Letters to the Regents Commission on Libraries
Incorporation - We're Almost There!
ENY/ACRL Listserv - Are You On It?
Janice Graham Newkirk Award
Are You a Liaison?
To: The Regents Commission on Library Services
From: Executive Board of
the Eastern New York Chapter of the Association of College and Research
Libraries
Date: April 1999
As representatives of academic librarians and, most especially of our membership in upstate New York, we urge you to focus on the following as you look to the future of library services within New York State:
--the support of all types of libraries within New York State as we all work
to create a cooperative web in the provision of the wide range of traditional
library services as well as access to the Internet and other technological
library resources to all citizens of New York State.
-the support of the New
York Library Association's Legislative Action Plan, "Books, Bricks and
Bytes"
--the support and education of our legislators and the governor of New
York State with regard to the continued and increased benefits of library
services to:
- public and private school students from pre-school to graduate school
- educational institutions of all levels
-businesses
- government agencies
- the taxpaying citizens of New York state
-the unemployed as they seek new jobs
-the support of the expansion of the Laws of New York 1990, Chapter 917, to meet present and future demands on libraries
Wherever we turn, there is a need for information. Libraries supply that information and access to learning. We urge you, the Regents Commission on Library Services, to be advocates for New York State funds which will provide the necessary dollars for all levels of libraries as we strive to bring to each citizen living and studying in New York State the best access to information.
The Executive Board of the Eastern New York Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries has members at the following institutions: Adirondack Community College, Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Law School, Albany Medical College, Alfred University, Audrey Cohen College, Bard College, Binghamton University, Blackwell's Book Services, Broome Community College, Capital Community Technical College, Capital District Library Council, Cazenovia College, Central New York Library Resources Council, Champlain College, Clarkson University, Clinton Community College, Colgate University, College of Saint Rose, Community College of Vermont, Cornell University, Corning Community College, Curry College, Dickinson College, Dutchess Community College, Fairfield University, Finger Lakes Community College, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Hamilton College, Hartwick College, Harvard University, Herkimer County Community College, Hudson Valley Community College, Hunter College (CUNY), Ithaca College, Jefferson Community College, Kingston Area Library, Le Moyne College, Marist College, Mercy College, Middlebury College, Mohawk Valley Community College, Mount St. Mary College, New Mexico State University, New York Library Association, New York Department of Health, New York State Department of Law, New York State Library, New York State Office of the Attorney General, New York State Small Business Development Center, Nichols College, Northeastern University, Onondaga Community College, Orange County Community College, Pace University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sacred Heart University, Sage Colleges, Schenectady County Community College, School of Information Science and Policy, University at Albany, Siena College, Skidmore College, South Central Regional Library Council, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, St. John Fisher College, St. Lawrence University, Sullivan County Community College, SUNY Alfred College of Technology, SUNY Canton, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY College of Environment, Science and Forestry, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Health Sciences Center, SUNY Institute of Technology, SUNY Morrisville, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Purchase, SUNY/OCLC Network, Syracuse University, TextWise LLC, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Ulster County Community College, Union College, University at Albany, University of Hartford, University of Rochester, US Military Academy, Utica College of Syracuse University, Vassar College.
To: Regents Commission on Library Services
From: Capital District Library
Council (CDLC) Coordinated Collection Development Committee
We urge the Commission to consider the role of academic libraries in New York State. Academic libraries serve the educational needs of community residents as well as their students and faculty. Our doors are open to all. We share our books, other information resources, and our expertise.
Currently, the only state-provided funding made available to academic libraries for the purchase of materials comes from the Coordinated Collection Development Program. With that funding CDLC's Coordinated Collection Development Committee has been able to help its academic member libraries develop material collections in 44 specific subject areas. Member libraries, using their own staff and resources, then share those materials through interlibrary loan with all other libraries.
This funding which totaled $127,959 for CDLC libraries in the 1998/1999 fiscal year allowed libraries to stretch their dollars for materials by avoiding unnecessary duplication in purchasing. Last year CDLC libraries lent 96,899 items to other CDLC libraries and an additional 64,204 items to other requesting libraries.The 16 CDLC academic libraries alone lent 26,319 items to libraries just within this area and an addition 49,768 items to libraries outside of the Capital District.
Think of the possibilities presented with increased funding. More money for coordinated collection development would allow libraries to steward their resources effectively and increase resource sharing. No one library can or should try to purchase all the materials it may need. Coordinated collection development allows libraries to focus their purchases in specific areas, knowing that other libraries will be able to provide them with materials they don't own.
Libraries must provide more than books. To remain competitive and viable New York must provide access to electronic information sources as well as materials in other formats to all its residents. We urge the Commission to support increased funding for cooperative endeavors among libraries in the purchasing and sharing of materials in all formats. An example of a successful State Library endeavor, using federal funding, is the Health Reference Library, an electronic database that is now freely available to every citizen in New York State. This is a success that New York State should duplicate, increasing the number of databases available to all its citizens.
