Katharine has alerted people to the possibility of voting on the CILIP
Membership rates for 2010 by proxy if they can't attend the AGM, and I
understand that quite a few folk are taking this up. This is a good thing
(democracy in action!) so long as those doing this have weighed all the
arguments before deciding which way to tell their proxies to vote, since
they obviously won't be present to hear the debate on the day.
Membership subscriptions are not a matter for Council: they are proposed to
AGM by the Treasurer, but as a CILIP member, I'm a bit concerned that many
of the electronic discussions so far are have been against the increase.
Arguments against an increase seem quite beguiling: inflation is low, and in
a time of recession even a (tax-deductable) increase of less than 60 pence a
month needs to be questioned.
But remember that in the good years, only two thirds of CILIP's net income
comes from membership subscriptions: the rest comes from investments,
rentals and commercial activities (advertising, recruitment, publications
etc). The current recession is hitting these supplementary sources of income
very hard, and subscriptions are more important than ever. In those late
lamented good years, I personally argued (in vain) against the policy of
keeping subscription rises below inflation: we now find ourselves in a
difficult place.
In each year I have been a CILIP Councillor, I've been involved in efforts
to bring CILIP's budget into balance, with the loss of some 15 staff posts
to date. Four of these posts were cut in the 2009 budget, despite a
voluntary pay freeze and the closure of the staff pension scheme new
members. There is a limit to how many more savings can be made.
There is a huge advocacy job to be done in 2010: challenging service cuts in
the public and academic library sectors, staking our place on the
government's "Information Matters" agenda, and promoting increasing
diversity in the profession. CILIP's capacity to do these things will be
seriously impaired without the income from a subscription increase.
So, do vote by proxy if you can't come in person, but do try to use your
vote in a considered way. The rationale for the subscription increase can be
downloaded from:
http://www.cilip.org.uk/aboutcilip/howcilipworks/agm
and you can get a proxy vote form, and some guidance on filling it in, from
the same url.
Best regards
Bruce
********************************************************
Professor Bruce Royan, Trustee,
CILIP
(Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals)
41 Greenhill Gardens, Edinburgh, EH10 4BL, UK (44) 131 447 3151
********************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Katharine Widdows
Sent: 24 September 2009 10:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: How vote by proxy if you don't know anyone at the CILIP AGM
Hi All,
Several people have contacted me since I sent the email below, asking how
they can use their vote if they don't know anyone who will be present at the
AGM (the proxy vote form requires you to name a proxy to vote on your
behalf).
I have now received clarification from CILIP and am told:
"As you know, the Regulations prescribe every individual member who is
entitled to be present and to vote at the AGM has a right to have any votes
tendered accepted at the meeting. In this regard, members casting their
votes who do not know a named person in attendance at the AGM should appoint
'the Chair of the meeting' c/o 7 Ridgmount St as their default proxy. By
doing so they ensure their nominated proxy is present the meeting."
I hope this helps to clarify.
Kind regards,
Katharine
http://kwiddows.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/kwiddows
Talking about Libraries, CILIP and Web 2
2009/9/21 Katharine Widdows <[log in to unmask]>
> CILIP recently announced a proposal to increase membership fees for next
> year.
>
> See:
>
http://www.cilip.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1732BD0F-D45D-4BC9-B9C9-D8B802288B3B/0/
cilipsubscriptionsv3.pdffor the full details of the proposed strategy.
>
> This proposal will go to membership vote at the AGM on October 15th.
>
> If you are a member of CILIP, in one of the categories listed below, and
> you want to vote on this, or any AGM issue you can do so, *even if you are
> not attending the AGM. *
>
> - Affiliate members
> - Certificated Affiliates
> - Associate members
> - Chartered members
> - Chartered fellows
> - Honorary fellows
>
> To obtain a form to vote by proxy email [log in to unmask] with your
> request.
>
> All forms must be returned to CILIP *at least 48 hours before the AGM *in
> order for them to be counted.
>
> There are additional details on my blog if you are interested:
>
http://kwiddows.blogspot.com/2009/09/cilip-membership-fee-increase-if-you.ht
ml
>
> Katharine
> --
> http://kwiddows.blogspot.com
> http://twitter.com/kwiddows
>
> Talking about Libraries, CILIP and Web 2
>
--
http://kwiddows.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/kwiddows
Talking about Libraries, CILIP and Web 2
|
