Category: Membership Advisory Group

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Membership Advisory Group – July–December 2026 Report


The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The Membership Advisory Group advises PLA on membership recruitment, retention, and engagement, directly supporting the strategic goals of Professional Growth, Advocacy and Awareness, Organizational Excellence, and the centering of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice (EDISJ) in PLA’s work. Over the past year, the group has reviewed membership trends, discussed who is and is not being reached, and provided feedback on engagement strategies and communications, with the goal of strengthening inclusive pipelines and pathways for all public library workers to connect with PLA’s resources and leadership opportunities. This work helps PLA better understand member needs, refine value propositions, and ensure that messaging and benefits reflect the diverse experiences and roles of library staff across the field.

In its discussions and recommendations, the group has focused on practical enhancements such as refining welcome and renewal messages, identifying key audiences for targeted outreach, and suggesting ways to highlight underused benefits like training, networking, and leadership development opportunities. These decisions and suggestions support the strategic plan by making PLA’s communications more welcoming and accessible, amplifying the association’s role as a national voice for public libraries, and improving internal systems and practices so PLA can function as a trusted, innovative membership organization grounded in EDISJ principles.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
Yes. There are several opportunities to more intentionally connect the group’s existing charge and activities to PLA’s five strategic goals and to make that alignment more visible. For example, the group could explicitly use EDISJ and Transformation lenses when reviewing membership statistics and communications, by routinely asking who is underrepresented, what structural barriers might exist to joining or engaging, and how welcome messages and benefit descriptions can better reflect diverse roles, identities, and library settings. That would position the group not only as a “welcome wagon,” but as a key contributor to PLA’s efforts to build more inclusive, equitable systems and pipelines into association life.

There is also room to strengthen alignment with Professional Growth, Advocacy and Awareness, and Organizational Excellence by deepening partnerships and closing feedback loops. The group could collaborate more intentionally with committees like Professional Development and Leadership Development to co‑promote low/no‑cost trainings and leadership pathways in membership messaging, and share back what members say they need, so those offerings evolve in response. In addition, developing a simple, recurring process for reviewing membership data and member feedback, and then documenting how those insights shape recommendations, would directly support PLA’s goal of measuring impact and adapting to new trends in association work.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
As this is Jan-June, I am not inputting any recs at this time.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
Yes. Partnerships with certain PLA and ALA bodies could significantly strengthen how the Membership Advisory Group advances the strategic plan. Within PLA, closer collaboration with the Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, the Leadership Development Committee, and the Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships Committee would help embed EDISJ principles in membership practices, connect member messaging to concrete leadership pathways, and ensure that advocacy stories and impacts are highlighted as key membership benefits. For example, the Membership Advisory Group could routinely share what it learns about member needs with these committees and jointly shape outreach campaigns, conference touchpoints, and onboarding materials that foreground professional growth, equity, and advocacy opportunities.

Beyond PLA, selected ALA‑level groups focused on membership and digital inclusion could be valuable partners. Member‑engagement–oriented committees such as AASL’s Member Engagement Committee and similar entities in other ALA divisions offer models and potential joint efforts around welcoming practices, surveys, and virtual engagement that could be adapted for PLA members. In addition, partnering with ALA digital inclusion and information technology policy groups on messaging about equitable access, technology, and broadband would reinforce PLA’s Advocacy and Awareness and EDISJ goals by connecting PLA membership to national efforts that benefit public libraries and their communities.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
Nope!

Submitted by Jennifer Baxter & Deborah Hallman on 01/23/2026

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Membership Advisory Group – January–June 2025 Report


The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The membership advisory group continues to welcome new members with personal emails that highlight the upcoming professional development opportunities available through PLA. This spring we also piloted the Membership Monday series to improve member engagement opportunities in the off conference year. Topics included: mapping your PLA journey, presenting at conferences, volunteering, contributing to PLA content in print and online, becoming a PLA leader and more. To date these virtual engagements have seen 210 members in attendance which is definitely a success to build upon for the future. We were very pleased to hear that the Membership Mondays structure will be going forward with other groups within the PLA.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
The Membership Advisory Group’s work is very much in line with PLA’s strategic goals.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
We have been successful at the past conferences with facilitating a variety of both informational and recreational member engagements in the Member Lounge so we think that is definitely worth continuing. Button making continues to be a hit along with informal meetups for connecting first timers with mentors and helping people find lunch buddies.

