Amigos Board Met in November

With Chair Craig Stephenson presiding, the Amigos Board of Directors met in Dallas on the morning of November 11, 2016. The Board had also conducted interviews for the President and Chief Executive Officer position that week, and hosted a retirement reception for current President and CEO, Bonnie Juergens.

Chief Specialty Services Officer Tracy Byerly reported on the status of two Board-sponsored member services: free subscriptions to the RDA Toolkit (one free seat per member and discounted rates for additional access) and free member attendance at all Amigos’ live online conferences. These member programs were introduced in 2014 and funded for three years from the Amigos reserve as member benefits. As part of this year’s strategic planning activities, the Board will determine how these programs will be funded in the future. Over 620 individuals attended Amigos’ September conference entitled Reimagining the ILS.

President and CEO Bonnie Juergens provided a number of administrative updates, including an internal reorganization introduced in September. She also reported on new functionality recently introduced in the Amigos eShelf℠ Service, which can now support payment of e-book purchases via credit cards.

Treasurer Ruben F. Aragon reported on the positive status of operations and investments at the close of the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Keith Gaertner shared information about the Amigos Dallas office relocation, which represents downsizing in terms of rental space but enhancements such as covered parking for staff. The Dallas office will be located at 4901 LBJ Freeway, and will be furnished with existing items from the current site. In addition, Amigos' telecommunications capacity will be enhanced within the first few months in the new facility.

The Board focused much of its time and attention on recruitment activities, receiving an update from the CEO Selection Task Force. The Task Force was chaired by Chairman of the Board Craig Stephenson and included a number of past Amigos Board Chairpersons. A press release about the subsequent engagement of Alan Kornblau has been posted to the Amigos web site and can be found here.

The next meeting of the Amigos Board of Directors has been scheduled for March 2, 2017.