El Corazón de Tejas Central Texas Chapter of REFORMA

Meeting Notes

July 25, 2009

Terrazas Branch Library

Austin, Texas

Present: Don Bos, Bob Cárdenas, Melinda Curry, Mary Donley, Joanna Nigrelli, Silvia Reveles,

Loriene Roy, Gustavo Soto.

Items Discussed

• Election of Officers – Silvia reported that after phone calls and e-mail messages to Córazon de Tejas members, she and Margo Gutiérrez accumulated votes from about half the current paid members. The slate of officers was approved, and 100% of the recommended appointments accepted.

Officers

President Don Bos

Vice President Mary Donley

Treasurer Bob Cárdenas

Secretary Melinda Curry

Chairpersons

Programs Silvia Reveles

Membership Bob Cárdenas

Annual Stipend Mary Donley

Website Gustavo Soto

Book Fair Elva Garza &

Maribel Garza

Officer Elections Silvia Reveles &

Margo Gutiérrez

Chapter Listserv Margo Gutiérrez

Immigration Diana Miranda Murillo

YA Joanna Nigrelli

Historian Melinda Curry

The election report led to a discussion of membership, specifically unpaid memberships. Loriene suggested that there should be some sort of perk for members who have paid their dues as is the general rule for most organizations. An example would be the ability to view electronic listserv messages.

Ideas were presented about how to remind members to renew, such as a postcard in the mail or an e-mail message. Since Camila Alire just began her presidency of the American Library Association, it is a terrific time to be a member of Reforma and for the chapter to have a full paid membership.

Bob, chapter Treasurer, reminded us that the membership year runs from January through December. A student may be a member for free his/her first year, but then pays only $5.00 thereafter as a student member.

• End-of-Year Report – Don submitted the chapter report to National Reforma on time and brought hard copies to the meeting. Gustavo will post the report on the chapter website.

• Calendar – After much discussion, members decided upon the following fall calendar:

Saturday, August 22 Kick-Off Meeting/Social Gathering

11:00 a.m., Nuevo Leon Restaurant

Saturday, September 26 Meeting 11:00 a.m. Terrazas Branch Library

Saturday, October 24 Meeting 11:00 a.m. Restaurant

[Sat & Sun, Oct. 31 & Nov. 1 – Texas Book Festival]

November – no official business meeting, but an evening event

Saturday, December 19 Meeting 11:00 a.m. Terrazas Branch Library

Don will again request the conference room at Terrazas for meetings held there. Silvia will arrange meetings at restaurants when we veer from the library setting. We will continue to announce meetings through the Corazón de Tejas and AISD librarian listservs, on the chapter website, and to Loriene and Dr. Immroth for iSchool students and staff. We will look into contacting people through the Austin Public Library and Central Texas Library systems. Perhaps Tom Moran can help us with that.

New Business

Chapter By-Laws – Bob brought up the fact that it will be necessary to amend the chapter by-laws due to the result of this year’s election. Currently there is a stipulation that the vice president serve as president the following year. Since this will not be the case this year, an adjustment must be made. We also need to review the by-laws to ensure that they state that members can serve consecutive years as officers.

Austin Public Library Changes – Gustavo wanted the members to know that there will be some structural changes in the Austin Public Library organization. Because of budget cuts, there may be a shift of personnel and services. There is much uncertainty.

Recruitment – As the University of Texas iSchool expects 80-100 new students this fall, the day of registration/new student orientation would be a good time to get the word out about Reforma. Loriene suggested contacting Dr. Barbara Immroth, Graduate Studies Coordinator, and either she or a student could make an announcement about the Corazón de Tejas chapter. Don will write a cover letter with information about the chapter, Camila Alire’s ALA presidency, and membership.

Mary is concerned that there has not been much interest from Texas in the National Reforma Scholarship. We need to be sure that there is a link to this information on the chapter website and announcements in the Insider, the UT iSchool newsletter. We also agreed that it would be great if we could recruit more Hispanic UT student members to Reforma. Loriene could start a multicultural diversity group at the iSchool.

Announcements

iSchool – Loriene announced that the University of Texas iSchool has moved into its new location at 1616 Guadalupe Street.

Hispanic Heritage Month - Dates of this annual celebration are September 15 to October 15.

National Reforma Newsletter - Several people present at the meeting received their copies of the newsletter this week. The Corazón de Tejas chapter was well represented.

Texas Social Studies Textbooks – There has been concern about the possibility of removing the stories of César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall from the proposed social studies textbooks in the state of Texas.

UT Citizen Scholars Group – Loriene reported that Tim Staley has been chosen for the Citizen Scholars Group at UT. As director of the Austin Public Library Foundation, he will study the new main public library building.

Future Chapter Meetings - The next meeting will be Saturday, August 22 at Nuevo Leon Restaurant.