MAR/APRIL 2009, v.36, no. 4
The SCALL Newsletter is published electronically five times per year (September/October, November/December, January/February, March/April, and May/June by the Southern California Association of Law Libraries, a chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries. PDF versions of the SCALL Newletter can be downloaded here: http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall/newsletter.htm
FROM THE PRESIDENT... Jessica Wimer
I write this President’s column during very uncertain economic times. At this point, President Obama’s stimulus package has just been signed and the markets are continuing to decline. I do not doubt that the majority of us have devoted more of our time recently to thinking about the economic conditions of ourselves, our employers, and the companies and organizations that play roles in our lives. As a SCALL Board member for many years, I can assure each of you with confidence, that careful deliberation and consideration is given to how SCALL money is spent. As a result, we find ourselves financially healthy and able to cover both expected and unexpected expenses, in addition to maintaining a modest amount in reserve.
That said, raising the cost of membership dues as a method of maintaining our financial viability has been discussed every year I have served on the Board. Until now, no president has wanted to do so without careful consideration of all the facts and a clear reason supporting such an action. It is at this time, that we find ourselves at a place where raising the membership dues is a course of action that must be considered in order to carry on as we usually do in supporting our members while remaining in a financially sound situation.
The Board understands that SCALL members’ needs must be carefully considered before increasing the dues during such tough economic times. Therefore, in an October meeting of the Board and the SCALL committee chairs, the topic of a dues increase was addressed at great length. After setting forth the reasons behind a potential increase, discussing the amount of other chapter’s dues, and deliberating alternative courses of action, committee chair support for proposing an increase to the SCALL membership fee was unanimous. I take the recommendation of the committee chairs quite seriously as they have proven themselves to be invested in SCALL, and have the best interest of our Association and its members at heart. It is also important to keep in mind that at this point, a dues increase is not set in stone and that an exact amount of the potential increase has yet to be decided. Members with concerns still have time to voice them to the Board before any action will be taken.
If anything, the last few months have shown us that we cannot expect a quick and easy solution to our nation’s current economic problems. There is little we can do to predict or to change what is going on with our economy, but there are things we can do here at home to make sure the future stays bright for SCALL. It is important to think beyond the present and plan for the future of SCALL in better times. Limited thinking will not help our chapter continue to thrive and meet the needs of our members. Therefore, now is the time to realize what we do for our members, the resources we have available to us, what we need to do to continue operating in our current manner, and the goals our association would like to accomplish in the future.
Over the past few years the Board has kept a careful watch on the budget, making sure to keep a reserve, while still offering quality programs, grants and scholarships, and support for ICYP. Our main sources of revenue are the membership dues, the SCALL Institute and the Newsletter. Taking a careful look at each of these revenue streams will help explain the timing of the proposed dues increase.
Our current membership dues are twenty dollars annually, which is less than most other chapters with similar demographics. Indeed there are chapters that also charge twenty dollars, but in general they tend to be less spread out geographically, plan fewer programs, have fewer members, and/or do not actively provide as much support in the form of scholarships or grants to their members. Other urban chapters with similar demographics, offering similar membership support and programming, have dues that range from thirty-five to fifty dollars.
The SCALL Institute is our primary continuing educational event of the year and is a major source of income through vendor sponsorships and exhibits. The reality is that fewer and fewer companies exhibit and sponsor events at the Institute while the costs associated with the institute continue to rise. It is impossible to know how much profit our Institute will make each year and what the final costs will be, but if history is our guide, technology fees and food costs will increase while exhibitor participation will decline. With the Institute’s profitability varying from year to year, it is not a guaranteed source of revenue. Currently we have a special committee in place to examine our Institute, but their findings will have benefits in the future that will not be realized immediately.
We are extremely fortunate to have a Newsletter committee so clearly devoted to excellence. I am impressed with every issue and the effort taken to create such a streamlined and professional finished product. Besides keeping SCALL members informed of our association’s goings on, the Newsletter also functions as one of our major sources of income for the year in the form of advertisements. The number of advertisers submitting items to the Newsletter is down significantly for the year, and it is unknown if this trend will continue. At this point, income from the ads that are placed allows the Newsletter to pull in revenue similar to past years, but we will have to wait and see if fewer advertisers will eventually translate into less income.
In addition to decreasing revenue, the costs we incur are on the rise. There are times when Board members, VIPs, and/or committee chairs are required to travel on behalf of SCALL, and these travel-related expenses have increased a notable amount over the past few years. We are also unsure if some of the costs for printing SCALL material that has been subsidized in the past will be subsidized in the future. Program planning is increasingly becoming more of a challenge as well. Traditionally it has been our goal for programs to be largely self supporting - meaning the cost of registration largely covers the cost of attending the event. One challenge the Programs chair faces is finding a venue that is attractive to our members at a reasonable cost. Currently the average cost to attend a SCALL program is around $30.00, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an attractive venue that will host our event for under $40.00 per attendee. The Board is now faced with the difficult decision of how to handle these increased costs. Most solutions require spending money that was previously used for other purposes, such as operating expenses, scholarships, and/or grants. Passing the costs along to the members could result in fewer SCALL members attending the programs, and that is not what we would like to see. As it is fewer employers pay for members to attend SCALL events, I strongly suspect we will see an increased need for grants to attend the Institute and AALL.
This column is not meant to be all doom and gloom, and I would like to end on a positive note! With careful planning we can look forward to better times and continue to set our sights high on what SCALL can achieve. Positive things are ahead, but in order to reap future benefits we must plant the seeds today.
As I mentioned in my last column, the Membership committee is still actively investigating the possibility of migrating to a membership database to handle all association activities, and is still surveying the membership to see if there is a need or a desire for a mentoring program targeting new Southern California law librarians.
The Programs committee is exploring the idea of creating more opportunities for SCALL members to gather for brown bag lunches or additional opportunities for continuing education events.
We are all lucky to be members of such a vital association
made up of an interested and invested membership. With
a little understanding and planning, I am confident that
we will come through all of the challenges we face today a
more effective and streamlined organization.
