Minutes of GPLNE meeting, May 9, 2003, at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine

Donna Koepp, Harvard University, gave an excellent presentation, complete with slides,  on her research and indexing of the Serial Set maps, and how the serial set maps can be used to trace the history of our country.  Bowdoin College provided some examples of the maps from their Serial Set collection.

Betty Febo gave a brief update from notes taken by Erhard Konerding, of Wesleyan,  on the FDLP Spring Conference at Reno, Nevada.  There were over 300 attendees and 2 were from New England. The main focus of the conference was the future of the FDLP.

Betty Febo gave a report on the issue of nonprofit status for GPLNE.  She said that at the meeting in Connecticut, the majority opinion appeared to lean toward remaining an independent group, but that opinions can change from meeting to meeting and there has not so far been a true consensus. The decision was made to form a sub-group to create bylaws and a mission statement for GPLNE, since this may give us the direction we need to go. If anyone is interested in serving on this sub-group, please contact Mark Scott at the State Library. Mark.Scott@state.ma.us

Betty said that in 1991 GPLNE did get a taxpayer ID number, but we’ve never used it, so it has become inactive. The application fee to apply for nonprofit status is $150.  We don’t need to apply to the IRS for non-profit status in order to be considered a nonprofit group, but if we didn’t we would not have a letter from the IRS stating we were a nonprofit group.  This letter could be important if we want to open an account at a bank. We do currently have a bank account and to close out this account and set up a new one would require the IRS letter.  Also, as part of the nonprofit application we would be required to have by-laws and a mission statement.

The new slate of officers for the 2003/2004 year was announced.
Mark Scott, Chair
Kathleen Berry, Vice Chair
Len Adams, Secretary
Pam Hays, Treasurer

Mark asked for suggestions for meeting topics and locations for next year.

The Fall meeting will be at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Friday October 3, 2003.  Judy Russell from GPO will be the guest speaker and she will talk about the future of FDLP.  Bill Thompson and Al Palko will be honored for their long and dedicated service to GPLNE.

The May 2004 meeting will be at Colby College in Waterville, Maine and the May 2005 meeting will be at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

A possible topic for a meeting was a presentation on trade statistics.  Len will contact John Gaviglia at the Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research (MISER) about a speaker.

It was also suggested that we have a meeting at the Boston Athenaeum.

If anyone has any ideas for meeting topics or would like to volunteer their institution for a meeting, contact Mark Scott at the State Library, State House, Boston.

The officers will be meeting this summer to put together a program for the next year.

The meeting was followed by a tour of Bowdoin College’s Hawthorne Longfellow Library’s Archives and Special Collections area, and the George Mitchell papers.

Attendees:

Len Adams              University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Kathleen Berry        Boston College
Betty Febo               Wellesley College
Sandra Groleau        Bates College
Pam Hays                 Harvard University
Tim Hays                  Army Corps of Engineers
Simone Henderson   Bates College
Ginny Hopcroft        Bowdoin College
Linda Johnson          University of New Hampshire
Miriam Johnson       Saint Anselm College
Donna Koepp            Harvard University
Chuck Lakin             Colby College
Peggy Menchen        Colby College
Connie Reik              Tufts University
Sharon Saunder         Bates College
Mark Scott                 State Library of Massachusetts
Thelma Thompson    University of New Hampshire
Jim Walsh                  LexisNexis
Frank Wihbey            University of Maine/Orono