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PRESENT: Pat Nonamaker, Robert Ganz, Margie Morris, LouAnne Lundgren, Ginny LaJuene, Bill Meredith, Phil Ritter

Welcome and Introductions – The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m., and introductions were made.

Minutes of January 30 meeting – The minutes were reviewed and accepted. It was suggested that a list of those attending should be included in all the minutes and that they be posted on the Intranet.

Selection of a Chair or Co-Chairs – It was agreed that Phil Ritter and Rob Ganz would serve as Co-Chairs, with P. Ritter being responsible for the "mechanics" of the meetings (agendas, minutes, notices, etc.) and R. Ganz serving as the spokesperson of the group.

National Issues – It was agreed that P. Ritter would forward any emails and/or other information regarding national issues to the members but that this would not be a major focus at this time.

New York State Issues – Plans for and the schedule of visits to legislators during Legislative Day on March 19, 2002 were reviewed. The three major issues put forward by NYLA were discussed as follows:

1. The Governor’s proposed NYICE would remove the State Library from the Department of Education. NYLA’s position is that there is insufficient information available at this time to take an informed position on this proposal.
2. "Formula Equity" is being espoused as a method that would ensure that last year’s funding levels would be preserved for those communities that lost population and that those communities that gained in population would be compensated for the gain. This would cost about $2M. An amendment Article 7 has been proposed, and we should encourage our legislators to support it.
3. New Century Libraries – We should promote the idea and keep it in front of the legislators; but we cannot demand it, realizing that it may take many years for this proposal to be funded and implemented.

It was agreed that all the people going to Leg Day should prepare a list of statistics and other information as well as bring some kind of "present" such as a book, bookmark, or magnet to give to the legislators. P. Ritter was asked to poll everyone in an attempt to determine exactly who will be attending Legislative Day and which people they will be visiting if they will not be there for the entire day.

Albany and Rensselaer County Issues –

1. Albany County legislators may possibly do a "supplemental budget" this spring, and B. Meredith will investigate this. Others were encouraged to appeal to their local legislator.
2. Rensselaer County – It was agreed that they needed to meet with their County Administrator again to determine the status of their previous funding requests.

Other Issues – It was suggested that everyone should send examples of public relation and advocacy activities to UHLS to be kept in a folder and shared with others at future meetings or when needed.

Future Meetings – It was agreed to meet every other month at the same time. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 8, at 7:00 p.m. after the UHLS Board meeting.

Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.