Association of College & Research Libraries
ACRL Chapter Annual Report, 2002

Chapter Name: Eastern New York Chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries, Inc. (ENY/ACRL, Inc.)

Chapter President: Suzy Szasz Palmer, May 2001 - May 2002

President's Address: Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections, 2B Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-5302

President's E-mail: sms5@cornell.edu

Chapter's Officers' Terms begin in and end in: May to following May. Terms begin immediately at the close of the spring conference, and end at the following spring conference.

Number of ACRL National Chapter Members: 273 ENY/ACRL members

Dates of meetings and programs in coming year: Fall conference: October 18, 2002 at Syracuse University Spring conference: May 2003, day and site to be determined. The Board will meet in the fall 2002, spring 2003, and early summer 2003; dates to be determined. Please indicate your Chapter's status:

Independent Date of Incorporation: ___July__/__07___/__1999___

State in which Chapter is incorporated: New York

Each ACRL unit is asked to address the following issues in order for ACRL to assess how it is making progress on the strategic plan. Please provide a short summary of the Chapter's activities for the following issues.

1. How has the Chapter facilitated professional development activities?

· The Program Committee held two conferences during the 2001-2002 year.

· The University at Albany (SUNY) was the host of the fall conference on October 22, 2001 with 83 registrants. The program titled, "Exploring Diversity: Whose Needs are we Meeting" featured Hope Olson from the University of Alberta as keynote. A panel of librarians addressed "The Electric Library: Implications for Accessing Alternative Press Periodicals." Continuing with our 25th anniversary celebration, Anne Roberts, chair of the Steering Committee that formed ENY/ACRL, spoke briefly about the evolution of our organization. The afternoon began with Sandra Rios Balderrama, Director of the Office of Diversity at ALA, followed by two simultaneous sessions, one by George Abbott, Head, Media Services Department, Syracuse University Library, the other by Brenda Marston, Curator, Human Sexuality Collection & Women's Studies Selector, Cornell University Library.

· Cornell University was the host for the spring conference on May 5-6, 2002, with 104 registrants. Almost half of this total attended the pre-conference dinner which was joined by Mary Redmond, Acting Director of the New York State Research Library, who shared her thoughts on "Information access in Times of Crisis: Before and After September 11." The day-long program on May 5 titled, "May You Live in Interesting Times: Current Issues in Information Access" featured Tracy Mitrano, Policy Advisor, Office of Information Technologies, Cornell University, addressing the U.S. Patriot Act. The afternoon session offered a panel on library security-patrons, collections, and privacy. With Cornell having been awarded the ACRL Award for Excellence in Academic Libraries, we closed the day with tours of various campus libraries.

· The Janice Graham Newkirk Research Award of $500 (each), was presented at the fall 2001 conference to Carol Anne Germain, University at Albany and to three librarians at SUNY Oswego, James Nichols, Karen Shockey and Barbara Shaffer, for their research and scholarship activities.

· The ENY/ACRL Librarian of the Year Award was conferred on Barbara Via, Head of the Dewey Graduate Library, University of Albany (SUNY). She was presented with a plaque and an award of $250 at the spring conference in recognition of her tireless efforts in the incorporation process, her dedication to ENY/ACRL, and her role as a mentor to new librarians.

2. How has the Chapter influenced legislative activities regarding information policy or higher education at the state, regional, or national level?

· Karen Ingeman, Government Relations Chair, alerted members via the ENY/ACRL listserv to relevant legislation activities and informed members of appropriate means for voicing concerns. Karen stepped down in May 2002 after 6 years of service. Deborah Schmidle assumed the duties of Government Relations Chair following the May 2002 conference.

3. How has the Chapter contributed to ACRL membership recruitment activities?

· Displayed information on ACRL at ENY/ACRL conferences, including magnets for the ACRL conference in Charlotte, 2003.

· Continued to provide links to the ACRL web site from the ENY/ACRL web site.

· Encouraged library school students to attend ENY/ACRL conferences and join ENY/ACRL by offering discounted registration and membership fees.

· Discounted ENY/ACRL membership fees for those who also belong to ACRL.

· Encouraged membership in ENY/ACRL and ACRL by having the ENY/ACRL Membership Committee contact institutional liaisons to solicit new members.

4. Has the Chapter undertaken any special efforts this year?

· Three Board members-Vice President, President, and Past President-attended the Chapters Council meetings at both midwinter (New Orleans) and annual (Atlanta).

· The Board voted in July 2002 to revise the "grand prize" at our conference raffles, which had been registration to ALA midwinter or annual to include the option of registration at ACRL National (choice of one of three). We will offer this at the fall 2002 conference and evaluate for future recommendations.

· ENY/ACRL filed for federal tax exempt status in September 2001, and received word from the IRS on May 23, 2002 that our application had been granted.

· A new look for the ENY/ACRL web site was launched on May 29, 2002.

· Printing of the Membership Directory will be moved from the spring to the fall, to more accurately reflect the current membership.