Details of the 58th Annual Business Meeting and Reception

by Rachel Resnick

More than fifty attendees enjoyed reconnecting with friends, networking, listening and learning from an entertaining speaker, and sampling wonderful cuisine at the 2009 Annual Business Meeting and Reception of the Medical Library Association, Philadelphia Regional Chapter.  The meeting was held on April 15 at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in the foyer and meeting room next to the Mütter Museum.  The meeting was attended by members, non-members, students, and vendor representatives.  Photos of the event, taken by Archives Committee Chair Joan McKenzie, are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8055980@N04/tags/annualmeeting2009/.

Etheldra Templeton, our outgoing (in both senses of the word) Chair, welcomed the attendees.  First, the minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting were approved.  A copy is posted at
http://www.mlaphil.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/20081.pdf.  Etheldra also presented highlights from the Chapter’s 2009 Annual Report to National, highlighting our accomplishments over the past year.  This report is also posted to the website, at http://tinyurl.com/mlaphilannrpt09.

Linda Katz, our able treasurer, assured us that our finances are in order and that we have a healthy balance, or at least it was before she started paying the bills for the Annual Meeting.

Development Chair Ellen Justice relayed the chapter’s gratitude to our vendor supporters this year.  Three vendors—Exam Master, Elsevier, and Stat!Ref—were represented at the meeting.  Majors and ECRI Institute contributed books for a raffle later in the evening.

Betty Warner, Nominating Committee Chair/Parliamentarian, provided a detailed account of the nomination and election procedure as well as the results of the elections:  We welcome incoming Chair Elect Andrea Kenyon and Secretary Sheryl Panka-Bryman.

Etheldra Templeton recognized member Mark Allen Taylor, who is retiring from the Temple University Health System Libraries.  Then Board members who were stepping down from their positions were recognized:  Laura Koepfler, who served as Membership Chair, was thanked for her service to

Carlos, Betty, Anne, Etheldra

the Chapter and given a Certificate of Appreciation.  Betty Warner also received a Certificate of Appreciation; she had been asked to step in as Nominating Committee Chair/Parliamentarian after outgoing Chair Jackie Knuckle was unable to fulfill the obligation.  Etheldra, as outgoing chair, will take over those duties in 2009-2010.  Jackie was also recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation for her service as Chair in 2007-2008.  Several other members were also presented with Certificates of Appreciation for their past or present service to the Chapter: Stephanie Ferretti, previously Treasurer, and now Government Relations Chair; Barbara Henry, who formatted the Chronicle; Gina Kaiser, previously Development Chair and currently Treasurer for the 3 By the Sea tri-chapter meeting; and Rachel Resnick, Communications Chair and Editor of the Chronicle.

Anne Seymour started off the presentation of Chapter awards with the Beatrice Davis Education Award.  Information about the award is available on the chapter website at http://www.mlaphil.org/wp/15/grants-and-awards/bea-davis/.   Ms. Davis was an active Chapter member and

Sharon K. Fischer, Anne Seymour

served as President from 1980-81.  A graduate of Drexel’s library school, she also served on its faculty.  Many paraprofessionals and library students employed at the College of Physicians were enriched by Ms. Davis’ mentoring.  She was the Fellows’ Librarian at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia for the last 13 years of her career, which ended in the early 1980s. The Beatrice Davis Education Award was presented to Sharon K. Fischer, a student at Texas Women’s University and an intern at the University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library.  Sharon is the library’s first intern from Texas Woman’s University’s online program, and sought out Penn specifically because of her pursuit of a career in health sciences librarianship.  Anne added that “Sharon has many relevant skills; she’s dedicated, thorough, goes above and beyond what she’s asked, and is eager to learn and expand her knowledge.”

Rachel Resnick presented the Robert Preston Lee Memorial Award for excellence in technology.  The criteria for the award are available on the

Carlos Rodriguez

website at http://www.mlaphil.org/wp/15/grants-and-awards/rpl/.  Mr. Lee was Associate Librarian for Technical Services and Systems at Thomas Jefferson University, Scott Memorial Library.  He was known for his innovative spirit, technical expertise, and generous collegiality.  An active member of the Chapter, he served as Treasurer from 1984-1986.  He was also Chair of the Archives Committee, and served on the Membership Committees at both the local and national level.  Mr. Lee died in 1988.  Carlos Rodriguez  was presented with the Robert Preston Lee Award for his 20 years of service to the Chronicle writing the “TechnoHumanist Corner”.  Carlos is the Medical School Liaison at the University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library.

Betty Warner had the distinct privilege of presenting the Chapter’s highest award, the Chapter Achievement Award.  This award is given to an

Anne Seymour

individual who has made significant contributions to the Chapter and to the field.  The award was given to Anne Seymour, Associate Director of Information Services at the University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library.  Anne has been working in health sciences libraries for over twenty years. At Penn since 1997, Anne recently served as acting director of the three health sciences libraries as well as managing the public services functions (reference, instruction, access, and document delivery services) of the Biomedical Library.  Since July of 2006, Anne has led, on an interim basis, the programs and staff of the Biomedical, Dental, and Veterinary Libraries at Penn. As Associate Director of the Biomedical Library since 1997, outreach to all communities served by the Biomedical Library has been Anne’s responsibility as she oversees liaison programs to the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, the clinical enterprise, and the Biology Department.  Prior to Penn, Anne spent seven years at Georgetown University Medical Library as Assistant Director of the Biomedical Academic Computing Center. While pursuing her degree in information science, Anne worked as a graduate assistant at Drexel University and computer laboratory assistant at Hahnemann University Medical Library.

Throughout her career, Anne has been involved in campus, local, and national activities. At Penn, she has served on the executive board of Librarians Assembly and multiple committees and task forces in the Penn Library. She is active in regional and national library associations, serving as chair of the Philadelphia Regional Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MLA), co-chair of the Quint chapter meeting held in Philadelphia in October 2003, and member of the National Program Committee for the annual MLA meeting in May 2007. While co-chairing the NPC for MLA07 in Philadelphia, she also facilitated a round-table discussion, hosted a dine-around dinner, and assured the social accommodations for a Special Interest Group.  She has regularly presented at national meetings and published in library journals, most recently as co-editor of a symposium in a 2002 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association.  Anne is our Chapter Council Representative through 2011.

Following the awards, Ellen Justice raffled off the donated books.  Winners were Christine Chastain-Warheit, Lenore Hardy, Betty Warner, PJ Grier, Stephanie Ferretti, Sharon Easterby-Gannett, and Martha Kirby.

Rachel Resnick then introduced the evening’s speaker, Josh Goldstein, a Philadelphia Inquirer health and science reporter.  Mr. Goldstein’s presentation is described elsewhere in this issue <http://www.mlaphil.org/wp/general-news/2009/07/10/josh-goldsteinjosh-goldstein/>.  Following the evening’s presentation, the attendees enjoyed a menu of Mediterranean delectables.

Thanks to everyone who made the evening possible: Andrea Kenyon and Lenore Hardy handled the site arrangements; Linda Katz managed our registration fees; Gary Kaplan suggested the speaker, Rachel Resnick handled speaker arrangements, and Ellen Justice obtained the speaker’s honorarium from Stat!Ref; Betty Warner procured the awards; and Anne Seymour provided the programs.  Thanks also to the rest of the Board members for their input, and especially to outgoing Chair Etheldra Templeton, who kept us focused (and sane).  Last but not least, many thanks to the attendees, who made the evening a huge success.