Greetings!
I want to share with you my special day at our chapter meeting on April 4. I will try to keep it simple!
There were 35 in attendance—one of our best turnouts in recent times. We meet fall and spring, north one meeting, south the next, in the Appleton or Green Bay Wisconsin area if you look at a map. We met this time at Peace Lutheran in Neenah.
Three librarians who are just starting libraries were in attendance. One lady was thrilled with the swap table and got books that now bring their collection to 32! St. Paul's Lutheran, Fremont, another library just getting started, was also there. They had visited my church library, joined NCLA and our church got the $10 referral certificate.
Everyone sends their best to National Board member Chris Magnusson and thanks her again for her part in making our Anniversary Meeting a success.
Our speakers were two local ladies who together have authored a poetry book and another book, the story of one of the women's mothers, who as a widow in Door County, WI raised her three children and took care of the farm. It was very well received, and many copies were sold afterwards.
Then we talked about the National Conference—Shirley and Nancy from Bethany, Green Bay, and me (see our picture above from the winter issue of Libraries Alive!). Shirley talked about the "Promoting the Library" presentation. She even went to Home Depot who cut and gave her enough closet unit parts for book displays for each of the churches represented.
Nancy talked about June Wishman's presentation "The Farmer's Daughter", and that went very well with our previous guest speakers' sharing.
I spoke last about the presentation by the authors at the conference, and introduced the group to the Christian Authors' Network. I also talked about my experience joining the National Board. I shared a little about the members of the board, our telephone conference meetings, and how we are going to strive to be more in touch with the Chapters—which they were very glad to hear.
I was asked about the conference of the future. One librarian told of going once, and wishing she had the funds to go again. The group said they love the sharing that happens after the conference when others who have attended come back.
I felt different at this meeting. I was no longer there solely because of my responsibility to my church and what I could learn. To all of those in attendance, I was also there to represent NCLA.
Following our meeting we enjoyed a nice lunch of chicken cordon bleu from Sam's Club!
So, that's it in a nutshell. I am glad to answer any questions you may have!
Kathleen Bowman
NCLA Fox Valley WI Chapter & National NCLA Board Member
