El Corazón de Tejas: Minutes

Agenda

1. Bienvenida/Introductions - Paola Ferate Soto (Sign-in sheet passed around)
2. Minutes from 15 November 2003 Meeting delayed - Adán Benavides
3. Minutes from 20 January 2004 Meeting - Adán Benavides
4. Financial Report - Gustavo Soto
Guest Speaker
5. Diana Miranda-Murillo. LANIC, Latin American Network Information Center: An electronic index about Latin America sponsored by the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. http://www.lanic.utexas.edu
Old Business
6. "En Mi Familia" Quilt Project - Paola Ferate-Soto
· Recap
7. New Member's Packet - Jennifer Thomas
· Distribution: TLA
· Welcome letter
8. Membership form - Jennifer Thomas
9. Dues for 2004 - Paola Ferate-Soto
10. Chapter speakers for the year - Adán Benavides for Margo Gutiérrez
11. Fund-raisers - Paola Ferate-Soto
12. Children's Book Lists - Margo Gutiérrez and Sarah Bradley-Leighton
13. Rolling Plains Regional Detention Center: Request for Spanish language books - Adán Benavides for Margo Gutiérrez
New Business
14. ALA Midwinter - Patricia Clark / Paola Ferate-Soto
15. TLA update - Elva Garza
16. Petition for funding Día de los Niños - Elva Garza
17. Elections/Nomination committee - Paola Ferate-Soto
18. Poll: Do you want to be included in the National REFORMA Website's web directory? - Paola Ferate-Soto
19. Additional Discussion Points and Announcements

Minutes

1. Paola called the meeting to order at 12:08 p.m. New Member Luz Catano from Austin Public Library, University Hills branch, was introduced.
2. Adán reported that the minutes for the November 2003 meeting are delayed until further notice since the notes have been mislaid.
3. Minutes for 20 January 2004 meeting approved as presented by Adán. Paola suggested that notice of minutes be posted on national REFORMA list.
4. Gustavo announced that the chapter treasury has a balance of about $1200. Twenty-three members are paid up. New members include Luz Catano, Patricia Fraga (APL), and Thomas Leonhardt (St. Edwards).
5. Guest Speaker Diana Miranda-Murillo's presentation was reserved for the end of the business meeting.

Old Business

6. "En Mi Familia" Quilt project. Paola noted that the quilts will be shown at the Little Walnut Branch Library through March, then they will be on exhibit at the Oakhill branch, then they return to the Main Library.
7. New Member packets. Jennifer reported that 8 of 10 packets made had been distributed to new members. Discussion followed on a brochure and list of chapter accomplishments for recruitment purposes, some of which were distributed at the recent TLA meeting in San Antonio. Paola is to draft a welcome letter, which Maribel will review; the letter to be part of the packet.
8. Membership form. Jennifer noted that the membership form has been slightly altered. Confusion arises on making it clear to applicant that the registration fee should be sent to the local chapter, when then forwards them to REFORMA National.
9. Dues for 2004. Dues are past due, and all members are encouraged to renew their memberships as soon as possible.
10. Chapter speakers for the year. Adán reported for Margo that Jill Goldman from San Antonio Public Library is scheduled for the May meeting at Juan in a Million Restaurant. Margo will confirm Jill's schedule. Jill's talk will be about public libraries in Oaxaca, where she interned last summer.
11. Fund-raisers. Paola led the discussion on having a fund-raiser at a recognized location and with music. Venues considered included Zona Rosa, Fiesta Garden (part of the Austin Parks Department), and Ruta Maya. Music might include Steve Reich's band. Jennifer, Anita, and Tom will look into alternatives (at least via e-mail).
12. Children's book lists. Note was made that there is an interest in the book lists which both Margo and Sarah, working with others, have developed.
13. Rolling Plains Regional Detention Center. Adán reported for Margo that two small boxes of books were shipped and that Marta Cotera got the Mexican Consulate to donate school textbooks in Spanish. Those books will be shipped gradually, since they came in a single, heavy box.

New Business

14. ALA midwinter. Issues resulting during ALA midwinter included the site for the 3rd National Meeting of REFORMA. New York City, so far, is the only place that has been suggested; a planning committee will start shortly. REFORMA will send one representative to the IFLA meeting in Buenos Aires, August 2004; selection of representative still open. Other matters noted that Sandra Ríos Balderrama, Director of ALA's Office for Diversity, should be sent new membership applications since she maintains the mailing list. A financial summary from REFORMA is available from Paola.
15. TLA update. Elva suggested that our chapter host a get-together for other Texas REFORMA chapters at the next TLA Annual Conference, Austin, April 5-8, 2005. Discussion followed on funding the event: a fund-raiser? asking for money in advance? acquiring corporate sponsorship? It was suggested that it be held at La Peña with catering by Las Manitas; Elva and Anita will look further into this and other alternatives. A second topic of discussion was holding a preconference on the development of TLA leadership among librarians at the next TLA Annual Conference; Margo Gutiérrez would be asked about her interest or thoughts on the matter. And finally, the issue of the retention of librarians remains an issue of concern.
16. Petition for funding Día de los Niños. Elva asked the chapter to make a contribution to defray the costs of the Día de los Niños events. Participation last year included 2500 attendees, including 12 elementary schools from AISD. Funds from last year's sources are limited and less this year. The chapter agreed to donate $300 to be sent to the appropriate committee of the Friends of the Austin Public Library. The event will be held on Saturday, 24 April, 10:00 a.m-2:00 p.m. Anita, Diana, and Jennifer all agreed to help that day.
17. Elections/Nomination committee. Paola and Jennifer will comprise the election committee with the help of perhaps others. A slate of nominees will be presented for president elect, treasurer, and secretary.
18. Poll: Do you want to be included in the National REFORMA Website's web directory? Most of the members present agreed that they would want to be included in the national directory.
19. Additional Discussion Points and Announcements.

Guest Speaker Diana Miranda-Murillo. Ms. Miranda-Murillo gave an introduction to LANIC, Latin American Network Information Center, which is an electronic index about Latin America sponsored by the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin. See http://www.lanic.utexas.edu. LANIC was the first electronic index for Latin American information that was created. It maintains both country pages and subject pages, which are divided by country and region. Information about and by government agencies is very well represented, as are educational, cultural, statistical, scientific, and technological enterprises. Emphasis for inclusion in the index is selective: web pages must be of high quality with current content. Six individuals, each responsible for a geographic area of Latin America, review and maintain the selection of web ages. Presently, LANIC gets 3 million hits per month.

The meeting adjourned at 1:07 p.m.

The next chapter meeting is 22 May 2004, Juan in a Million Restaurant, 2300 East 6th Street, Austin, TX, 9:00 a.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Adán Benavides, 22 May 2004.

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