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Present: Zahra M. Baird, Ann-Marie Cutul, Ed Falcone, Maxine Grandison, Marybeth Kendrick, James Leftwich, John Monahan, Srivalli Rao, Carolyn Reznick, and Sharon Rothman

Excused: Tim Baird, Diane Batemarco, Aurora Cruz, Kate Colquitt, Jodie Hopkins, Harriet Huang, Dulce Juarbe, Opal B. Lindsay, and Judith Rovenger

The meeting came to order at 10:20 A.M. Motion (Rothman, Reznick) to accept Minutes from the October 2 meeting passed.

President’s Report:
·    Leftwich announced that he has secured two speakers for the Annual Conference. Best selling author Lee Child will be our keynote luncheon speaker, and Fordham history professor Roger Panetta, author of Westchester: The American Suburb, will be our morning kick-off speaker.
·    Leftwich will set up a Paypal account. WLA members will get e-mails with embedded payment links for membership renewal and conference sign up. Leftwich and Ed Falcone will be in touch with Rao about how to incorporate Paypal into soliciting membership and conference fees.
·    Leftwich also proposed to create our own social network to disseminate Conference information and elicit discussion on www.ning.com. Monahan indicated that the school librarians had done something similar with great success.

Treasurer’s Report:
·    Falcone reported that as of October 31, 2008, the Checking Account had a balance of $17,425.83 and Savings Account $19,857.31.CD rates are still very low and, there is no point to transfer any money to a CD yet.

Membership Report:
·    Rao will send out membership renewals via e-mail the last week in November. She will include information of upcoming WLA activities and include flyers, if available. Rao will send out renewals via regular mail if response is poor.

Web Administration Committee:
·    On behalf of Tim Baird, Zahra M. Baird urged committee members to send updates to the website to make it more dynamic. She asked Leftwich to send pictures of the keynote and kick-off speakers for the Annual Conference.

Youth Services Committee:
·    Marybeth Kendrick, the new Youth Services Co-Chair, was present. She mentioned that Co-Chair Kate Colquitt had had a meeting with Judith Rovenger from WLS and will report back as soon as she knows more.
·    Zahra M. Baird reported that the Mock Awards program will be held in January, possibly at night. Cooperation with SLMSSENY (School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York) is a possibility. Rao will produce a list of WLA members who are Youth Librarians or have an interest in Youth Librarianship.

Support Staff Section:
·    Grandison reported that Ma’lis Wendt has agreed to do a workshop at the Annual Conference.

Professional Development Committee:
·    Zielinski was not present, and questions arose regarding the Bob Trudell Scholarship. Leftwich will investigate further.

Annual Conference 2009:
Theme: After a brief discussion the following theme was agreed upon: Making a Difference: Changing Libraries for Changing Times

Keynote speakers: The Committee agreed that Roger Panetta will be the kick-off speaker and Lee Child will be the luncheon speaker.

Workshop speakers: Zahra M. Baird suggested Lee Rainie as a dynamic speaker. Mr. Rainie is the Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Honorariums:  The following amounts were agreed upon by the Committee:
   Keynote Speakers: A range of $300-500 each.
   Workshop Speakers: A maximum of $250 per workshop

Washington Irving Book Awards: Leftwich will urge Committee Chair Karyn DeLuca to have a list of award winners by March for proper publicity. Zahra M. Baird reported that the Pleasantville Village Bookstore would like to be on site with a representative to sell award winning books. The Committee approved.

Upcoming Events:
·    Zahra M. Baird reported that the planned film screening at the Jacob Burns Film Center will not work out because of licensing complications.
·    Reznick reported that she has investigated holding a social event at O’Malley’s Bar and Restaurant in Mount Kisco and supplied the following information:
            O’Malley’s will supply wine, beer, coffee and a buffet for $30 per person.
                   The event could be held on a Thursday 6-9 p.m. with live entertainment by a guitarist.
·    The Committee agreed on a maximum budget of $1,500 and set the date for the event February 5, 2009.
·    The charge will be $10 per person.
·    It was suggested that we have raffle prizes.

The meeting was adjourned (Monahan/Rothman) 11:45.

                        Respectfully submitted by Ann-Marie Cutul

Next WLA meeting:
Date: December 4, 2008
Place: Yonkers Will Library
Time: 10 A.M. - Noon