No one would argue with the statement that libraries enrich the lives of people. We urge the Commission to consider how libraries enrich the state's economy. According to the March 4, 1999 Capital Region TU, the 1999 Capitaland Report survey conducted by the Siena Research Institute determined that 69% of the business executives in the Capital Region have great concern over labor quality. You can't have a quality work force without education. You can't have education without quality academic libraries.
Susan H. Zappen
Associate College Librarian
Head of Technical
Services
Lucy Scribner Library
Skidmore College
Yes, it's true, our chapter will soon be officially named, Eastern New York Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Inc. We will be a corporation as defined in Section 102 (a)(5) of the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law. The chapter hired local Albany attorney John Shea to handle our incorporation filing for a very reasonable fee. The draft incorporation papers have been drawn up and soon, President Terry Ronning, Treasurer Susan Zappen, and Barbara Via (Past-President) will be signing the documents.
The incorporation of our chapter really has no ramifications for the chapter membership. In fact, we do not have to use the "Inc., " on any of our stationery, our directory, etc. Rather, it is a legal filing that means we become a recognized not-for-profit corporation in New York State. It will mean a bit more work for our treasurer in terms of record-keeping, but we expect to engage the services of an accountant to handle the filing of informational tax forms each year.
As you may remember, ACRL mandated that chapters either affiliate with their statewide association, or incorporate, by the end of the year 2000. This mandate was promulgated by National, because legal counsel for National advised the association that it should not bear legal liability for chapters' activities.
After we have signed the incorporation filing papers, we will begin to revise our chapter Bylaws. The changes will not be substantive, but rather will change all references to the Executive Council to Board of Directors (Corporations are required to have Boards of Directors). The revised Bylaws will be voted on by the membership next Spring.
If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Via, bv848@cnsvax.albany.edu
For those of you who were at our spring conference in Cortland on Monday, May 17, I asked the group how many were subscribers to our own ENY/ACRL listserv. A few were subscribers and last year only a few were subscribers to the list. A few and a few are more, but we need many more!
We need more members to be part of this list to indeed have it be a great method of communication and discussion among members in addition to the super work done on the newsletter and in committees.
This is another type of advocacy plea from me. If each one of us in the next two weeks would encourage a colleague/member of ENY/ACRL to subscribe to the listserv, our messages and alerts would reach more of the membership.
We really do not "talk" too much on this list, but, when the messages go out, they are usually of an important and urgent nature and need some feedback and participation. (Re: the message from Terry Ronning, new president of ENY/ACRL, requesting input regarding her testimony before the Regents Commission on Library Services.)
Get a colleague to sign up for the ENY/ACRL list this week or next! Melissa Jadlos at SUNY Binghamton is our coordinator for this list!
Thank you, and let us know, if the subscription number grows, Melissa!
Karen Ingeman, Government Relations Chair ENY/ACRL
The Janice Graham Newkirk Award was established to honor our late colleague, Janice Graham Newkirk, a librarian at Univ. at Albany, and former Membership Chair of the chapter. The Award criteria, as well the application form is available on our enyacrl website at: http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/acrl/newkirk.html The Newkirk Award Committee members are: Catherine M Dwyer, U Albany, Barbara Via, U Albany (co-Chairs), Sean Maloney, Siena, and ex officio, Susan Zappen, Treasurer, Skidmore. The deadline for the award to be presented this Fall is September 1. Please consider applying! Barbara Via bv848@cnsvax.albany.edu
Are you your institution's ENY/ACRL liaison?
Would you like to be your
institution's ENY/ACRL liaison?
If you can answer yes to either of these
questions, consider the following list of liaison duties.
Please contact
Jane Subramanian, subramjm@potsdam.edu, if you have any questions.
Duties of Institutional Liaisons:
1. Serve as contact person for ENY/ACRL and distribute mailings
2. Be an active recruiter for ENY/ACRL and encourage membership renewals
3. Promote the conferences
4. Be a participant in the ENY/ACRL listserv
5. Report member activities to ENY/ACRL for inclusion in the newsletter
6. Review directory entries for members of your institution for accuracy and report corrections to the Membership Chairperson.
It is with bittersweet feelings that I finish up my last issue of the ENY/ACRL newsletter as it's editor. The last two years have been a wonderful experience for me, but I am more than ready to pass the torch on to Steve Black and his able computer. Please continue to keep those cards and emails coming, and I look forward to seeing all of you in October at Siena College.
Take care, and have a wonderful summer!
Kristin Strohmeyer
ex-Editor,
ENY/ACRL Newsletter
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