orientation | ALA Student Chapter

Attendees: Chelsea Shriver, Jason Korff, Nadia Stennes-Spidahl, Yesenia Ricardo, Elspeth Olson, Nick Josten, Mary Jingleweski.

1. Approval of October 24 meeting minutes

2. White elephant book swap / bake sale

The date of the book swap / bake sale is November 21
Volunteers are needed to lead each part of the event:
- Ysenia and Nadia will co-lead the bake sale. Ysenia will be there from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Nadia will be there from 1-2 p.m.
- Bake sale leaders should bring paper so that people can note ingredients.
Chelsea will create a Google doc for baked goods sign-up sheet.
Nick J. will lead the white elephant gift exchange from 12-1 p.m.
Bring extra books for people who want to participate but don’t bring their own. Cheap paperbacks are available from the book sale carts at public libraries.
Wrap them in anything, as long as it is opaque.
You can donate your book to the SIPS book drive if you receive something you don’t want.
Nick will bring a cigar box for collecting money.
For promotion it is okay to send an email to the LASSA list because it’s a school-wide event.
Jason will make posters for the bake sale.
Members should wear their ALA t-shirts or baking-related outfit.

3. Student-to-Staff Program contest

Deadline for the essay contest is November 15. Refer to the instructions sent by Layla on October 30. Email completed essays to Eric.

4. ALA Midwinter invitation from ALA@UW

There is an invitation from ALA@UW members to stay with them during the ALA Midwinter meeting, per email sent out by Layla. Take advantage of this great opportunity!

5. Treasurer’s update

The balance of the ALA@UBC account is unknown, but the club has some number of hundreds of dollars minus what was given to Chelsea to reimburse her for t-shirts. Jason will have a firm total once the LASSA treasurer gets back to him.

6. Other business

January orientation
- There is no way for clubs to email all the incoming January cohort, per Mary J.
- ALA reps are needed for the Wednesday, January 2, orientation. The time is tentatively 12-3 p.m., but LASSA will confirm.
- We will send out an email and encourage people to wear their t-shirts for the orientation.
In-kind donations for large events
- In-kind donations are possible for future events. Through LASSA / AMS, we have non-profit status, so it may be possible to do cash fundraising, too, if multiple LASSA clubs join together to have one event. This will also help with cross promotion and attendance.
Big upcoming events to think about over the break: Freedom-to-Read Week, marathon reading event.

7. Next meeting

1. Meeting called to order

2. Approval of meeting minutes

3. Marathon Reading event update

The event went well! The club raised about $150 for the Carnegie Center, enough to bring in a visiting writer.
Raffle winners were Emily from Creative Writing, Nadia from SLAIS, Jay from Creative Writing, and Sarah from SLAIS.
The event in IKBLC included 10 hours of readings by 40 separate people. The event at Carnegie was a good deal smaller, but was valuable for building a relationship for future events. In order to continue to build relationships with the community, ALA@UBC should keep an eye on events happening at VPL and participate where possible.
For next year, it would be good to create more energy around the event. Ideas include:
- Adult beverages
- A different set up / location (having the event next to the Learning Commons made things too quiet and “chill”).
- Having the event in spring next year establishes a consistent event and allows the club to make additional connections with other groups on campus (i.e., Theatre Department). Next year’s event could include plays, audience participation, spoken word performance, music, etc.
- Next year’s event should also build in some time for banter / getting to know the reader / root for the reader / an explanation of the text.

4. ALA@UBC t-shirt order

The t-shirts will be ordered by March 22 and shipped to Emily Booth in Bellingham, WA. Shipping should take two weeks, and t-shirts will be distributed in SLAIS once they arrive. Members will have to pay for their t-shirt before receiving it.
Chelsea will send out t-shirt order link to members and Eric once more before final order is placed.
Club will absorb the cost of giving Eric a free t-shirt as faculty advisor.

5. Bake Sale on March 21

The “pay what you wish” bake sale will be Wednesday, March 21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Come and hang out!
Sign up to participate and let’s us know what you will be bringing on the Google Doc.
If your food includes common allergens, bring a sign.
Vegan treats are always appreciated.

6. ALA Annual Conference

Sarah Fallik, who won the ALA Student-to-Staff essay contest, will blog about her experience at the ALA annual conference either at the ALA@UBC blog or at one of the ALA’s blogs.
ALA’s president, Molly Raphael, recently spoke at the University of Washington, and the talk will be available online. Mary J. will send out the information about how to access the talk.
The new president of the ALA student chapter at the University of Washington is Gina Kessler Lee. Mary and Elspeth will continue the conversation with her about possibly fieldtrips.

7. Planning for fall events over the summer?

Plans for next year include:
- Book swap and bake sale (end of first term)
- Marathon reading (spring term)
- Club members should look at the ALA site to get ideas for events to do in the fall (i.e., Banned Book Week). It would be good to start off the next term with a bang to impress the new cohort.
- Send ideas to Mary and Elspeth via email.
- The club should also be sure to have a presence during orientation.
Mary will be stepping down as president in the fall, so that is a position that will be available.

8. Meeting adjourned

ALA Student Chapter