Monday, May 10, 1999
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
UCLA Faculty Center

1. CALL TO ORDER

   The meeting was called to order at 2:12 pm.

2. CHAIR'S REPORT

   Fry thanked the Program Committee chaired by Heidi Sandstrom for making the arrangements for today's meeting. Fry also informed the membership that the LAUC-LA home page has won an award. It has been named a Links2Go Key Resource for the University of California as a topic. Each quarter Links2Go samples millions of web pages to determine which pages are most heavily cited by other web page authors. The most popular are automatically downloaded and categorized by topic as Key Resources. Thank you very much, David Yamamoto for a wonderful job.

3. SECRETARY'S REPORT:

   Adams distributed copies of the Fall Meeing minutes for those members needing a copy. The minutes were approved without correction or amendment.

4. REPORT FROM LAUC PRESIDENT:

   Kari Lucas (UCSD), LAUC President, reported on the status of the proposal to increase the steps in the Librarian Series. The proposal, which is a very important issue for us, is currently at the Office of the President being analyzed for costs and other ramifications. It is also in the hands of the AULS for Human Resources at the various campuses also being analyzed for its impact. One factor in the progress of the proposal is the timeline for the collective bargining process, February - June of 2000. LAUC does not bargain for salaries. That is the job of the union. But LAUC does advise the Office of the President, the University Librarians 's, and through the UL's, the Executive Vice Chancellors for each of the campuses, who do come into play in the collective bargining process. Lucas noted that the process is not neatly prescribed in a manual, but is constantly evolving and not always clear. Right now she is trying to talk to as many people as possible to give information, facilitate the process and make sure the issues involved are understood. On June 10th, Lucas and a LAUC delegation will meet with officials from the Office of the President to discuss the proposal, answer questions, and see what the next steps are.

   In answering questions from the floor, Lucas noted that the Academic Senate Library Committees on some campuses are writing letters of support as well as the Universitywide Committee on Academic Libraries (UCAL). It is very encouraging to see such support, and it helps in an indirect way. Other questions concerned funding the resulting pay increases and the rationale for proposing a ninth step. One member asked why Lucas was asking LAUC to look at position papers 1,2, and 5. In response Lucas noted that these papers refer to an organizational structure that is no longer in existence (Library Council), and they need to be updated to reflect the new advisory structure and groups.

   Lucas encouraged members to attend the Spring Assembly at UC Riverside on May 26th. The afternoon program, Distinguished Step: Holy Grail or Holy Cow, will be an open discussion exploring the culture that has emanated from the written documents governing the Librarian Series steps. We can expand the steps from five to nine, but how do we want to treat the last step - as a "walk on water" step or as something more attainable.

5. COMMITTEE AND DIVISION REPORTS:

   Fry noted that in the division year, this is actually an interim time and so called for selected committee reports.

   Committee on Programs: Sandstrom noted that she would like the committee to start planning during the summer since the Fall is so busy. Ideas for next year include a workshop series on grants, proposal writing, and research methodology, and a forum discussing the trend of library schools dropping the "library" from their names. Fry noted that during the year we have enjoyed several excellent programs thanks to the committee's efforts.

   Librarian Of the Year Committee: Fry took great pride in announcing that Sara Shatford Layne has been selected by the committee as Librarian of the Year. Reading from the committee's report, the nomination letter cited Layne's consistent and expert work on the Orion2 catalogue. In addition to flowers and a certificate, Fry was happy to present a check for $200. Layne very graciously accepted the award and thanked the efforts, cooperation, and support of everyone she's worked with in this endeavor.

   Ad Hoc Funding Committee: Miki Goral, chair, reported that the committee has just started to meet, looking over their charge and outlining some of the issues. She hopes to have a full report by the Fall Meeting.

   Nominating Committee: Barbara Haner thanked her co-chair Donna Gulnac and committee members for their work in putting together the slate of candidates for the various board positions. After announcing the candidates, Fry put forth a call for nominations from the floor. No additional candidates were nominated, so the slate will go on to the Elections Committee.

6. OLD BUSINESS

   None.

7. NEW BUSINESS

   None.

8. PROGRAM:

   Rita Costello spoke about the influences that brought her to librarianship and then formed her career in another installment of "Mostly about Libraries".

The meetings was adjourned at 3:35

Respectfully submitted,
Elaine B. Adams
LAUC-LA Secretary 1998/99