ALA Council

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  • 1.  Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 10:17 AM
    Council members,

    In CD#48 that outlines various costs, you requested more details regarding Council costs.  Thanks to Keith Brown in the Finance Office for working on this summary with me.  At the end of the summer, we will be able to provide a summary of the virtual meeting costs - the staff costs will likely remain the same but certainly the AV, meeting rooms, refreshments, travel, and photocopies will be significantly reduced/zero.   Thank you!

    ALA Council Costs Summary
    Costs are based on 2019
    Covers 2 meetings a year

    Audio & Visual Equipment, Electrical, and Room Setup

    Personnel & Equipment

    $235,900

    Copiers & Printers

    Copiers, printers, toner, and paper

    $1,415

    Documents

    Paper and copying time

    $2,086

    Catering - Orientation Session, Council Reception and Promptbook meetings

    Food

    $8,338

    Promptbook Meeting (3 days @ conference)

    Space, scripts, etc.

    $478

    Post Documents to Website and ALA Connect, Website updates, reports, Resolution prep, Tally cards, report prep, etc.

    Electronic

    $39,007

    ALA-APA Council (Midwinter Meeting Only)

    Materials for reports

    $319

    Parliamentarian (Travel/Lodging/Meals)

    Travel, meals & lodging

    $14,000

    Captionist (Travel/Lodging/Meals)

    Travel, meals & lodging

    $20,358

    Council - Travel/Lodging/Meals, inc. site visits

    Meals & Lodging

    $335,031

    Miscellaneous – postage, telephone, supplies, equipment

    $62,068

    Total

    $719,000

     

     



    ------------------------------
    Maggie Farrell
    ALA Treasurer
    Dean of Libraries
    University of Nevada, Las Vegas
    maggie.farrell@unlv.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 10:26 AM
    Hey Maggie:

     What does it mean about Council costs for travel, site visits, etc for $335K?

    Susan Jennings
    TN Chapter Councilor






  • 3.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 11:01 AM
    Thank you so much for this Maggie! 

    At first glance I see $ 579,269.00 in costs that could presumably be eliminated or drastically reduced going forward if we shift to virtual meetings permanently, under three line items - Audio & Visual Equipment/Electrical/Room Setup, catering and council travel. Some of the other costs might be significantly reduced (eg printing and copying, some of the travel costs that are built into some other line items) and of course the cost for the software and services we use would need to be factored in.  

    Leaving all the other line items alone leaves us with $ 139,731.00  in costs, some of which as Maggie notes above would also be reduced, such as most photocopying. Were council to be eliminated I suppose some of those remaining costs would likely be shifted elsewhere as other bodies take up some of its duties.  Figuring that one out is a much bigger project that I think would be better left to others, but as the forward together plan gets fleshed out it would be interesting to see what the real cost saving would be of eliminating council and reallocating its duties as compared to switching council to virtual meetings. 

    Where is the $335,031 for 'Council - Travel/Lodging/Meals, inc. site visits' coming from?

    ------------------------------
    Tara Brady
    Teen Librarian
    Queens Public Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 11:15 AM
    Remember this amount covers 2 meetings a year not cost per meeting.

    Jennifer

    --

    Jennifer C. Boettcher

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    Business Information Consultant

    Georgetown University


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  • 5.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 11:33 AM

    Thank you, Maggie and Keith, for the summary.
    More questions:
    * Does this include staff-time (salary & benefits) costs during conferences (and how were those calculated to only cover Council specific time)?
    * Does this include staff lodging and travel costs during conferences (and how were those portioned out to Council vs possible other duties at conference)?

    Related but not cost/money specific, is there an approximate guess for staff-time spent on Council business at conferences?

    Thanks



    ------------------------------
    Aaron Dobbs
    Scholarly Communication Librarian
    Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
    He/Him/His,They/Them/Theirs
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 12:01 PM
    All,

    Thank you for the questions.  The travel costs cover some ALA staff travel as related to individuals working partly or fully for Council so the costs will vary by city.    For the % of time for staff dedicated to Council, I would need more time with the Governance and Finance Office to provide that.  The costs are provided for a sense of the finances underlying Council.

    Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Maggie Farrell
    ALA Treasurer
    Dean of Libraries
    University of Nevada, Las Vegas
    maggie.farrell@unlv.edu
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 12:06 PM
    Many thanks, Maggie!

    Louis Muñoz Jr.
    "Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." - Margaret Mead


    P. S. to all: My last name, Muñoz, is correctly spelled with the special character "ñ." To create it, either press ALT + 164 or else Insert from Special Characters. Mac users: Hold Option + n, then type n again. Many thanks to all!







  • 8.  RE: Council detailed costs

    Posted Jun 27, 2020 01:00 PM
    Thanks Maggie, 
    Having been on a group (not ALA-related) that had applied total annual salaries of staff to an event's costs as a way to make cuts there too scary to contemplate, I'm sensitive to how staff cost apportionments are made :)

    ------------------------------
    Aaron Dobbs
    Scholarly Communication Librarian
    Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
    He/Him/His,They/Them/Theirs
    ------------------------------