As stated above, the Membership Mondays virtual engagement pilot series showed that the members are interested in this type of content so I would encourage the group to plan another series when possible.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
None that come to mind.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
It’s been a pleasure serving on this committee for the past four years. I cannot speak highly enough of our staff liaison Samantha Lopez. She is incredibly easy to work with and always willing to do whatever is needed to further the goals of the group. I commend PLA for making this standing committee as a commitment to providing a voice / personal contact for new and existing members. – Meredith McCarthy

Submitted by Meredith McCarthy, Jennifer Baxter on 06/02/2025

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Membership Advisory Group – July–December 2025 Report


The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The Membership Advisory Group is focusing on the strategic plan goals of professional growth and organizational excellence to guide our activities in the fall of 2024 – 2025.

February – May we are starting a monthly virtual engagement event called "Membership Mondays" to help members be engaged and empowered on their journey in PLA. We will be covering topics such as personal growth, networking, volunteering, presenting at conference and being a voice in PLA's print and online media content.

As part of the brainstorming of the group for keeping engagement high during an off conference year we suggested perhaps having a major author virtual event for members only. Samantha took that idea and ran with it and it is our understanding that this is being investigated by PLA staff for possible roll out in Fall of 2025.

We continue to send out personalized welcome emails to all new members of PLA highlighting the professional development opportunities that are coming up soon and all the great tools PLA has to offer.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
We believe what the Membership Advisory Group is doing is very much in line with PLA's strategic goals.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
We have been successful at the past conferences with facilitating a a variety of both informational and recreational member engagements in the Member Lounge so we think that is definitely worth continuing. We hope that the Member Monday virtual engagements will show the value in providing opportunity for PLA groups and committee's to share information / get feedback from the general membership.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
None that come to mind.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
We continue to be very grateful to have Samantha Lopez as our staff liaison. She is wonderful to work with and is amazing at getting us connected with any resources or staff needed to achieve our goals. We truly appreciate her and all that she does for us.

Submitted by Meredith McCarthy / Jennifer Baxter on 01/09/2025

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Membership Advisory Group – January–June 2024 Report


The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
(PLA Goal) Transformation: PLA works with and for public libraries as they evolve to become more responsive to and reflective of ever-changing community needs.

· (PLA Objective) Provide platforms for libraries to share and test emerging best practices that lead to active inclusion, welcoming and belonging

o The Membership Advisory Group was a strong presence in the Member Lounge throughout the PLA Conference. We helped guide people to the sessions there for EDISJ Discussion and Support and Public Library Data Discussion and Support.

o MAG also led a well-received button making activity in the space that helped spark conversation. One of the buttons that could be made indicated that this was the person’s first time at PLA conference to serve as a visual clue for those who might need extra help and a welcoming smile.

o Other activities suggested by the Membership Advisory Group included a Lunch Buddies Meetup and a Knitting Circle that helped people feel welcome and make new connections / network. These meet-ups were very popular. We had feedback from attendees that they made friends, their conference was more enjoyable and that they felt more connection to the organization.

(PLA Goal) Organizational Excellence: PLA is the most trusted and innovative public library member organization.

· (PLA Objective) Prioritize and align resources to increase membership and revenue.

o A co-chair of the committee, Meredith McCarthy, and the PLA staff liaison, Samantha Lopez, both served on the ALA Workgroup for Standardization of Division Membership Dues and solicited feedback from PLA members and the PLA Board to bring back to the working group.

(PLA Goal) Professional Growth: PLA offers inclusive pipelines and pathways for the professional growth of all library workers.

· (PLA Objective) Grow the knowledge, skills and confidence of workers at all levels within local public libraries.

o The Membership Advisory Group members regularly send personalized welcome emails to all new members of PLA highlighting upcoming webinars and other professional development opportunities.

o MAG volunteered at the PLA lounge and fielded a lot of questions about the organization and how to get involved. Co-Chair, Sarah Tansley, emailed folks with volunteer information after the conference and fielded questions from potential volunteers.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
Samantha Lopez is very good at reaching out to the Membership Advisory Group to share with us opportunities to give member feedback and other opportunities to serve on projects such as reviewing conference scholarship applications.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
The new member welcome emails are an ongoing project. We have also been brainstorming virtual networking ideas to keep membership engaged in an off-conference year.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
None currently.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
It has been a pleasure serving as co-chairs of the Membership Advisory Group. We have a wide range of library staff involved with the group, so it’s been great to make new connections with people from all over the country. Our staff liaison, Samantha Lopez, is wonderful. She is always there to support the group and its mission to serve the members of PLA.

