Pacific Northwest Chapter (PNC)
MLA Annual Report 2005/2006

The Pacific Northwest Chapter includes the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana as well as the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. The membership of just over 150 covers a diverse area both geographically and professionally. This report covers the period from March 2005 to April 2006.

Goal 1: Recruitment, Membership, and Leadership in the Profession

PNC is proposing three new categories of membership: Non-working, Emeritus and Institutional. After the review by MLA and the vote by the members, these new categories will be added. The Non-working category will provide for those currently unemployed and unable to pay the full dues. Emeritus membership will encourage retired members to continue participating. Institutional membership has been created to facilitate negotiation of group contracts with vendors. There are several hospitals in our region who are not currently members of the organization. In addition this will ensure that individuals do not carry the load for their organization in a negotiated relationship with vendors. These proposed changes have been incorporated into the bylaws and forwarded to MLA for review prior to a vote by the PNC Membership.

PNC extended its free student membership program to Emporia State and the University of Alberta.

Three professional development awards were given to members to assist them in attending the Fall 2005 meeting. In addition, one student currently enrolled in a regional library school also received a scholarship to the 2005 meeting.

Early membership renewal was encouraged through the awarding of three draw prizes.

The membership committee plans to reach out to non-traditional members such as those in the biotechnology industry. The upcoming meeting will be drawing point.

During the fall, many members were saddened to learn of the passing of Bill Fraser. Bill was strong leader in medical libraries both in the US and Canada. Many tributes to Bill's contributions were shared via the HLIB-NW listserv. A contribution to the UBC Scholarship named in Bill's honor will be made by PNC.

Goal 2: Life Long Learning

The annual meeting "Medical Libraries: Core of Discovery" was held in Portland, Oregon from October 15-18. There were three CE class all filled to capacity covering the topics of "Your Library as Business", "Evidence-based Medicine", and "Managing Electronic Resources".

Planning is well underway for the Western Chapters joint meeting to be held in Seattle, October 14-17, 2006. Hawaii-Pacific joined the team late last fall. The other chapters participating are: Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group, and the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona, The planning committee includes representation from all four groups. To date, eleven CE courses are planned. The theme of "Missions& Mountains: Believe and Achieve" is attracting a strong program and vendor support.

Goal 3: Advocacy

The Government Relations committee continues to monitor relevant list serves, frequently posting information of interest to members and encouraging action.

The PNC chair wrote to a new Portland area hospital encouraging them to include a library in their facility and offering assistance from PNC for such an endeavor.

Goal 4:Creating and Communicating our Knowledge

The guidelines for the use of PNC's Survey Monkey were reviewed and revised to maintain compliance with license. This popular tool is frequently used by the various members. The 2005 Conference planning committee used it successfully for Conference Evaluation and Feedback.

The PNC Website has been revised to make it more user-friendly. Each committee now has its own webpage where they can post plans for the coming year as well as reports. The organization's history, officers, archives, membership information, links to MLA and other pertinent documents are now more accessible. The conference planning manual is also available on the website. The publications committee is in the process of creating a blog to inform the membership of organizational work as well as promote and share ideas.

The PNC officers reviewed the chapter MAP for 2003-2006 at the fall meeting noting that many of the objectives had been met. A complete review and setting of new objectives will occur at the April 2006 chapter officers meeting for ratification at the October 2006 business meeting.

This report is informational and requires not action by the MLA Board of Directors.

Respectfully submitted, Lea K. Starr, PNC Chapter Chair, April 24th, 2006

Chapter Officers 2006
Chair: Lea Starr
Chair-Elect: Cheryl Goodwin
Past Chair: Kathy Martin
Recording Secretary: Liisa Rogers
Treasurer: Nanette Welton
Membership Secretary: Ann Girling
Chapter Council Representatives: Dolores Judkins, Kim Granath
Archivist: Janet Schnall
Publications Editor: Kathy Murray
Web Editor: Leilani St. Anna

Committee Chairs 2006
Annual Meeting: Lisa Oberg/Gail Kouame
Technology: Neil van der Voorn
Bylaws: Jan Schueller
Governmental Relations: Bob Richart
Group Purchasing: Cheryl Goodwin/Pamela Murray
Mentoring and Recruitment: Dolores Judkins
MLA/Credentialing Liaison: Victoria Bauerkoch
Nominating/Elections: Kathy Martin
Professional Development: Maryanne Blake