ACRL New England Chapter News Online

ISSN 1527-0106

Winter 2006, Number 107

In This Issue (Home):

President's Letter

Annual Conference Update

Constitution & Bylaws Committee Report

Interest Group Reports and Announcements:
Access Services (ASIG)
Information Technology (ITIG)
Library Instruction (NELIG)
Women's Studies(WSIG)

Board Meeting Minutes, January 4, 2006
Calendar Listings

President's Letter

Nancy George
Salem State College

At ALA in Chicago last June and San Antonio this past January, I had the honor of representing the ACRL/New England Chapter at the ACRL Chapter Council meetings. Both were excellent opportunities for me to connect with colleagues across the country who are in leadership roles within their chapters.

In other parts of the country, most chapters seem to be the academic division of their state library organizations. Money and activities are controlled by the state organizations and membership numbers are low (fewer than 500 members). Recruitment into the chapters is difficult because of the perception among academic librarians that the state organizations are primarily for public librarians. In regards to activities, the chapters typically provide their members with one or two conferences a year within the state organizations; there are no special interest groups or additional meetings on specialized topics. A number of the chapter leaders told me how difficult it is to get members involved in the organization, or even attend the conferences.

As I listened to these ACRL chapter leaders speak of their incredible challenges I felt not only sorry for their chapters’ situations, but also incredibly proud of the New England Chapter. We do have advantages over many of the other chapters. In New England, we are fortunate to have many colleges and universities, and consequently libraries and librarians, concentrated in a relatively small geographic area. Around 1200 people are members of our chapter. Also, the New England Chapter is independent of state/regional library organizations, giving us flexibility regarding programming, finances, membership, and activities.

However, the true strength of our chapter is – YOU – our members. You attend our conferences and meetings, join the Board and special interest groups, plan activities, and provide fellow members with networking opportunities. Our eight special interest groups – Access Services, Collection Development, Information Technology, Librarians on Online Course Information, Instruction (NELIG), Preservation/Conservation, Serials, Women's Studies - and the Continuing Education Committee, are continuously offering our community interesting meetings and programs. The Conference Planning Committee, led by Vice President Christine Turner, is planning an exciting spring conference titled, Leveraging Our Strengths: Alliances, Interdependencies and Developing Services (please see http://www.acrlnec.org for more information on the conference and other meetings and activities).

Although there is always room for improvement, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of all of you for making this chapter as successful as it is. Working together as a team, it is the enthusiasm and energy of New England librarians that has created an incredibly vibrant and active ACRL/New England Chapter. Thank you and keep up the good work.