Strategic Planning Session Precedes November Board Meeting

Prior to the November 13 meeting of the Amigos Board of Directors, Directors and Amigos officers met in Dallas to participate in two days of strategic planning activities. Ideas and input from a September Amigos all-staff meeting were provided to Board members and incorporated into their discussions. The Board is moving toward completion of the new strategic plan, dubbed Plan 2020, to share with Amigos Members this spring.

Amigos Chair Carla Stoffle, Tucson, AZ, opened the meeting with her report, which included the announcement of her appointment of Director Jennifer Goodson, Fort Smith, AR, as Chair of the Nominating Committee. The Committee is charged with developing a slate of candidates for election to the Amigos Board.

The Board received an update on the Amigos eShelf™ platform currently under development and nearing completion. It also heard updates on two member benefits it authorized early last year: free RDA Toolkit subscriptions and free attendance at live online topical conferences for all Amigos members.

Amigos Treasurer Craig Stephenson, Ponca City, OK, reported that the organization's year-to-date net operations through October fell short of planned financial performance, while the Amigos investment portfolio included both realized gains and unrealized losses for the 4-month period. Amigos retains a strong fund balance and has allocated a portion to finance recently-introduced benefits for members.

Directors received the auditor's report for FY2014. Darjuan Horton, Senior Auditor for the accounting firm Salmon, Sims, Thomas & Associates, delivered the report. The firm issued Amigos an unqualified opinion, the equivalent of an
"excellent performance" report.

In her report, Amigos President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Juergens provided the Board with various updates on the operations of the organization. She announced that Amigos signed a contract with the Missouri Library Association and Kansas Library Association to provide attendee and vendor registration, exhibit facilitation, and financial oversight for their joint conference that will be held in Kansas City, MO, in October. Juergens also noted the return of Bea Ramirez to Amigos as Resource Sharing Specialist and Manager of the Trans-Amigos Express courier service.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for March 5.