ACRL New England Chapter News Online

ISSN 1527-0106

Fall 2003, Number 100

In This Issue (Home):

President's Letter

Where Does Your $ Go?

Board Meeting Minutes, May 28, 2003

Chapter Annals: Our History Derived From Past Newsletters

Interest Group Reports:
Access Services
Business
Instruction
Information Technology

Spring Conference Announcement

Paul Roske
Bryant College
ACRL/NEC Archivist

The New England Chapter of Association of College and Research Libraries was officially established on June 29, 1972 as a result Tom Cahalan's organizational efforts. Tom had moved to New England in 1969, where he intensified his commitment to and personal involvement in the profession of librarianship both nationally and locally. On March 29, 1972, Tom convened a Boston Area Planning Committee meeting at MIT to discuss alternative programming possibilities for New England academic librarians. At this meeting the committee agreed to a set of goals and ojectives which continue to form the guiding spirit for ACRL/NEC:

1. Provide region-wide programs for New England college and research librarians;

2. Cooperate with other associations of librarians in New England, supporting them where appropriate and reducing duplication of effort and conflicts in schedules; and

3. Encourage the development of local program meetings at a frequency adequate in relation to the number of college and research librarians in the area.

After ACRL/NEC was formed, it took several years for its first newsletter to appear. Diane Lutz, assisted by Thomas Cahalan, prepared the first one, entitled "Do you know that ...." in June, 1976. It was typewritten on plain white paper. The next issue was scheduled for Fall, 1976.

The Executive Board at the time consisted of Past-President George Parks; President Diane Lutz; Vice President Irma Johnson; Secretary Anne Conway; and Treasurer Roberta Beverly. The Chairperson or Constitution & By-laws committee was vacant.

The newsletter reported on the spring conference, held in Newport, Rhode Island at the Sheraton Islander. Approximately 125 librarians attended. The theme of the conference was "People Power-Management of Human Resources." Tapes of the 6-hour conference were available for one dollar providing a blank tape was sent to record on.

ACRL/NEC cosponsored a program with NELA in which new and young librarians led a discussion of what they would expect of the future for themselves and libraries in relation to professional organizations and their programs.

ACRL contacted New England library directors for a listing of all persons holding professional positions in their library. One thousand four hundred names were returned and used for recruiting purposes. A directory was published.

The twenty-fifth newsletter issue was published in June, 1982. Its appearance had evolved since the first issue. A fountain flowerlike logo prominently appeared on the front page, and it was designed to be a mailer.

Elected members of the Board of Directors were: Past-President John Hannon, President Joan Stockard, and Vice President /President-Elect Anne Edmonds. All other members were featured prominently in the first column of the front-page. The appointed Constitution and Bylaws chair was Artemis Kirk.

Calls for volunteers to help produce the newsletter were announced. The fall conference was promoted as were Bibliographic Workshops in Vermont and a new ACRL Jobline.

A report on the spring conference said that a lively group of 430 attended the March 18th - 19th event at Babson College in Wellesley. Continuing the year's theme of "Accessibility for the Library User" begun in the fall with Serials, the spring topic was "On-line catalogs." Susan K. Martin, Director of the Johns Hopkins University Library discussed how administrative and faculty support were a key necessity to change to an on-line system. She noted that Johns Hopkins ran the manual and automated catalogs at the same time until acceptance and familiarity was accepted.

The fiftieth issue was published in October, 1988 when the Past President was Myra Siegenthaler, the President was Karin Begg, and the Vice President/President Elect was Susan Baugham. Karin Beg, the Archivist since 1981 asked if anyone would be interested in taking over the archives.

The President's Column promoted involvement and mentioned that committee work was very important to the functioning of ACRL/NEC. The Second Annual Salary Survey of the New England College Libraries was published 1987/88. Based on the ARL format, this survey included information of professional staff salaries supplied by 71 non-ARL New England academic libraries.

Jean Sheridan of the University of Rhode Island wrote a column on bibliographic instruction and some key strategies to engage the patron and promote effective research techniques.

The seventy-fifth newsletter, filled with information about an active chapter, was for the Spring/Summer of 1995. The President's Annual Report 1994-1995 was featured prominently. A report on the spring conference, "Strategic Alliances for Academic Libraries: Publishers, Vendors & Political Partners" held at Johnson & Wales University in Seekonk, Massachusetts, noted that it covered a range of viewpoints on issues affecting information and service providers.

At the business meeting John Collins, Past-President, announced the election results and congratulated the new officers: Jane Hedberg, Vice President/President Elect; Tyrone Cannon, Treasurer; and Carol DiPrete, Member at Large. Connie Roberts of the Membership Committee announced that the Chapter's total membership was 1,089, with 904 national ACRL members and 185 NEC chapter members.

The seventy-fifth issue concluded with a Calendar listing of workshops and lectures for the upcoming months, July-November 1995. Eight years later, the 100th issue is published. Read other pieces in this newsletter to learn about ACRL/NEC's current activities.