Election Results
Librarian of the Year Award
Spotlight on Library Advocacy
ALA Midwinter Chapter's Council Meeting
The following ENY/ACRL officers were re-elected to the Council for additional 2-year terms: Susan Zappen, Treasurer; Jane Subramanian, Membership Chair; and Karen Ingeman, Government Relations Chair. Teresa Ronning was elected as Program Chair/Vice-President/President-Elect.
Congratulations to those who were elected, and thank you to all who volunteered to run for office as well as to the chapter members who took the time to vote.
The ACRL Chapters Council, which consists of representatives from each chapter throughout the U.S. and parts of Canada, meets regularly at ALA midwinter and annual meetings. ENY/ACRL is typically represented by the current chapter president or other designee from among our chapter's executive council. The group's primary responsibility is to consider matters of mutual concern to the 42 state and regional chapters and to serve as a forum for the exchange of information among each other. Among the chapters, about half exist as the academic section of their state library associations, while slightly under half are independent entities, such as ENY/ACRL.
Because the chapters have historically had a great deal of autonomy, both in their relationship to ACRL and among each other, a great diversity of interests and concerns exist. In recent years, however, a number of factors have contributed to a growing unification of interests among chapters. Ease of electronic communication, joint programming among chapters, and initiatives on the part of ACRL officers to develop the potential of the chapters within the national organization as a whole have all served to make Chapters Council a more cohesive group. Our chapter's active participation in the Council is especially important to maintain at this point.
For example, attendees at the Chapters Council meeting at ALA Midwinter in New Orleans heard from the Chapter Relations Task Force on their work since ALA's 1997 Annual meeting. The Task Force was established at ALA's 1996 Annual meeting and charged with defining "a more mutually beneficial and reinforcing relationship between ACRL and its affiliate chapters in accordance with the goals of the ACRL Strategic Plan". Some of the major issues that the Task Force is addressing include the degree of chapters' independence, legal liability concerns on the part of ACRL in regard to unincorporated chapters, membership recruitment and outreach, and both communication and funding relationships between ACRL and the chapters.
Our chapter, which is neither incorporated nor affiliated with an incorporated organization, such as our state's library association, has considerable interest at stake in how this issue is resolved with ACRL. Other questions, such as ACRL's interest requiring chapters to recruit members for the national organization as a condition of continued support, also demand our attention. Especially with the availability of our chapter's newly established listserv, ENYACR-L, chapter officers hope to keep members up to date on ACRL/chapter relations and to seek member input on such issues.
Lynne King
1997/98 ENY/ACRL President
Are you and advocate...
For libraries?
For your "type" of library?
For other libraries?
For your profession?
For yourself?
Could it be that everyone thought that libraries were assured of funds in this year's state budget? We know that we can never assume such things! The governor had already announced in the executive budget that there would be $88.5 million for libraries in the upcoming budget. This would mean that at last full funding for Chapter 917 of the Laws of New York for 1990 would be fully funded! Bravo!
There are many school and public librarians participating in Legislative Day functions with public library trustees and the representatives of the various 3R's Councils there as well. But, where were the academic librarians? I was one out of seventy attendees from the Central New York region! Academic librarians are not seen in large numbers at these lobbying days. Perhaps there are other avenues for lobbying for those members of the SUNY institutions as well as for those in management at other academic settings.
However, as librarians, we are truly looking at similar products and customers regardless of which level and type of library in which we work. Our customers are students, the unemployed, the elderly scholar, the young child who "eats" books and will soon "devour" online information, and other consumers of information. We are all in the business of cultivating and educating users of all age levels to the wonders of information in traditional formats, and now the constant thrust of technological change.
My point is, we can never take for granted that we will be able to provide our services at the levels and in the same ways as last year or even yesterday. We need to be advocates of our professions and for our profession. We need to support each other as we seek external support from government units.
Our friends and colleague, Inga Barnello of LeMoyne College, recently became a positive force behind advocacy for the Syracuse City School District Library Media Specialists who were in jeopardy of losing their positions in a funding crunch. Thank you, Inga, for your efforts to mobilize academic librarians in support of school library media specialists in their time of need. We can work together with non-academic librarians! Be an advocate for your profession, speak out to your legislator about a special event regarding technology and information retrieval!
The need to know, the need to learn, and the thirst for information does not stop because of the type of library in which we work. Support each other! Support other librarians! Become an information advocate! Perhaps next year, I will see some of you at NYLA Legislative Day!
Karen Ingeman, Chair, ENY/ACRL Government Relations Committee
Gillian's association with ENY/ACRL dates back to her move to Albany in 1982. After serving on the program committee for several years, she was elected to a 3-year term on the Council as Program Chair/Vice-President/President-Elect. In addition to speaking at the 1995 and 1992 ENY/ACRL conferences, Gillian has presented papers at ACRL, ALA, LITA/LAMA, NYLA, and other regional and national conferences. Her numerous publications include book chapters, refereed and invited articles to such journals as "College and Research Libraries", "RQ", and "Library Resources and Technical Services", book reviews, ERIC documents, and an exhibition catalog, as well as two edited volumes.
At the University at Albany, Gillian has served on many library and university-wide committes and taskforces. She has also been active in teaching and advising at the School of Information Science and Policy. Nationally, she has been tapped by the ALA Office for Technology Policy and the Library Technology Association, as well as the Coalition for Networked Information, to work on various initiatives.
Gillian's accomplishments have been recognized by not only her university -in 1997 she received both the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship and the University at Albany Award for Excellence in Librarianship - but also by a host of other organizations. It is a great pleasure to add to her accolades an award from an organization that has benefited so much from her involvement. Gillian's pending move to Dallas was unknown to committee members at the time of their deliberations. All concerned are glad to have the opportunity to honor her for her many contributions to the chapter and the profession before she leaves the region.
The award, which consists of a plaque and an honorarium in the amount of $250, will be presented at the Spring Conference.
Barbara A. Durniak, Past President/Chair, Librarian of the Year Award Committee
Committee Members:
Barbara Breiman, Marist College
Sharon Britton, Hamilton College
Sue Grayson, Hudson Valley Community College
Kathleen Horton, SUNY Canton
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring. My daughter, Shannon, was born in early January, so I have missed quite a bit while on maternity leave. I'm back at work now, and eagerly await your news and information on you and your institutions.
Please make sure your liaisons are sending information to me, and if you are interested in writing an article for the newsletter let me know. I can be reached at 315-859-4481 or kstrohme@hamilton.edu.
Thanks,
Kristin Strohmeyer
Editor, ENY/ACRL Newsletter
Posted April 23, 1998 MOE
Eastern New York Chapter
Association of College and Research Libraries
URL: http://urislib.library.cornell.edu/spr98.html