Edmonton Law Libraries Association

The ELLA Bylaws allow for the resignation of an officer and state that an election for the position shall be held.  As Gina Linden is moving on, this post, which will also be circulated by email, is a call for nominations for the position of Secretary-Treasurer.

Secretary-Treasurer:

The Secretary-Treasurer shall attend all meetings of the Association and keep accurate minutes of the same. In case of the absence of the Secretary, his / her duties shall be discharged by such officer as may be appointed by the Executive. He / she shall keep an accurate and complete record of all members in good standing of the Association, send notice of meetings as required and collect the annual dues and other financial assessments on behalf of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall have custody of Association monies, shall keep full and accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements in books belonging to the Association, and shall deposit all monies and other valuable effect in the name and to the credit of the Association and in such depositories as may be designated by the Executive from time to time. He / she shall disburse funds of the Association as may be ordered by the Executive, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements and shall render to the members of the Association at regular meetings or whenever required by the Executive, an account of the financial position of the Association. He / she shall submit audited financial records to the Corporate Registry annually and have charge of the official archives of the Association, to be made available as necessary throughout his / her term. The Secretary-Treasurer will perform such other duties as may from time to time be determined by the Executive. Upon expiry of his / her term of office, the Secretary-Treasurer shall give the Association all books, papers, vouchers, money and other property of whatever kind in his or her possession or under his or her control belonging to the Association.

If you are willing to stand for election to the position of Secretary-Treasurer, please send me an email or telephone call ().  Though our bylaws direct that the Secretary-Treasurer manages the election, as Chair, I beg the indulgence of the membership to handle this process.  Nominations will be accepted up to 4 pm on October 23, 2013.  Candidates will be presented at our next meeting, October 24th, with an electronic mail ballot to follow.

A gentle reminder that the officers must be a member in good standing, ELLA membership dues are, well, due. A link to the membership form for convenience.

Working with Gina on the ELLA Executive has been a pleasure and  I extend best wishes for good luck and a successful transition.

I will be moving onto greener pastures in the next couple weeks…those pastures being a one year contract at the New Brunswick Public Library Service! It has been a pleasure working with the ELLA executive for the last couple months, and it is with regret that I am not able to stay on for the full term. ELLA Chair Shaunna Mireau will send a call for a new Secretary-Treasurer shortly. Be sure to submit your name!

Welcome! The 2013-2015 ELLA Executive is very excited to launch this revamped website and is looking forward to serving the members of the Edmonton Law Libraries Association. It is a bit intimidating to follow the seasoned leadership that ELLA has been fortunate to have and we will do our best to provide the type of programs and meetings that members of ELLA have come to expect.

It seems that whenever law library news crosses our inbox we see challenges. Shrinking budgets, position disruptions, stress from too fast and too much change. My goal as Chair is to provide a place in ELLA for the law library community to share ideas for easing our burdens and turning challenges into opportunities. ELLA has always been a forum for those in our community to exchange ideas. I am confident that collectively we can take the step necessary to transform ideas into actions.

A primary initiative that the ELLA Executive will advance this fall is work toward a “last copy” initiative. The idea that we could all cancel or discard the same title concerns everyone. Looking at legal information collections as a local community will be the focus of a round table discussion at our September Business Meeting.

Thank you to Andrea Zielinski, Laura Lemmens, Amber McIver and Christine Press for their contributions to our community in serving as the Edmonton Law Libraries Association leadership.

Thank you to Melissa Hathaway for all she has done to create and launch this new site. Thank you to Gina Linden for all she has done to prepare for our 2013-14 membership drive and our first meeting. Thank you to Julie Olson for site testing, programming ideas, and facilities. I am excited to work with these fine legal information specialists over the next two years.

I look forward to serving as your ELLA Chair.

Shaunna Mireau