OLD BUSINESS: Elections were held for officers for 2002: Chair: Carol Race, Chairs-Elect: Candace Kopper and Corey Hall, Secretary: Mary Beth Schoen, Treasurer: Sue Sherif, Public Relations: Open

Mollie Bynum asked us to choose a fantasy authors that we would like to visit Alaska. The authors chosen were: Bruce Coville, Tom Bodett, Joanne Ryder (for library visits), Gary Paulsen, Madeleine L’Engle, Ursula LeGuin, Lloyd Alexander, Tamora Pierce (wants to come to Alaska), Steven Kellogg (expensive), Brian Jacques, Mollie Bang, Katherine Paterson, Patricia MacLachlan, David MacAuley (expensive), Chris Van Allsburg (doesn’t fly), J.K. Rowling and Will Hobbs (Ketchikan 2002).

Treasurer Sue Sherif reported that the A2A currently has $2,788.17 in the treasury. $500 from E Council has not yet been received from the face to face meeting. Funds should top $3000 this year. The sales of books by Karen Cushman netted $400. A2A funds need to cover the Author’s Luncheon at the AkLA conference each year. This includes the author’s fees, lodging and meals; and the luncheon fees for any local authors invited. The conference pays the author’s fees during the conference, but does not cover public library or school visits.

Sue suggested that we pay the conference registration for the A2A chair to attend ALA and make contacts with authors. Chair-Elect Corey Hall might attend ALA in Atlanta in which case A2A would pay her registration fees. She also suggested that we print cards with the Rie Munoz artwork from the web site to pass out at ALA. Carol Race agreed to contact Rie or Juan Munoz about the use of the artwork on the cards. Sue Sherif will send a thank you card and AkLA mouse pad from the Roundtable to Rie Munoz for the generous donation of her design for the web page.

The major role of this roundtable is to arrange for authors for AkLA conferences each year. Sue suggested that we also sponsor an author for a pre-conference session in Juneau. This would involve paying the extra lodging and meal expenses for an author coming to conference. Arrangements for authors need to be conducted two years in advance.

The value of pre-conference sessions is personal visits with authors and networking between librarians. Sue pointed out the need to schedule the pre-conference Thursday afternoon so librarians can arrange travel to attend. Carol Race reported that the pre-conference focus in Juneau in 2003 might be Alaskana. Sherry Girard suggested that school librarians might be able to obtain professional leave if the pre-conference related directly to State and National Standards and the curriculum on Alaska. Working with the Social Studies Coordinators in the school districts, and offering college credit would also be helpful for school librarians. Sherry Girard, and Barbara Bryson volunteered to work on a committee for a pre-conference on Alaskana. Linda Thibodeau will be the chair for local arrangements at the 2003 AkLA conference.

The committee discussed the following authors for conference speakers: Dana Stabenow, John Straley, Will Hobbs, and Debbie Miller. Other suggestions for conference authors were Kate De Camillo, Sharon Creech, Tamora Pierce, Gail Carson Levine, Margaret Haddix and Caldecott winners.

Carol Race requested pictures and news about author visits for the web page. These could be upcoming or past events. Sue Sherif recommended a link from the Scholastic Page on how to host an author. The Roundtable needs a new public relations chair to update and expand the WebPages.

Sue explained the Chair of the A2A Roundtable is on the AkLA E Board Council meeting at conference, and face-to-face meetings. Sue thought the Roundtable’s prime purpose according to the bylaws is to arrange an author for the AkLA conference, coordinate author visits, with the sites paying the bulk of the fees and A2A picking up incidental costs. Fees of $1800-2000 a day for a national author are customary.

Cook Inlet Book Company provided the books by Joanne Ryder and Laurence Yep for the 2002 conference, and generously donated 25% of the profits to the AkLA scholarship fund.

This year’s author’s luncheon was well attended with clever decorations, local authors, and a keynote address by Laurence Yep. Mollie Bynum and committee made the arrangements for a very successful luncheon.

Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Beth Schoen
Secretary

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