Kayla presented the State of ULA Summary, noting the following highlights: We have a new Executive Secretary/Treasurer, Chris Anderson. Chris is actually back. He has served in this capacity before; a successful Fall Workshop was held in Brigham City; the Great Issues Forum in November was a success; ULA supported the MPLA Ghost Ranch Leadership Institute last fall; our Website was upgraded using MemberClicks; we had a rough Legislative Session involving the passage of a new law affecting county libraries. We are still working closely with the Utah Association of Counties in efforts to help construct the model ordinance in accordance with the new law; many thanks to Britton Lund and Chip Ward among others who spent much of their February at the Capitol. The new Salt Lake City Public Library opened this year; and a letter was sent to first lady Laura Bush. The Board endorsed the ALA position on the Patriot Act; a delegate was selected to represent Utah in COPE 3, a national assembly that will meet to discuss library staff issues. Letters of congratulation were sent to new MLS graduates in Utah. Both the Strategic Plan and the LPSS Certificate of Achievement documents were updated. Two new round tables, the Computer and Digital Technologies Training Round Table and the Business Round Table, have been added. A special thanks was expressed to the very active Board members for all their great work this past year. Peggy Erickson's passing was noted and appreciation expressed for her contributions and association. Peggy was a Member-At-Large on the ULA Board at the time of her passing.
A special thanks was also given to the Conference Committee for all their efforts to make Annual Conference a success. Committee members included Julie Williamsen, John Lamborn, Joan Hubbard, Dale Swensen, Gene Nelson, Kim Rollins, Robert Means, and Margaret Landesman. It was noted that Susan Hamada would be leaving the Executive Board as Past President and Ray Matthews would be leaving as member-at-large. Fish-shaped sugar cookies were presented as a token of appreciation to Connie Lamb and Sue Hill for their service as Program Board Co-Chairs; to Nancy Lombardo for her service as webmaster and Catherine McIntyre for her service as ULA email list coordinator and newsletter editor; to Jean Jensen and Dan Barr for their service as MPLA representative and ALA representative, respectively; and to previously listed members of the Conference Committee. Kayla handed the gavel over to David Hales signifying the beginning of his term as president. Kayla expressed her gratitude for being given the great honor of serving as ULA President. David expressed appreciation on behalf of the Association to Kayla for all her hard work as President. He presented her with a gift–a fly rod–as an expression of a big thanks.
David summarized and highlighted the list of the newly elected officers. He noted that Gene Nelson from Provo City Library was elected Vice-President/President Elect; Christie Reimschussel and Kent Slade were elected Members-at-large. The Academic Section will be chaired by Lanell Rabner; The Special Library Section will be chaired by Liz Workman; Sue Hill was elected ALA Representative; and Peter Kraus was elected MPLA Representative. A complete list of election results, including Round Table officers, can be found on file.
Chris expressed his appreciation to the Executive Board for their confidence and for providing the opportunity for Chris to serve the Association. He highlighted his activities as including the migration of ULA's membership information to the web database via MemberClicks. He informed the membership of the Association that if anyone is interested in knowing how to form specific lists of members for certain reasons, they can feel free to email Chris for instruction. Chris noted that nearly 180 Conference attendees registered online. He welcomes comments and/or suggestions for improvement of this process. Chris mentioned that he also worked this past year to secure long-term fiscal stabilization for the Association; there was some reallocation in investment securities, and we look to grow slowly on capital. If there are any comments or suggestions, Chris encouraged them to be communicated through email to admin.ula@xmission.com
Steven mentioned that it has been fourteen years since a Research and Writing award has been given by ULA. Next year, one will be given. Papers are due in mid-February and the only stipulation when submitting is that the submitter must have membership in at least one professional organization. Contact Steve with any questions.
Jean Jensen informed the general membership that MPLA's Annual Conference is held in conjunction with one of its 14 member states' Association's Annual Conference. In November, the Ghost Ranch Institute in New Mexico session will be held. Peter Kraus and Marsha Cheney went last year. Jean also mentioned that at tomorrow's luncheon 10 free memberships to MPLA would be awarded, so she encouraged everyone to enter a ballot at the MPLA table during the Conference.
David Hales announced to the general membership that the title of 2004 Annual Conference will be "Digitization and Universal Access: Visions–Challenges @ Your Library." The Conference will be held in Ogden, Utah May 5-7, 2003.
There were no issues brought up for discussion at this time.
The Conference's keynote speaker is Joan Frye Williams. Kayla first heard Joan speak at ALA summer conference. Joan first started work in libraries in 1964, and is now the president of her own consulting firm. She received her MLS from UC-Berkeley in 1975. Her address today is entitled, "Technologies that Lure Library Users."
Following Joan Frye Williams' address, Kayla explained that the fish pond ticket found in each participant's registration packet was good for one trip to the Conference fish pond. There participants could "fish" for prizes including gift certificates, food, books, etc. She also encouraged the participants to visit the vendors' booths in the exhibit hall; as they talked to the exhibitors, they could receive more tickets for the fish pond. The general session was dismissed at 10:30 a.m.