Greetings Colleagues, I trust you're well. The HBCU Library Alliance Board of Directors met via conference call on Thursday, February 9th. Highlights are detailed below. Governance Structure The Board approved the following governance structure of five (5) HBCU Library Alliance Board positions and two (2) outside non-HBCU Library Alliance Board positions. * One (1) private position * One (1) public position * One (1) 1890's position * Two (2) At-large positions, one for a non-director * Two (2) outside experts from non-HBCU Library Alliance organizations Board and committee changes require a revision to the HBCU Library Alliance Bylaws. Ex-Officio Member Pauletta Bracy, North Carolina Central University, has reviewed the current Bylaws and will work with LYRASIS Grants Officer Sandy Nyberg on the revisions. Amendments to the Bylaws require a two-thirds majority vote of all members casting votes. Members in good financial standing will receive a voting ballot. More information is forthcoming. Membership Dues Total FY16 membership dues collected by June 2016 from eighty-two members totaled $80,412.18. As of January 2017, sixty (60) members have remitted $63,538.00 as compared to January 2016 where sixty-nine (69) members had remitted $68,808.18. Digital Collection - Presentation at NCAAL, August 2017 Dr. Janice Franklin and Cedric Davis, Alabama State University, and Sandra Phoenix will present "The HBCU Library Alliance Digital Collection: Establishing Community, Strengthening Bonds and Enhancing Visibility" at the August 2017 NCAAL Meeting in Atlanta. HISTORYMAKERS Vice-Chair Monika Rhue attended the HistoryMakers Advisory Committee meeting in New York and presented information on the history and services of the HBCU Library Alliance. HistoryMakers has interest in a strategy to increase usage by the HBCU Library Alliance community of The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. More information is forthcoming. LYRASIS Catalyst Fund Ex-Officio Robert Miller, LYRASIS CEO, presented information on the Catalyst Fund, a new membership benefit designed as a direct result of member requests for expertise, collaboration and perspective. Follow this link http://www.lyrasis.org/membership/Pages/Catalyst-Fund.aspx for more information. Northern Illinois University Partnership The HBCU Library Alliance will partner with Northern Illinois University on their Digital POWRR (Preserving digital Objects with Restricted Resources) Professional Development Institutes proposal. Follow this link http://digitalpowrr.niu.edu/ for more information. The IMLS proposal seeks to develop and present institutes to create the foundation of a local digital curation and preservation workflow; and identify potential models best suited to participating institution's technical infrastructure, availability of resources, staff members' technical skills and the nature of their digital collections. IMLS notification will occur in mid-April. Contact me directly if you have questions or need additional information. Respectfully, Sandra SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/