (Co-)Chair: Virginia Dearborn – 2017-2019 term
   • Newsletter Editor: Stephanie Kaceli – 2017-2018 term,
     pending her consent.
   • Archivist: VACANT
   • Myka Kennedy Stephens – 2017-2019 term
   • Lydia Putnam – 2017-2018 term
3. Membership Task Force
   • Chair: VACANT
   • VACANT
   • VACANT
4. Resource Sharing Task Force
   • Chair: Mark Draper
   • Gerald Lincoln
   • Evan Boyd

TeamWork Newsletter Going Forward

Myka will include in her call for open positions during the Fall 2017 Business Meeting a call for a future new editor of TeamWork, following Stephanie Kaceli stepping down from the role.

Additionally, the committee voted to approve a recommendation to take an experimental approach to the Fall 2017 newsletter where SEPTLA would release information on the website as it becomes available. The Newsletter Editor would then collect it from the website and put it in a PDF format in advance of the Fall 2017 meeting. The committee discussed engaging the membership more widely on the PDF format, and the possible necessity of continuing some fixed form of TeamWork as the document of record for SEPTLA as a non-profit organization.

Fall 2017 Meeting Planning

The fall meeting is scheduled for October 4, 2018 2017 at Lancaster Bible College. The committee discussed possible themes, including focusing on unique collections (“Shine Locally, Share Regionally”) and the shaping of a members’ expertise list. Myka and Ondrea will continue planning the theme and update the committee.

Other Business

Additional updates from Interest Groups and Committees

• Research Services Interest Group – Patrick reported Director of Digital Initiatives Greg Murray (Princeton) will be present at the fall meeting to provide the Interest Group with a summary of his ATLA presentation on the availability of the Theological Commons and Internet Archive as an on-ramp for theological libraries wanting to build their digital collections.
• Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group – Chris did not submit a report in her absence.
• Communications Committee – Virginia reported that she has installed a SSL certificate for the SEPTLA website and is working to refine redirects.

Upcoming meetings

The committee agreed upon the following meetings for the 2017-2018 year:

• General Meeting – October; Interest Groups hold elections
• Executive Committee – December; hear from Resource Sharing Task Force
• Executive Committee – February; hear from Membership Task Force
• General Meeting – April; officer elections, action items from task forces

Adjournment

Myka closed the meeting, thanking the Committee for their work.

Amendment to the Minutes of August 1, 2017