Board of Directors

The regular fall meeting of the West Tennessee Academic Library Consortium was called to order at 10:05 A. M., October 13, 2001 at Bethel College by Tom Mendina (U of M) chair. Sylverna Ford, Univ. of Memphis; Anne Reever, Dyersburg State representing Bob Lhota; Steve Rogers, UTM; Hope Shull, Freed-Hardemann; Steve Baker, Union; Pam Dennis, Lambuth; Margaret Cardwell, CBU were in attendance.

Minutes had been distributed by email and were reviewed and corrected to show that Tom Mendina had been elected chair. There was no old business. New business included reports from the schools:

UTM

Steve Rogers did a peer institution study to refute the proposal that the computer center and library be merged into one dept. Their new chancellor agreed and the depts. will remain separate. Steve Rogers has been named the permanent director after serving as the interim for the last 2 1/2 years. In the process of that negotiation they lost the former position of Media Librarian. That position is now a support rather than faculty position. In late summer the regents moved the New College (the UT distance/online program) from under the auspices of UTK to Martin. Because of that UTM was given $25,000.00 to enhance their collection. They have thus far purchased JSTOR. They may get an additional $45,000.00. Their book budget continues to decline with most of the budget going toward serials. They are currently in the process of conducting the SACS self study with the visitation team expected in Spring 2002. They have started a pilot project to checkout wireless laptops to their students for in-house use.

Freed-Hardemann

Hope Shull is also expecting the SACS team to visit in the Spring of 2002. Because of accreditation requirements the library was awarded another professional position, more budget, and they were able to have a consultant look at adding space to the library. Enrollment was not as projected so all of those projects are on hold. They are looking into buying Ariel and wanted the group's opinion of whether that was a wise purchase. Those who have it said that its use will continue to increase.

Dyersburg State

Anne Reever reported for Bob Lhota that because of the budget crunch in TN their new building has been canceled, as have all capital requests across the state. She also discussed the online program and how library instruction fits into that. She was asked by the Chair to do a report on this topic for the whole group for the spring meeting.

Union

Steve Baker reported that there is not much interest in the online instruction there because of cost and a steep learning curve. Their Master of Ed. in Library Science for Media certification is going well. They have more than 10 enrolled this fall. Steve also mentioned the discussion of a statewide document delivery system at the Fall TENN-SHARE meeting.

Lambuth University

Pam Dennis reported that because of their increased technology fee they are able to purchase a new microform reader printer. They have their own Sun server for Voyager. They are working on improving their Web page. They have several new staff members: Sammy Chapman, Mitzi Brown, and Jackie Wood.

University of Memphis

Sylverna Ford reported that the library staff is very pleased with their new President Shirley Raines. President Raines has an interest in children's literature and has recently donated her collection of 800 children's books to the library. Their Access Service Librarian position is open. Tom mentioned the Ethics Symposium that will be held Oct. 18-21.

Jackson State Community College (submitted by Scott Cohen via email)

Gloria Hester, Acquisitions Librarian, led a workshop on using E-books during the Fall In-service for the faculty. Jackson State has done over 70 bibliographic instruction sessions already during Fall Semester. This is an improvement over last year. Marv Kaminsky, Reference and Instruction Librarian, coordinates the scheduling of the instruction session and does many of them.

Harriet Grauer is working 10 hours a week as Distance Education Librarian for Jackson State at the Lexington and Savannah Centers. Ms. Grauer has her M.L.S. from the University of Illinois.

Jennifer Gregory, Catalog/Reference Librarian, is the webmaster for the Tennessee Board of Regents Virtual Library, which serves the research needs of the over 1000 students taking courses through the Regents Online Degree Program.

Christian Brothers University

CBU finally has a full staff with the addition of Benjamin Head and Bridgette Scott. Benjamin has worked in the public library system in Memphis. Bridgette was most recently at the Univ. of Mississippi. Several new databases have been added. TEL's second birthday was celebrated Oct. 10^th with cookies, balloons, and a petition signed by more than 100 people supporting TEL funding. It was sent to the Governor and the district's state representatives.

LeMoyne-Owen College (submitted by Annette Berhe Hunt via email)

Reclassification of resources from the Dewey to LC has been completed. Policies and procedures are being revised to coincide with library automation. The online catalog is being reviewed by University of Memphis personnel. The Circulation/Reference Librarian, Linda Rousseau has been appointed to serve as the Steering Committee Co-chair for SACS reaccreditation visit and also as a member of the Steering Committee for NCATE. All staff members have been assigned to various college committees. Alice Jo Doerner and Annette Berhe Hunt traveled to Southern France in July 2001 with colleagues from Morris Brown college in Atlanta, Georgia. Annette Berhe Hunt has been appointed as a commissioner for Memphis City Beautiful for 2001-2002 on the youth and historical committees.

Other new business:

Steve Rogers will report on preparation for SACS visit.

Anne Reever was asked by the chair to present a program for the next meeting regarding online and face to face instruction.

Everyone was asked to bring whatever handouts they produce for their libraries.

Program:

Christopher Schlegel (Bethel College) presented an instructive program on "The effects of Lap Top University of the Burroughs Learning Center". Bethel provided a very nice lunch with festively decorated tables.

After lunch the directors reported on their meeting, Hope Shull introduced John Wilson, a new staff member. The group expressed their good wishes for Mr. Kelly who is currently in a skilled nursing center. Other miscellaneous news: UT Martin's technology fee increased from $55.00 to $100.00 which will help fund their databases. There will be a workshop for Government Document Librarians regarding census information in Nashville Oct. 26.

Anne Reever asked the group if there had been an increase in number of questions dealing with Islam and/or Sept. 11^th events. Steve Baker reported that Union sponsored a faculty forum for students to discuss the issues surrounding this event. He also reported that their archivist has asked the larger Baptist churches in the area for reports of how those congregations have responded. Requests for maps of the area have increased at several libraries.

The next meeting will be held at CBU in Memphis April 20, 2002.

Margaret Cardwell,

Secretary