Welcome Spring! Despite changes to the weather, such as thunderstorms and a wave of pollen that has settled over all of us, we want to welcome spring and endure those discomforts long enough to get to the other side of fun in the sun and summer. I use this analogy to talk about our transition to a new NCLA membership software, Wild Apricot. Our website development team led by Erin Holmes has been hard at work and we have begun the transition process.
With that said, we have disabled the links on the current website for membership renewals through April 15th, at which time you will receive a notification to renew if that is your usual annual time. Over the course of the next several weeks, you will receive more information about the new website, the tie-in with our upcoming conference, and the new software we are using for it. The next Executive Board meeting will be on April 26th at UNC-Greensboro and will be a working session for training board members on details of using Wild Apricot. This will be further rolled out to NCLA members including information sessions at conference in October.
Part of this transition includes changing the concept of the NCLA office. With Kim Parrott leaving, we need to reconsider how we interact and how best to move the business of the organization forward. Specifically, please update your contact information to reflect the following changes:
- The current office number used by NCLA is (919) 839-6252 and will continue to be used for telephone communications. The other number that you might be using is Kim’s personal number. When calling the (919) 839-6252 number, it will rollover to my office phone for the time being so that I can direct calls as needed.
- The physical address for NCLA will change as well even though we currently still have the physical office at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. We are directing association postal mail to a PO Box and can become movable as needed. Please start using the following address for any paper correspondence for NCLA:
North Carolina Library Association
265 Eastchester Dr
Suite 133, #364
High Point, NC 27262
- Email will stay the same nclaonline@gmail.com as well as the listserv for now. As we learn more and dig deeper into Wild Apricot, other changes might occur down the road. We will keep you posted!
- Kim will be around at least for the next three months in a part-time capacity, so we will still have her institutional knowledge to support us. She is also representing NCLA for Wanda’s preparation to become ALA president.
Overall, we are excited about Wild Apricot’s enhanced technology which will enable us to improve communications and event planning, and I encourage you to embrace these changes as we make this transition. Please call or email the NCLA office if you have questions—someone is still there.
For those of you who are planning on attending ALA in Washington DC this June, please consider signing up for the Inaugural Gala for Wanda Brown. This event occurs after the closing session on Tuesday and is fee based but we want to give a strong showing of support for one of our own as she starts her presidential year. We look forward to seeing you there.
Finally, on a very somber note, we lost two important folks to us over the last couple of weeks, Susan Nutter, long-time Dean of the NCSU libraries, and Brandy Burnette, a graduate of the 2016 NCLA Leadership Institute. These women represented both ends of the scale, a long time highly influential member of our profession and a young woman full of potential who embraced our profession whole-heartedly. They will be honored at conference this year along with others we have lost, but I wanted to share my reflection on how precious life is and how your influence might be stronger than you think.
Enjoy spring—we have a lot to look forward to this summer and fall and we need your energy!!
Mike