Minutes

Present: Sandy Ward (President), Maria Pagan (Vice-President), Kathleen McDonough (Clerk), Jim Craig, Chris Lapan, Arnie Malin, Gail Weirick, Dorothy Blain-Hamel, and Jennifer Hartley

Sandy Ward welcomed all in attendance.

Review of accomplishments of previous 12 months:

• Results of the literacy workshops with Jody Spitz and Sandra Lawson indicated that the reading levels of much of HCHLÕs material were beyond the comprehension of our targeted users.
• An organizational assessment with consultant Craig Dreezen showed that we needed to focus on acquiring grant money to hire staff.
• NLM grant application was a result of that assessment. It was submitted on June 4th and celebrated at Sandy's house on June 12. (Photos of the party are on the web at sward.smugmug.com.)
• In late summer, we received notification that the grant was approved.
• A press conference was held in Mayor Sullivan's office on Sept. 17 to announce the grant award and to present Sandy Ward with the Jeanne C. Robert's Civic Pride Award. "Congratulations on making Holyoke a Better Place."
• We recruited, interviewed and hired our Consumer Health Information Coordinator.

Jennifer Hartley was introduced as our new Consumer Health Information Coordinator. She is a graduate of Simmons College School of Library Science with a background in both health and librarianship.

Review of plan for the grant funded project: Sandy distributed the Fact Sheet prepared by Doug Fleury, which summarizes the project. Four of six partner agencies were in attendance at today's meeting. Jennifer and Sandy will be going to each of the partner agencies. Funds for a laptop computer and projection equipment will be available for Jennifer so that she can conduct training in many locations. The project's base of operation will be Holyoke Public Library. At some sites, such as Nuestras Raices, there will be one designated computer and one staff person to train. At other sites, it is not yet clear which computers and which staff will be designated for the project. There is the potential at some sites for large training sessions. Sandy reminded the group that Mercy Women's Health Center contributed $300 towards the purchase of books that are currently housed at Nuestras Raices. Those books will probably be returned to Providence Prenatal (the new name for Mercy Women's Health Center.) Books related to healthful uses of plants will remain at Nuestras Raices. Due to the nature of this grant, funds for print material are limited. The grant is focused on training in use of electronic resources.

Holyoke Public Library and Nuestras Raices will be the first community partner agencies that Jennifer will work with.

Jennifer is working approximately 16 hours a week on a flexible schedule now. Her schedule will become more set when she acquires other part-time employment.

Election of officers for 2005: The slate of officers was accepted by the Annual Meeting. This information will be submitted to the Commonwealth in the Annual Report due on November 1 - President: Sandy Ward; Vice-President: Maria Pagan; Clerk: Kathleen McDonough; Treasurer: Doris McKethan.

Dates for future meetings: The next meeting is scheduled for December 13th at 1:30 at the Holyoke Public Library community room. This date is two weeks after the first quarterly report is due for the NLM grant. [NOTE: This date will change; Sandy, Jim and Kathleen have conflicts with the chosen date. SW 11-16-04]

Announcements:

Gail Weirick from Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities distributed brochure about upcoming training programs. Fall 2004 ÐSpring 2005

At the WMHIC meeting of October 15th, Michelle Eberle requested input as they prepare their long-range plan at the New England regional office of the NLM.

Meeting adjourned at 2:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen McDonough, Clerk