1. Meeting called to order

2. Welcome and introductions of new and returning members

3. Approval of meeting minutes

• November 8 meeting minutes are approved, with correction of “brining” to “bringing” under the second bullet of item three (Marathon Reading) and removal of attendance list before posting to the blog.

4. Announcements

• The winner of the ALA student-to-staff program essay contest is Sarah Fallik. Sarah will be attending the ALA Annual Conference 2012 in Anaheim, CA, this June and will let us know about her experiences there.

5. Old Business

• Bake sale results: Last term’s bake sale and white elephant gift swap raised approximately $170, which nearly quadrupled the ALA student group account balance. The amount raised makes this a very successful event. Plans to hold another bake sale in March near the end of this term will be discussed at subsequent meetings.
• Surrey Public Library tour: The joint ALA / BCLA tour of the Surrey Public Library will be held on Thursday, January 26, at 10 a.m. The tour will last an hour, so those joining the tour should block out about four hours for the trip, including travel time. People should expect to be back in time for afternoon classes. An announcement will be sent out with additional information, travel details, and an opportunity to RSVP.
• Marathon Reading:
  – Carrie reported on the progress of the “marathon reading” event – a way to raise awareness of the ALA student group, raise money for a cause, and partner with other student groups (Librarians Without Borders).
  – The event will go two days (two 12-hour sessions) and funds will be raised by purchase of baked goods during the event (by donation) and from donations made during readings.
  – Funds will go to the Carnegie Center Library and Carrie has been in touch with acting director Megan Langley about having part of the event at the Carnegie Center to allow the library’s patrons to participate.
  – After a vote, it is decided that the likely dates of the event will be February 14 and 15.
  – Next steps will be to coordinate with Carnegie Center and to book a room.
  – Since the readers and the audience will come and go, it will be possible to have the event work around classes.
  – The hope is to also include other departments at UBC, such as the English and theater departments and various MFA programs.
  – A sign up sheet was passed around to solicit additional members of the marathon reading committee: Sam M., Jason K., Meghan W., Nadia S., Elspeth O. and Sarah F.

6. New Business

• ALA@UBC t-shirt contest: The chapter will be holding a contest to design the ALA@UBC student chapter t-shirt. One-color designs for one-sided t-shirt are due in paper or electronic format to Layla Naquin by February 6. The design should incorporate ALA@UBC, but otherwise, the design is up to entrants. The winning design will be decided by silent vote at the next meeting. An announcement will be sent out with additional details.
• New ideas / brainstorming:
  – A question from Sam: How is the ALA@UBC student chapter connected to the larger ALA organization. The ALA student chapter at UBC is one of about 60 recognized student chapters. ALA@UBC is currently trying to organize an exchange with the ALA student chapter at University of Washington. Members of the student ALA chapters can join the ALA parent organization at a reduced rate of $33. The ALA membership gives you access to publications and reduced-rate and free online workshops. Members can also join various roundtables and interest groups within the larger ALA organization. The ALA@UBC chapter is relatively new, so provides a great opportunity for members to shape the direction of the group.
  – Other possible upcoming ALA@UBC events include a lunch speakers series. Feel free to contact any of the members of the executive committee with ideas for the group
  – Cherry blossom / haiku festival: Nick proposes a cherry blossom celebration and haiku writing event in March that would allow collaboration with international students and the Asian Library at UBC. The event could possibly be held at the Nitobe Garden at UBC and could involve writing haiku on pink paper in order to create artistic representations of cherry trees in bloom. A sign up sheet was passed around to solicit members of the cherry blossom / haiku festival committee: Jennifer P., Sam M., and Nick J.
• The next meeting on February 7 at 12 p.m. in the Trail Room at SLAIS will cover the marathon reading, the t-shirt contest, and possible ALA-themed weeks around which ALA@UBC can plan special events (i.e., Banned Book Week in September, which would need to be planned in the spring).

7. Meeting adjourned