Amigos Board Welcomes New Directors

At its August 5 meeting in Dallas, the Amigos Board of Directors welcomed three new members:

• Sheila Johnson, Dean of Libraries at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
• Ben Shipley, Independent Director, Fort Smith, AR
• Jennifer Strayhorn, Director, Texarkana Public Library (TX-AR)

Shipley is a partner in the Fort Smith law firm Robertson, Beasley, Shipley & Redd.

In his Chair's report, Steve Potter, Director of Library and CEO, Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, MO, reported on the New Directors' Orientation held the previous day. He also announced the appointment of members to the Board's Budget and Finance Committee. Treasurer Robin Fradenburgh, Associate Director for Collections and Technical Services, the University of Texas at Austin, will serve as Chair. Committee members include Ruben Aragon, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas; Linda Davis, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County (NM) Library System; and Johnson.

As is the custom at the first Board meeting of a new fiscal year, Directors shared information about the library environments in their states. This information will be distributed to Amigos managers.

In her Treasurer's report, Fradenburgh noted that Amigos' net operations performance for June came in below the business plan, and the Amigos investment portfolio suffered an unrealized net loss for the month. She also reported that Amigos incurred losses for fiscal year that ended June 30. She termed the losses as unusual and attributed them primarily to development costs associated with the new Amigos eShelf℠ Service and funding for various member benefits. Despite the losses, Fradenburgh noted that Amigos continues to maintain a healthy reserve fund.

In other business, Board members were introduced to a new meeting support program, BoardDocs, which provides electronic access to meeting materials. BoardDocs is used by many municipalities and library boards, and Amigos offers access to members through its Member Discount Services unit. Two current Amigos Directors use the program and recommended it to Amigos. The Board will test the program and determine later this year whether to continue its use. At its November meeting, Directors will participate in a follow-up training session led by a BoardDocs instructor.

In her report, Amigos President and CEO Bonnie Juergens provided the Board with updates on various operations of the organization. She commented on the incorporation of the Continuing Education Services unit into the new Communications, Education, and Membership Department headed by Tracy Byerly. She also reported that Christina Pryor has joined Amigos as Continuing Education Services manager, and Kyla Hunt has been hired as Public Service and Technology Trends Specialist for the department. Juergens updated the Board on the progress of the Amigos eShelf℠ Service, noting that Amigos continues to search for two programmers for the eShelf℠ unit.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for November 12, 2015.