SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: Small Libraries Roundtable 2015-16 Annual Report 

Small Libraries Roundtable is back!

Accomplishments 

-          We relaunched our group at a meeting on January 29, 2015 by establishing our statement of purpose, election of officers and plans for 2015. We held four very well received sessions at the 2015 NJLA Conference.

-          We elected officers in September 2015 to one-year terms: Janet Torsney, president; Kate Russo, vice president; Sarah Legins, secretary; Tanya Finney-Estrada and Joanne Dera, members at large.  (Sarah Legins resigned in February, 2016 and Joanne Dera over as secretary.) We had a leadership meeting in September 2015.

-          Kate Russo and Janet Torsney reported on Small Libraries to the NJLA Executive Board on February 16. We shared the results of our survey that staffing and funds are the biggest challenges. Many of our members would be able to participate more in Small Libraries and NJLA if there was not such a focus on meetings. Maybe podcasts, videos, blogs and tweets could be a way for librarians to participate.

-          On March 7, 2016 we sent a Mailchimp e-news inviting  124 small library directors to join NJLA and the Small Libraries Roundtable;  33% opened it and 6% clicked through to NJLA (industry average is 20% and 3%, respectively).

-          We held a meeting on March 29, 2016 to discuss our plans for the NJLA conference and the rest of the year.

-          At the 2016 NJLA conference, our group hosted three panels, two brown-bag lunches, a poster session and a happy hour. We also collaborated on the drive for Covenant House AC and a session on preservation care.

-          We now have 115 members. 

Plans for 2016-2017

-          Smooth transition to new leadership by September

-          Collaborate with other sections (planning joint meeting with ET)

-          Continue to reach out to new members

-          Propose panels for national and regional public and small library groups

-          Inform and motivate members

-          Test new ways to inform and motivate members

-          Participate in NJLA conference and activities