President's Report, 2005-2006

This has been a particularly busy year for our chapter with many initiatives, projects, and programs. Only with ACRL/NEC''s members help was I able to complete my personal goals for the chapter.

Listed below are some of our chapter''s accomplishments for 2005-2006:

Board Development:
This past year brought a minor, yet important, change to Board meetings – the integration lunch, paid for by ACRL/NEC, into the meeting schedule. Prior to this year, meetings did not include lunch and consequently members left immediately after adjournment. By including lunch into the meeting schedule, most members remained for lunch and had additional opportunities to network
with fellow board members. In turn, this networking, I believe, produced a more cohesive group, with strengthened working and professional relationships among members. I hope this networking opportunity continues and is joined by additional opportunities for Board development.

Constitution and Bylaws Changes:
Headed by Chair Louise Buckley, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee energetically worked on a number of Constitution and Bylaws language changes which were ratified in the Spring 2006 election. An issue that was addressed in this ratification, which I felt was important to change, was
to extend voting privileges to chairs of standing committees and Special Interest Groups (and proxies as necessary to establish quorums). I am pleased that the membership recognized the importance of the SIG and standing committee chairs at Board meetings. Through the C&B Committee and Chair Buckley''s efforts, this goal for the chapter was realized.

Finances:
As a result of my attendance and presentation on behalf of ACRL/NEC at ACRL National''s Chapters Council meeting at ALA Midwinter in San Antonio , TX , reimbursement restrictions imposed by ACRL National have been relaxed. As long as the expenditures support chapter activities, the expense receipts may be submitted to ACRL National for reimbursement. Although we are eligible to receive $1 for each ACRL National member in our chapter (approximately $1100), in the past we typically received 50% of this due to reimbursement
restrictions. I am anticipating full reimbursement now that these restrictions have been lifted.

In addition, I applied for grants to receive funding from ACRL National for projects to increase chapter membership and activities. The grants were ultimately not available to ACRL Chapters, but did result in a dialog with ACRL National leaders in regards to ACRL/NEC''s needs.

Legislative Activities:
I worked with Suzanne Wones, ACRL Legislative Network Representative, to expand her position''s responsibilities to include New England states'' in addition to as federal legislative activities. She is putting together a committee comprised of members from all the New England states. This committee has already begun, through Suzanne, to provide ACRL/NEC members with information on states'' legislative activities affecting academic libraries and
information on how to take action on these legislative activities.

Liability Insurance:
As a result of a SIG request, the Board obtained liability insurance for ACRL/NEC meetings and events. This will allow ACRL/NEC to schedule meetings at locations requiring liability insurance and eliminate the need for costly one-day liability insurance for meetings and programs. Frequently this lack of liability insurance has limited our meeting venue opportunities. I
felt strongly that the SIGs, in particular, would benefit from this insurance and encouraged the Board to support this use of chapter money.

Membership:
This year ACRL/NEC began addressing the professional development and continuing education needs of Maine , New Hampshire , Vermont , and western Massachusetts. As an outgrowth of a grant that I wrote for ACRL/NEC for funding through ACRL National, the Continuing Education Committee performed a needs assessment survey of library staff members in the above-mentioned geographic areas. The committee continues to compile the results, with final results expected by the end of Summer 2006.

In addition, I also had dialog with librarians in eastern New York state and eastern Canada regarding the possibility of co-sponsorship of professional development and continuing education opportunities. These northern librarians were positive regarding these potential activities.

Board Members and Special Interest Groups:
I would like to thank President-Elect Christine Turner for putting on a fabulous Annual Conference at U Mass Amherst. In addition, I would also like to thank everyone on the Board for being supportive this past year and for their hard work on projects and activities.

And, once again, as in past years, the Special Interest Groups were the heart of the organization, providing the membership with terrific professional development and continuing education opportunities.

Thank you to everyone for a great year!', 'This has been a particularly busy year for our chapter with many initiatives, projects, and programs. Only with ACRL/NEC''s members help was I able to complete my personal goals for the chapter.