1^st BUSINESS MEETING

April 3, 2006

Present: Barbara Boehnke (Canisius College), Barry Hamilton (Northeastern Seminary),

Bill Kanalley (Siena College), Aggie Kittrick (Elim Bible Institute), James Mancuso (Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary-Northeast Campus), Joy Niswander (Elim Bible Institute), Gretchen Pearson (LeMoyne College), Jennifer Smathers (St. John Fisher College), Paul Spaeth (St. Bonaventure University).

I.               OPENING AND INTRODUCTIONS

Jim Mancuso convened the meeting at 10:30 a.m. in Grewen Hall (Room 209I), on the campus of LeMoyne College (Syracuse, NY).

Each person introduced herself/himself and her/his institution.

II.             ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Members elected the following officers by acclamation:

James Mancuso—President

Barry Hamilton—Secretary

Gretchen Pearson—Treasurer

Two at-large members

Paul Spaeth—Communications Chair (newsletter and website)

Bill Kanalley

III.            ADOPTION OF RULES AND BYLAWS

Jim led the group in a discussion of other regional theological library

Associations’ bylaws as a model for consideration [overhead], and mentioned

Barry’s July 2003 email message as the initiating contact. Jim also presented a list of institutions [handout] who might be potential members for LITANY The group considered ways for contacting and recruiting these institutions.

Jim led the group in amending the bylaws model for LITANY’s own purposes. Gretchen incorporated the amendments to the model on her PC as the group moved through the discussion. Some changes included:

[Section I]

“theological education” to “theological education/religious studies” for broader inclusion of potential member institutions.

“religious realm” to “religious studies”

[Section III]

A.     Dues--$35.00 annually “per institution” [added]

C.     Fiscal Year—July 1 – June 30.

Jim reiterated the bylaws’ statement that all members serve without remuneration.

[Section IV]

Election of Officers—Jim called for questions or changes.

[Section V]

Terms of Office—2 years, Treasurer 3 years.

Members affirmed a six-year limit on offices.

Jennifer suggested that we could meet electronically to elect a member to a vacant office. After discussion, members amended the bylaws to read “. . . shall meet in person or via electronic means to elect a new [President, etc.].”

Minor amendments included the following (changes in brackets):

IV.              C. “Election shall be held at the [annual] meeting…

V.                 B. “The slate… is to be published in the [annual] newsletter.”

VI.              C. [I]n the case…”

     [Section VI]

                 Duties of Officers

B.     Past President—serves as acting Vice President by default.

C.     Secretary—maintains a Membership Directory

D.     Treasurer—maintains up-to-date financial records

E.      Communications Chair—(delete Section 2)

(3) becomes (2)

Add [including the nominations and elections]

                 [Section IV]

                  B. “The slate of candidates is to be published [on the website] prior to the

annual membership meeting.” Jim suggested Paul send an email to alert members to the published slate of nominations to proactively notify members through a distribution list.

                  [Section V]

E. 3. “The Communications Chair shall be responsible for regularly notifying the

membership of changes and additions to the website.”

F. “The Secretary will serve as the Association Archivist.”

Jennifer suggested that the Membership Directory be published in .pdf format.

Action: Adopted.

     [Section VII)

Paul asked about the definition of the term “regular meeting.”

Jennifer suggested that all meetings be open to all members.

Jim specified that a “called meeting” would be open to all members.

Paul suggested that meetings could be done by phone or other electronic means such as email.

Jim added that ‘meetings’ can be understood as in-person or electronic.  The change will be stated in the Constitution Article V, Section B.

      [Section VII]

A.     “Called meeting” will be substituted for the term “regular meeting.”

[Section IX]

A.     “[The] Communications Chair”—the rest of the statement will be deleted, to

eliminate redundancy.

[Section X]

“shall be communicated [deletion] to the member libraries, and the vote shall be conducted either by mail (physical or electronic), or at a…”

Members recessed at noon for lunch.

The afternoon session re-convened at 12:55 p.m.

Jim asked members for suggestions on website content. Members suggested that Minutes, By-laws, and the Constitution be posted on the LITANY website, with links to the New York Library Association (NYLA) and the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). Jim suggested links to the Wabash Center, particularly the Wabash Center’s Guide to Internet Resources (Jim displayed this website’s homepage). Gretchen asked about the possibility of a listserv, and members agreed that LITANY might form a listserv in the future.

Members concluded the review and revision of the proposed By-laws.

IV.          REVIEW OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION

[Article III]

Jim suggested revision of Article III so that we might get tax-exempt status. The article should state explicitly that the association would not “influence legislation, or disseminate propaganda.”

[Article V]—members suggested several minor editorial changes.

A.     “Annual Meeting” instead of “Fall Meeting.”

“Meetings shall be conducted either in person or via electronic means.”

C. “Elections shall be held [at the annual] meeting.”

                  E. Add [Communications Chair] and [one] at large

                  [Article VII]

A.     Strike “in writing”

B.     Change “duly called business meeting” to simply “called meeting”

C.     Other minor revisions

     [Article VIII]

A.     “among members [at the time of dissolution]

Jim called for a vote to adopt the revised Constitution and By-laws.

Action: Members voted unanimously to adopt the revised Constitution and By-laws.

Jim will investigate the matter of incorporation papers.

Jim asked Gretchen to open a checking account in LITANY’s name, and to develop an annual dues form.

Jim led the group in discussing the question, “How can our libraries contribute to LITANY?” Answers included: (1) Reference questions posted to a listserv; (2) resource sharing; and (3) catalog sharing.

Jim pointed out that LITANY needs a committee to detail how our libraries can contribute to the association.

Other suggested potential contributions included accreditation review consultancy and continuing education opportunities.

Jim mentioned that NYLA would present LITANY with opportunities for providing continuing education in theological librarianship to librarians across New York.

Members briefly discussed her/his library’s method of accessing journal holdings, as part of a larger discussion regarding how LITANY could provide assistance to its constituents. Members further discussed reference listservs, as well as the potential value of OCLC’s Question Point, and Ask 24/7 for the Western New York Library Council.

V.           FUTURE MEETINGS

Jim asked members whether LITANY could have a Spring 2006 meeting. This would be a meeting to update business items. Jim volunteered to host the meeting in the summer—between June 1 and August 15—on the campus of Mid-America Baptist Seminary/Northeast Campus (Schenectady).

VI.          OTHER BUSINESS

Jim mentioned that NYLA’s Annual Meeting would be held in Saratoga Springs, November 1-4. Continuing education would be held November 1.

Jim also urged members to contact theological libraries not represented in today’s meeting and persuade them to join LITANY.

Adjournment at 2:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry W. Hamilton (Secretary)

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