Art Libraries Society

At the close of 2007, Central Plains listed a total of 24 members.

The Spring 2007 meeting of the Central Plains Chapter was held in Kansas City, Missouri, on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute, hosted by M.J. Poehler, with a visit to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The site worked well as the Visual Resources Association held its annual conference in Kansas City, and Marilyn Carbonell invited the Central Plains Chapter to preview the new library facilities at the Nelson-Atkins’ new Bloch addition.

The business meeting took place at KCAI’s Jannes Library & Learning Center on March 30, 2007. Fifteen people attended the business meeting, including outgoing Midwest Representative Leigh Gates. Leigh announced that Amy Trendler, Architecture Librarian at Ball State University, is the new ARLIS/NA Midwest Representative, reminded everyone to read the ARLIS/NA Assessment Task Force recommendations, and announced that every chapter signed the affiliation agreement. The chapter thanked Leigh for her excellent service, especially her attendance at chapter meetings and continual communication.

The topics of the business meeting centered on requests from ARLIS/NA including revisions to the chapter by-laws and officially changing the chapter’s name to more accurately reflect our affiliation to ARLIS/NA. In order for our chapter by-laws to be approved and signed by the Executive Board, they request that Article IV on Associates be omitted from the by-laws in its entirety; but the chapter may continue to offer an alternative participation level. The chapter decided to form a committee to review and revise chapter by-laws, and develop a set of proposed policies and procedures. Marianne Cavanaugh, Joy Wright and Ellen Urton volunteered. Their formal charge would follow the ARLIS/NA Conference in Atlanta and any voting would take place during the chapter’s fall meeting. A vote on changing the chapter’s name was postponed until the fall meeting.

After the business meeting, the group adjourned to the Spencer Art Reference Library at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s Bloch Building for tea and a tour of their new facilities, hosted by Marilyn Carbonell. The day concluded with a group dinner.

The Central Plains Chapter also held a meeting during the ARLIS/NA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on April 30th, 2007. There were ten people in attendance including our new MidWest Regional Representative, Amy Trendler from Ball State University. Amy explained that the ARLIS/NA logo should appear on all chapter websites and all chapters should provide a link to the ARLIS/NA homepage on their chapter websites. She reiterated that ARLIS/NA does not want the CP chapter to restructure our by-laws; just omit Article IV on Associates and that alternative participation categories should not appear in chapter by-laws. Also, ARLIS/NA purchased Member Clicks and will offer to host chapter websites and the Wittenborn Award will be under purview of chapter’s council. Amy asked those present about insurance for chapter officers and the Central Plains Chapter simply cannot afford it.

The discussion of the report from the Assessment Task Force continued from the Spring meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. Although the Task Force’s expediency and the usefulness of the data collected are to be commended, the Central Plains chapter does not agree with the analysis of the data gathered by the Assessment Task Force. The chapter also expressed concern about losing Regional Representatives in the proposed restructuring and presented Amy Trendler with several questions for the Executive Board, as everything is still under discussion. Additionally, the chapter unanimously voted to endorse the continuation of regional representation as a chapter.

Following the Atlanta Conference, chapter chair, Ellen Urton submitted the Central Plain Chapter’s formal response to the Assessment Task Force Recommendations to Amy Trendler.

The Central Plains Chapter held its Fall meeting in Norman, OK, September 27-29, 2007. The meeting was hosted by the University of Oklahoma; local arrangements were made by Matt Stock, the Fine & Applied Arts Librarian at OU. On Thursday evening ten attendees gathered for dinner at Coach’s Restaurant and Brewery.

The business meeting was held on September 28, 2007 at the Oklahoma Memorial Union. There were fourteen in attendance, which opened with a welcome from Dr. Sul H. Lee, Dean of the University Libraries. Again, Ellen Urton, Chair of the Central Plains Chapter, officiated over the business meeting beginning with a report on behalf of Amy Trendler. Amy and Ellen corresponded at length over the summer and Ellen provided summaries. The following items were tabled pending further instructions from ARLIS/NA: Changing the chapter name from ARLIS/CP to ARLIS/NA – CP, revising the by-laws to exclude Article IV on Associates, and creating a policies and procedures manual for the CP Chapter. The Nominating Committee consisting of Ellen Urton and Susan Craig reported that they were unable to secure a nominee for the position of Vice-Chair/Chair Elect. A new member, Tori Gregory from Oklahoma State, volunteered to run for that office. Because there was not a quorum present, an election would be conducted over e-mail. Next, there was a brief discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of MemberClicks from the chapter’s perspective. Susan Craig proposed that, as ARLIS/NA is no longer publishing a print version of the Member Handbook, and she has produced a draft with some input from Tom Young. Susan Bobo will circulate this draft to the membership for additions and corrections early next year.

ARLIS/NA headquarters asked for feedback on their proposal to rotate the duties of the George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award Committee among the various regional chapters. The consensus was that this could be a very beneficial opportunity for the chapter and Ellen Urton will communicate to ARLIS/NA headquarters our positive response.

The Mountain West Chapter will host the ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in Denver, May 1 -5, 2008. The chapter volunteered to help our colleagues in the Mountain West Chapter in hosting the event and Ellen Urton will contact Conference Co-Chairs for Local Arrangements Peggy Keeran and Tom Riedel with our offer of assistance.

Possible Spring/Fall 2008 meeting locations: Mari Russell announced that Kay Logan-Peters has offered to host a chapter meeting in Lincoln, NE most likely in Fall 2008 and Ellen Urton promised to investigate the possibility of hosting a meeting in Manhattan, KS sometime in 2008.

Following the business meeting, Tom Young and Mari Russell presented a program on Native American Art Resources: Paper and Electronic (respectively). Following a lunch break the group reconvened at OU’s Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West. The Director, Byron Price, discussed the soon to be released catalogue raisonné of Charles M. Russell. The book will have an associated website with images of all 4000 plus known works by Charles M. Russell. He also spoke in general about the programs and goals of the Study Center.

Following the adjournment of the meeting, most in attendance went across the street to visit the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art. Later that evening most of the attendees got together for dinner at Himalaya’s Indian Food Restaurant. There were no scheduled tours for Saturday, but some people stopped at various museums or sites in Oklahoma City (e.g. Oklahoma City Art Museum, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum).

Art Libraries Society

Central Plains

Annual Report 2007

January 29, 2008

Last Updated on Feb 15, 2008