Submitted by Sarah Tansley and Meredith McCarthy on 06/06/2024

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Membership Advisory Group – July–December 2024 Report


The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The current work of this group is to develop new membership and create engagement to retain membership in PLA. The work of the Membership Advisory Group is integral to the strategic plan because our goal is to create lifelong members who actively engage with the association. This year we sent personal emails to all new members welcoming them to the organization, highlighting professional development opportunities and other benefits for membership. Advisory Group members manned the information desk during ALA Annual in Chicago answering questions, promoting membership and PLA Conference. The group is currently working on passive engagement activities to be available at the conference lounge in Columbus.

We also have continued division member representation on the ALA Membership Promotion Task Force and Co-chair Meredith McCarthy has volunteered to serve as part of the ALA Workgroup for Standardization of Division Membership Dues as a division member representative.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
The committee has discussed opportunities to be more involved with promoting active participation in PLA by both new and existing PLA members such as more openness regarding volunteer opportunities and clarity / less jargon being used to indicate the charges and activities of different organizational units. We would like to be part of the transformation of PLA to a more inclusive organization by examining and removing potential roadblocks to that participation.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
Writing personal emails to new members helps create engagement and truly welcomes new members and we would recommend continuing the practice next year. The biggest challenge is engaging members to remain members in non-conference years. We would suggest continuing to be creative while looking for opportunities for new members to become involved and volunteer.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
The Professional Development Advisory Group provides many no/ low cost trainings that provide a great value added resource for members. We also believe there are opportunities to partner with the Leadership Development Committee to promote opportunities to develop new leaders from new members.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
We have a wonderful team of diverse library workers representing libraries big and small across the country who enjoy being integral to the member experience at PLA. Samantha Lopez is a wonderful staff liaison and excels at being very informative while also giving us the room to be creative with our ideas.

Submitted by Meredith McCarthy / Sarah Tansley on 01/09/2024

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Membership Advisory Group – January–June 2023 Report


The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The Membership Advisory Group connects members, particularly new members, to PLA as well as provides feedback through the Staff Liaison on member messaging. The group sends out initial welcome emails to new members, offering to answer any questions they might have about the organization. The group also volunteers to work at the ALA booth during conferences to assist in guiding members as requested. The Membership Advisory Group supports PLA’s strategic goals by supporting professional growth and prioritizing and aligning resources to increase membership.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
The Membership Advisory Group is always seeking ways to continue to ensure that new members feel included and welcomed to PLA. While the group informs new members of opportunities to get involved, training sessions, and other professional development activities, perhaps the group could also find a way to assist new members in being more active in the social aspect of PLA through Connect. The group along with the staff liaison has brainstormed ideas in the past to make this happen but as of yet has not come up with a realistic solution. Assisting new members in feeling socially connected to PLA might assist in retaining members as well as building a platform for library workers to truly feel connected to the field at a national level.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
In-coming committee members should be prepared to continue the monthly welcome emails. Some members in the past have found success in connecting with new members by offering up networking through Linked-In. Additionally, there are opportunities for some presence at upcoming conferences outside of ALA Annual if in-coming committee members are available.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
ALA’s Membership Committee would be a great partnership for this group.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
This group is for many members their first, and maybe only, connection to the organization. There could be opportunities for more networking and support with new members, but additional support would be necessary from PLA.

Submitted by Rachel Nowell and Cindy Hohl on 06/05/2023

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Membership Advisory Group – September–March 2022 Report


The group met 4-6 times this reporting period.

Recent Activities

First Activity
Monthly emails to new members. These emails are personalized by each member of the committee to welcome new members to PLA and encourage them to become active members. When applicable, committee members are matched to people who live in their region.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Leadership, Organizational Excellence

Second Activity
In collaboration with the monthly welcoming members, committee members continue conversations with new members – answering questions when appropriate and directing them to the appropriate PLA staff member when necessary.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Leadership, Organizational Excellence

Third Activity
Volunteer opportunity to review conference scholarships was presented to the group. After committee discussion, a committee member volunteered to assist. The committee recognizes the importance of conference attendance to new PLA members.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Leadership, Organizational Excellence

Fourth Activity
Committee is organizing greetings and activities at ALA/PLA booth at PLA Conference, including button making and pairing up new attendees with veteran conference goers. It was recognized by the committee that many new members join due to their attending the conference. It is the hope of the committee that being present and welcoming members at the ALA/PLA booth will help forge a stronger connection to the organization and help retain members past their initial year. We also hope to assist with the virtual Intellectual Freedom Forum.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Leadership, Organizational Excellence

Fifth Activity
Volunteer opportunity to participate in ALA Membership Promotion Task Force was presented to the group. After committee discussion, a committee member volunteered to assist. The committee recognizes the importance of ALA membership and its impact on PLA membership.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Leadership, Organizational Excellence

What will your group be working on for the next six months?
Continued new member emails
Booth at PLA

Does the group have any policy recommendations, ideas with financial impact, or other items to bring to the PLA Board for discussion or action
While focus is often made to bringing in new members, the committee suggests that more attention and recognition is given to continued membership. Small ideas include special badges or buttons at conferences for members (for example: button reading 10 year PLA Member!)

