Washington D.C. Metro Area Chapter

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REFORMA DC METRO AREA CHAPTER Minutes from the March 12, 2004 meeting at the home of Katherine Faulkner, Beltsville, MD Attending: Mario Ascencio (George Mason University), María E. Díaz (Commission for Labor Cooperation), Katherine Faulkner (University of Maryland), Elena Tscherny (D.C. Public Library), Juan Carlos Ortega (Arlington Public Library), Bill Wilson (University of Maryland) I. Introduction of new members or visitors II. Review of minutes and pending issues from past meeting New members should send membership dues directly to the national office, because our chapter is deciding what to do about a bank account. III. Member recruitment We need to send out a reminder encouraging those who are on the D.C. e-mail list to pay their dues to the national office of Reforma. Mario will follow up on this. Mario suggested that we begin something like a mentoring program. If someone gets an inquiry about Reforma membership, the person who inquired should receive a "mentor" who will continue to stay in touch with that potential member and encourage meeting attendance. The MLS program Open House/Career Day at Catholic University is Saturday, March 27, from 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m. See http://slis.cua.edu/ for more information. Bill Wilson noted that the new dean of that program is Martha Hale. Someone needs to contact her to explain how Reforma was involved last year and ask to attend this year. Bill Wilson will browse through the Maryland Library Association directory and form a list of people who might be interested in joining Reforma. Bill Wilson will follow up on how to publicize the availability of the Reforma scholarship for Latinos interested in receiving a MLS. He will also see if there is a way Reforma (in cooperation with the College of Information Studies?) could work with the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Education to encourage students interested in librarianship.  IV. Reports from members who attended recent meetings; Upcoming events; Attendance; Promotional materials. There were no reports from members who attended recent meetings. Upcoming Events: Saturday, March 20, Teatro de la Luna's 12th Poetry Marathon at the Spectrum Theater. 2 p.m. - 9 p.m. This event is FREE. Saturday, April 3, Taking Poetry to the Streets. This is an event coordinated by the D.C. Public Library, on the day of the Cherry Blossom Parade. Elena suggested that Reforma could have promotional material available there. If anyone is interested in more information, please contact Elena Tscherny. Monday and Tuesday, May 3 and 4, ALA National Library Legislative Day. We are looking for volunteers! Spend an fun and exciting day on Capitol Hill rallying support for libraries across the Nation! The D.C. chapter of Reforma took part in this last year, with great success. If you are interested in participating, please write Mario Ascencio. Attendance: Since the last two meetings have been evening meetings, the decision was made that the next two meetings will be held during the work day, to see if attendance is better. Reforma promotional materials (i.e. pamphlets to distribute at local events): Juan asked Sandra and she did not know of any pamphlets. Mario suggested contacting Ben Ocón. Elena said she can make high-quality copies of anything that is camera ready. Juan said he would spend some time creating a pamphlet for the DC chapter for Elena to copy (for "free"). Katherine will write the national listserv list to ask other chapters about their promotional materials. V. Latino Authors - Report from Elena Tscherny Elena received a grant to have approximately three events in fall 2004 to discuss contemporary fiction books by Latino authors. She has asked Reformistas to read some of the nominated books and and evaluate them for the inclusion in the programs. Elena will send more information to the chapter e-mail list when she is ready to distribute copies of the books. Hopefully, Reforma can also help with the events, which will probably be in September or October. VI. National Reforma's new committee on translations After "discussing" it for several weeks via e-mail, the national office has established a Committee on Translations, for which Juan Carlos is the chairperson. Currently, the committee working on a "charge" (like a mission statement). He has heard from six other people, so far, who are interested in this. The committee is interested in helping libraries translate basic outreach material, such as pamphlets about upcoming programs. For instance, one idea is to form a standardized thesaurus for common library terminology. If anyone else is interested, please contact Juan Carlos Ortega. VII. D.C. Chapter Elections Juan Carlos will be stepping down as interim president, probably by May 1. Plus, his interim appointment expires on April 31. Thus, elections must be held at the next meeting. Paperwork is due to the national office by JUNE 1 declaring the new president, etc. Katherine will ask Everette Larson if he is still willing to collect the votes, as he volunteered at the September 2003 meeting. Katherine will send an e-mail to the list calling for nominations. If Everette is the coordinator, e-mails should be sent to him regarding possible candidates. The names on the "ballot" will be announced April 5 (at least two weeks before the next meeting) and votes will be accepted until the close of business Friday, April 16. The results will be announced at the meeting Tuesday, April 20. VIII. Roundtable We should prepare and maintain a calendar of upcoming events. A reminder e-mail could be automatically sent out once every other month, or something like that, via Yahoo! Groups. There was a discussion about where to have upcoming meetings. Someone suggested repeating a popular meeting that was held at the ALA office in D.C. Elena noted that Lynn Bradley always seems willing to allow Reforma to meet at the ALA office and speak at the meetings there. IX. Future Meetings Tuesday, April 20 - The George Mason campus near the Ballston metro station OR the West End Library. After Mario has confirmed the availability of a conference room, more information will be sent via e-mail. The agenda will include updates about: Reforma D.C. metropolitan area chapter elections The schedule for Reforma's involvement in ALA National Library Legislative Day More information about Elena's Latino authors project and how Reforma can help