Amigos Board of Directors November Meeting Highlights

At its November 4 meeting in Dallas, the Amigos Board of Directors received the final report of an audit of Amigos for the 2011 fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011. The Dallas accounting firm Salmon Sims Thomas & Associates, which conducted the audit, issued Amigos an “unqualified” opinion, the equivalent of an excellent performance report.

In her Chair’s report, Amigos Chair Anne Prestamo, Oklahoma State University Libraries, Stillwater, OK, announced the recent reactivation of the Amigos Conflict of Interest Policy Review Task Force to address Amigos staff participation in the policy. In a report to Directors, Task Force Chair Patrick Heath, Independent Director, Boerne, TX, noted that the policy approved earlier this year for the Board of Directors and Amigos’ staff did not appropriately address staff responsibilities regarding conflict of interest. Following Heath’s report, Directors approved changes to administrative and personnel policies recommended by the Task Force.

Prestamo also announced three appointments to the Fellowship and Opportunity Award Selection Committee for 2012. New committee members are Joanne Downing, Fort Bend County Libraries, Richmond, TX; Juliana Nykolaiszyn, Oklahoma State University Libraries, Stillwater, OK; and Jeanette Smith, New Mexico State University Library, Las Cruces, NM. They join Dwain Gordon (Chair), Arkansas State Library, Little Rock, AR; and Rachel Leket-Mor, Arizona State University Libraries, Tempe, AZ. Laura Kimberly, Senior Operations Manager for Amigos, serves as staff liaison.

Amigos Treasurer Patrick Heath noted in his report to the Board that net operations for Amigos in September 2011 showed a positive variance to the FY2012 Business Plan. He reported that the organization’s investment portfolio included unrealized losses in September.

Laura Kimberly, Senior Operations Manager for Amigos, along with OCLC’s Cathy De Rosa and Matt Goldner, presented information about OCLC’s new Web Management Services and Amigos’ role as implementation and training partner. In her comments, De Rosa stated how pleased OCLC was with the knowledge and skills demonstrated by Amigos’ staff participating in the program. Amigos is currently OCLC’s national partner for Web Management Services implementation and training.

Prestamo, as a member of the OCLC Global Council, shared information with Directors about OCLC’s global search for a successor to retiring CEO Jay Jordan, noting that a subcommittee representing OCLC staff and members has been appointed.

In her report to the Board, Amigos President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Juergens provided an update on the status of the open source pilot project and offered other reports on the operations of the organization.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for March 9, 2012.