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NJLA Organizational Update: March 2024

Dear NJLA Members,
Happy Spring! It's been a busy month since our last update.
 
The NJLA Executive Board met on Tuesday, March 19, and we want to share some of the highlights with you. 
  • Members of the Conference Future Planning Committee, Conference Committee, New Jersey Association of School Librarians, and NJLA toured the three hotels that responded to our 2026-28 NJLA Conference proposal request: Hard Rock, Harrah’s, and Tropicana. We are negotiating with the finalists and look forward to the outcome.
  • NJLA Strategic planning continues. The Strategic Planning member survey closed on March 8 and the results are being tabulated. 
  • Brett met with staff members from the Governor’s Office and the Treasury Department, and gave testimony at the Assembly Budget Committee meeting at the Capitol. Soon after, the Governor’s Office released Detailed Budget Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025. The budget would keep Per Capita State Aid flat from Fiscal Year 2024 to 2025. While this is less than we had requested – we asked for full funding for Per Capita State Aid – from a library perspective, this counts as “good news”. The bad news is the budget includes a proposed 20% decrease in “Network Funding” (See D-350, which is page 423 in the linked PDF). We are working to restore flat funding for Fiscal Year 2025, because a decrease in Library Network funding would negatively affect every library in New Jersey.
  • NJLA's lobbyists, Porzio Government Affairs, helped us focus on Freedom to Read, and we expect the bill to be heard by the Senate Education Committee in May. After training with the American Library Association (ALA) Chapter Relations office, we added a page to the NJLA website where members and other library advocates can contact their elected representatives, and created our first campaign, opposing censorship and supporting the Freedom to Read bill.
  • Congratulations to our Executive Board election winners: 
    • Vice President/President-Elect: John Wallace, Systems & Emerging Technologies Librarian, Ocean County College
    • Second Vice President: Heather Kristian, Head of Youth Services, Pennsauken Free Public Library
    • Secretary: Rosy Wagner, Manager of Reference and Lifelong Learning, Burlington County Library System
    • Treasurer: Allan Kleiman, Library Director, Edison Public Library
    • Member-at-Large (three 3-year seats 2024-2027):
      • Tanya Finney Estrada, Library Director, Pennsauken Free Public Library
      • Corey Fleming, Library Director, Paterson Free Public Library
      • Maryjean Riou, Teen Services Librarian, Hunterdon County Library System
    • Member-at-Large (single-year seat 2024-2025): Eleni Glykis, Library Director, Red Bank Public Library
  • Conference Registration is Live! (Credit to Alicia, the NJLA Conference Committee, and our partners at Apps4Org!) This year's theme is "Breaking Barriers - Inclusive Collaboration."  The conference committee has added a new program called "Lightning Talks" which you'll notice in the registration form. We would love to hear about your successes in this new inclusive conference format.
Board meetings are open and we welcome your attendance. Check njla.org/executive-board-agendas for dates and meeting links. You can also find Organizational Updates at njla.org/organizational-updates. 
 
- Brett, Katy, and Alicia