Do you have any suggestions for future products or resources (excluding conference programs) to be developed based on your group’s work?
A week of a free preview of PLA benefits (access to prof dev, etc.)The Medical Library Association does this for the entire month of February. Non-members are able to try out tools and resources, explore new communities, and meet peers from different areas of health science information.

Are there other PLA/ALA committees your group might collaborate with to benefit the work of all?
ALA New Member Round Table

Have there been any issues related to meeting participation/attendance for any of the group’s members?
No

Is there anything PLA could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
Small budget for conference giveaways or access to “swag” PLA has already purchased.

Submitted by Kim DeNero-Ackroyd on 02/17/2022

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Membership Advisory Group – September–March 2021 Report


The group met 4-6 times this reporting period.

Recent Activities

First Activity
Monthly emails to new members. Initially these emails were sent bi-monthly or quarterly. We decided as a group to
send monthly emails to a smaller list. We also separated the list to match the committee members to people who lived
in on near their state. The thought was that new members would be more likely to contact those who live in their
region.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Leadership, Organizational Excellence

Second Activity
Planned a virtual Happy Hour during ALA Annual. We used the new member survey to determine what break out
sessions to coordinate for the new members, what types of PLA trivia we should ask and professional development
discussions.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Leadership, Organizational Excellence

Third Activity
Advised PLA staff on the drip campaign for new members. We used the new member survey to determine if a
campaign giving small amounts of information over a period of time would build excitement in new members and
garner more participation/volunteerism.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Organizational Excellence

Fourth Activity
Advised PLA staff on the New Members' Survey. The survey helped the committee decide to have the virtual happy
hour and assisted with drip campaign ideas.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, Organizational Excellence

Fifth Activity
Committee member represented PLA at the Small Oklahoma Libraries Round Table. She marketed the benefits of
joining PLA and being a member.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Advocacy and Awareness, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice

What will your group be working on for the next six months?
Continued monthly emails to new members.
In person events for PLA in March 2022 and ALA in June 2022.

Does the group have any policy recommendations, ideas with financial impact, or other items to bring to the PLA Board for discussion or action
Commit to regular new member events at conferences such as breakfasts, happy hours, gatherings at entertainment
venues. New and old members should be invited in order to facilitate networking.

Do you have any suggestions for future products or resources (excluding conference programs) to be developed based on your group’s work?
PLA logoed pens, pencils, bags, note pads to be used as giveaways or prizes.

Are there other PLA/ALA committees your group might collaborate with to benefit the work of all?
ALA New Members' Round Table
ALA New Member Committee

Have there been any issues related to meeting participation/attendance for any of the group’s members?
No

Is there anything PLA could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
We suggested being able to give out prizes, but were told that there wasn't a budget for that. It would be helpful if we had a budget to do this.

Submitted by Amiya Hutson & Kim DeNero-Ackroyd on 09/14/2021

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Membership Advisory Group – April–August 2020 Report


The group met 0 times this reporting period.

Recent Activities

First Activity
The group held not face to face meetings due to the onset of COVID. In April, I split up and assigned the new membership list among the group members and Welcome emails were sent. I have no information on if all the members completed the task. I did reach out to my potion of the list and received a few thank you emails back.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Advocacy and Awareness

What will your group be working on for the next six months?
I'm currently no longer on the Connect group page so can't access the group. I've reached out to Samantha to explore the issue.

There will be no face-to-face planned due to most libraries having travel restrictions in place, including my library.

Does the group have any policy recommendations, ideas with financial impact, or other items to bring to the PLA Board for discussion or action
None

Do you have any suggestions for future products or resources (excluding conference programs) to be developed based on your group’s work?
None

Are there other PLA/ALA committees your group might collaborate with to benefit the work of all?
N/A

Have there been any issues related to meeting participation/attendance for any of the group’s members?
No

Is there anything PLA could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
Maybe a vaccine for the virus. 🙂 The restrictions of the virus is what has hindered our work, as it has everyone.

Thank you.

Submitted by Helen Rigdon on 08/30/2020

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Membership Advisory Group – September–March 2020 Report


The group met 1 time this reporting period.

