Preservation Committee Meeting: April 10, 2026

Preservation Committee Meeting: April 10, 2026

Conference Call / Zoom

Members attending:

  • Liz Bloodworth, Illinois Wesleyan University
  • Patti Gibbons, University of Chicago, co-chair
  • Stephanie Gowler, Northwestern University
  • Andy Meyer, North Park University
  • Amy Sherwood, University of Illinois Chicago
  • Jason Smith, Lewis University
  • Bradley Wiles, Northern Illinois University, co-chair

Members absent: 

  • Dan Green, University of Chicago
  • Sata Prescott, Northern Illinois University

CARLI Staff attending: 

  • Elizabeth Clarage
  • Nicole Swanson

Tasks Assigned

  • Minutes taken by Stephanie Gowler.
  • Liz will take the minutes in May. Jason will take minutes in June. 

Decisions

  • The March minutes were approved with minor edits.
  • June committee meeting will be held on June 5.

Announcements

  • Member Announcements:
    • Bradley Wiles (Northern Illinois University): ILA currently having election for the Board. ILA members are encouraged to vote. Bradley and former Preservation Committee members are on the ballot.
  • CARLI Announcements:
    • Call for committee volunteers is now open. Deadline May 1.
    • Continuing Education Programs:
      • Registration information on the CARLI Calendar https://www.carli.illinois.edu/calendar 
      • April 16: Free Speech meets Free Libraries session.
      • ISU Open House next Thursday. Space available. Register by Monday. 
      • Ask an Archivist on April 20. 
      • Save the date: June 9. Presentation on emotional labor in archival work. Registration not yet available. 

Discussion

  • Jason’s article for this month’s newsletter is in the Box folder; committee members can review and make comments. Liz is writing the article for May. Bradley is writing for June.
  • CARLI is working to meet the Title II accessibility requirements by April 24. 
    • No longer adding new PDFs to their webpage.
    • Blinds on the webpage are now accessible. 
    • All materials that we link out to need to be accessible. 
    • Curate the materials on the Preservation Resources. The page could be taken down while we put it together
      • Need to make it accessible.
      • Does it represent the information that we want to share?
      • Proposal: A committee activity for next year could be to do a more thorough review of the resources on the Preservation page; curate to make sure everything is up to date and accessible. 
  • Our next “Ask a Preservation Expert” event is on May 1. Committee members planning to attend need to register. 14 attendees are currently registered. Nicole will make another push for registrants next week and will contact registrants to see if they have any questions to submit ahead of time. 
  • Emergency Response Subcommittee
    • The group is proposing a quarterly email. 
    • Next message will be sent in June 2026 on the topic of corn sweat/High Humidity. Bradley will draft.
  • Upcoming Polygon program
    • There are 30 registrants so far. 
    • Nicole will share the program on the email lists again on Monday. 
  • Summer Digitization Series collaboration with FLVC
    • Six sessions are scheduled already; Nicole is working on finalizing a few more.
  • Discussion about a Book Repair Workshop is being tabled until next month.
  • Annual Report for the committee is due at end of May. Chairs will write a draft. All committee members will have input on final version. 
  • Moved the June meeting to June 5. That is the meeting when new committee chairs are decided.
  • The meeting was adjourned at 1:40 p.m.

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

The next Preservation Committee meeting will be May 8 at 1 p.m.

Future Committee Meeting Dates:
September 12, 2025, minutes taker: Patti Gibbons
October 10, 2025, minutes taker: Stephanie Gowler
November 14, 2025, minutes taker: Bonnie Parr
December 12, 2025, minutes taker: Sata Prescott
January 9, 2026, minutes taker: Amy Sherwood
February 13, 2026, minutes taker: Jason Smith
March 13, 2026, minutes taker: Bradley Wiles
April 10, 2026, minutes taker: Stephanie Gowler
May 8, 2026, minutes taker: Liz Bloodworth
June 5, 2026, minutes taker: Jason Smith

Deadlines: Committee annual report due on May 29.