Forum Meeting on September 16, 2009

Librarians' Forum
September 16, 2009
Ehrlicher Room, 411 West Hall
Attendance: approx. 48

The meeting was called to order by Forum Chair Martin Knott at 9:00 a.m.

I. Introductions

Martin welcomed everyone to the first Librarians' Forum meeting of the semester.  This year's theme is "change" -- watch for announcements of upcoming Forum meetings.

Martin introduced the Forum Board and asked for introductions of newly-hired Librarians.

• Pam MacKintosh (Undergraduate Library) introduced Angie Oehrli and Emily Hamstra.
• Jane Blumenthal (Taubman Health Sciences Library) introduced Bethany Harris (ULA).
• Scott Martin (Science Library) introduced Lori Tschirhart and Sara Henry.
• Bryan Skib (Collections) introduced Shane Beers.
• Bria Parker (DLPS) introduced herself

II. Announcements

Martin announced the results of the voting on the 3 reports, all of which were accepted by the Forum:

• Travel Report (39-1)
• Salary Analysis (38-1)
• Salary Report (37-1)

The Forum Board will begin discussions with LDG, and Bob Campe in particular, as appropriate, about implementing the recommendations of these reports.  The effect of the just-announced changes to U-M travel funding guidelines is unclear.  The Library Finance office is going to adopt a new database tool that will, in part, enable tracking of data for both salary and travel.

Martin announced the talk on 9/23 by economist Ted Bergstrom:  "Some Economics of Saying Nix To Big Deals and the Terrible Fix." This talk will take place in the Ehrlicher Room at 10:00 and is co-sponsored Library Administration and Librarians’ Forum.

SkillShare will take place this fall.  Details will be announced soon.

Forum Coffee Breaks will resume  in October.  We plan to offer two a month, with one every other month on North Campus.

III. Karen Downing

Karen Downing presented on "Social Identity and Role Performance: How Who We Are Sometimes Influences What We Do."  Her slides are available at SLIDES (Link TBD).

IV. Issues from the Floor

Questions/comments about MLibrary.

Q -- Will new hiring process from this spring be used to fill positions left by the batch of retirements in August?
A -- Martin:  The Committee on Searches is meeting with LDG next week to discuss this issue.  The Committee on  Searches feels their role in the process was not as effective as hoped and will be exploring ways to improve the filtering process for the next round. The committee's goal was to help identify candidates for a position not applied for; this might be better done by supervisors.

Q -- Should we include input from recent hires about their experience with the new process?
A -- Martin: Good idea.  

Q -- It seems that the same group of people is often tapped to server on committees over time.
A -- Martin:  The Committee on Searches talked to LDG about the size and composition of our committee; LDG felt it was the right size and mix.  The Committee wasn't sure that was correct.  We need a broad overview of libraries.

Q -- What's up with the Cultural Diversity position [in Library HR]?
A -- This was discussed in Senior Managers in late August.  The position was not filled, partly because of financial concerns and partly because of the addition of the Press and DMC to the library.  The plan is to hire two new HR specialist positions, one focusing on diversity and one focusing on development.

Q -- How can we get involved in the new instructional committee and its subgroups?
A -- There was a call for volunteers last month, with more applicants than positions.  It still might be possible to join a subgroup; talk to the appropriate group chair.

Q -- Why is there no Martin Luther King, Jr., Day committee as yet?
A -- Martin: It's still in the planning stages; the discussion of this at LDG was postponed.  LDG will communicate to Forum once the committee is charged.

Q:  Why the MLK committee separate from the LDC [Library Diversity Committee]?
A:  Martin: Because the MLK committee is comprised of units across campus.  There is often crossover between LDC members and the library's representative on the MLK committee.  The library convenes the MLK committee (it contributes the largest amount of money to the project).

Q: Who forms the MLK committee?
A: Martin: The University Librarian appoints the chair and several others; other university units appoint members.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 AM.