Recent Activities

First Activity
The group was formed in August of last year and our liaison sent the first group of new PLA members. We divided the list of 430 new members up among the committee members and I created a template of a welcoming email for committee members to send to their assigned new members. This was completed in October and the emails were sent out. I received several emails back from those I sent emails to thanking us for the personal welcome.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Organizational Excellence

Second Activity
The group received a second list of 410 new members in November and followed the same procedure. The template was revised and the emails were sent.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Organizational Excellence

Third Activity
We received a list of 430 new members in February and followed the same procedure. Each of the new members received a personalize email welcoming them to PLA.
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Organizational Excellence

Fourth Activity
Four of the committee members, plus our liaison, were able to meet on Feb 25 @ 3:30 at the PLA conference.
Attendance: Helen Rigdon (chair), Trisha Burns, Kim DeNero-Ackroyd, Nicole Wilhelms, Samantha Lopez (PLA staff liaison)

Helen started off the meeting discussing the member welcome emails.
Response to welcome emails is low (5-10%), but those who do respond seem appreciative.
The group agrees that welcome emails should continue, but need to have updated talking points to stay relevant. Helen will get from Samantha, and Helen will update the templates when sending out the email assignments.
The group discussed continual emails with same new member assignments, but after discussing how a manual drip campaign would work, it was determined it would be too time-consuming, hard to track, and new committee members would be left with residual emails from committee members cycling off.
Samantha presented limitations with manual email drip marketing campaigns. Have been trying to launch since 2018. ALA is going through an email software clean-up Spring 2020, and is hoping to launch automated drip campaigns once completed.
Challenges of committee cycles means limitations with consistency and continuity with work.
The group proposed chair should have 1 more year to term to help transition new chair.
Group asked where is the value of the membership committee if there's no investment in membership within ALA/PLA tech, etc.?
The group voiced frustration with ideas not going anywhere, and limitations of PLA/ALA
The group should only tackle tasks or ask questions of members where action can really be taken
Meets PLA’s strategic goals for Organizational Excellence

What will your group be working on for the next six months?
We will be setting up a post-conference conference call with the committee to discuss our ideas from the meeting. Some of those are listed below.

The group brainstormed engagement topics for post-PLA Conference:
Non-conference year discounts? "Bridge rate" or 2-year discount
Increasing PLA presence at ALA Annual
Barriers include limited number of program slots for hundreds of PLA proposals
Financial limitations
Post-conference survey for new members – what can we do to get you coming back? Emphasis should be on engagement/what they want from the committee (more communications? Etc) and not what do they want from PLA (assumption is free, or discounts)
Follow-up email linking to membership videos? Where will those live?
PLA will post on website, Samantha to follow up
Where do small libraries fit in? Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL)?
PLA and ALA have had a long history of not being able to reach or recruit small and rural libraries
PLA supports ARSL Conference (exhibitor & sponsor), emphasizes free products and services they can utilize
Overall, hard to reach population and assumption is they can't afford ALA+PLA membership
How to target non-members who attended conference?
About 60% of regular conference attendees are members
List is easy to pull for non-members
Curating content that's a member perk for people who couldn't make it to conference
Question should be – Is PLA actually offering things that engage members?
Should the committee also serve as ambassadors of PLA?
Previously, this committee would go to local conferences to promote PLA
How can committee members use their own networks to be ambassadors for PLA?
State conferences?
PLA ads in library state or association conferences?
ALA's New Member Round Table – ask them what they do that works for them? Best practices?
Follow-up from conference – contact last 6-months, "did you know PLA does/has…", ask how we can better support them?

Does the group have any policy recommendations, ideas with financial impact, or other items to bring to the PLA Board for discussion or action
Group asked where is the value of the membership committee if there's no investment in membership within ALA/PLA tech, etc.?
The group voiced frustration with ideas not going anywhere, and limitations of PLA/ALA. We feel that we cannot make promises to new members without there being definite follow through from ALA/PLA.

Do you have any suggestions for future products or resources (excluding conference programs) to be developed based on your group’s work?
PLA and ALA have had a long history of not being able to reach or recruit small and rural libraries
PLA supports ARSL Conference (exhibitor & sponsor), emphasizes free products and services they can utilize
Overall, hard to reach population and assumption is they can't afford ALA+PLA membership. We would like to see some more outreach with smaller public libraries, if possible.

Are there other PLA/ALA committees your group might collaborate with to benefit the work of all?
New Member Round-Table

Have there been any issues related to meeting participation/attendance for any of the group’s members?
Yes (if yes, PLA will contact you for more information)

Is there anything PLA could have provided during this time that would have helped your group with its work?
More information for first-time committee members on hos this all worked – that we would be in a big room. Also there was no signage for our committee.

Submitted by Helen Rigdon on 03/11/2020

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