ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

ACRL wants you!

Are you interested in contributing to ACRL?

There are many opportunities for your involvement in ACRL sections, standing com- mittees, and editorial boards. ACRL needs your support to act best on the interests of its mem- bers. ACRL depends on members to volunteer for and serve on committees to accomplish its goals and objectives. With over 30 standing committees and 163 section committees there are lots of opportunities for serving ACRL. This article gives you a brief description of how the ACRL appointment process works.

Appointments: The process

Appointments are made at both the section and division levels. The ACRL president is responsible for the committee appointments at the division level for the year he or she serves as president. Likewise, section chairs are responsible for committee appointments in their respective sections the year they serve as chair. Committee slates are usually completed shortly after the Midwinter Meeting during the year in which the individual serves as president-elect or chair-elect. The ACRL Appointments & Nominations Committee assists the president-elect in this process in an advisory capacity.

Factors influencing appointment

Although the emphasis in the appointment may vary from year to year according to the prerogatives of the president and section chairs, the same factors are considered. They include:

• Evidence of potential committee member’s interest: Have you attended the meetings and introduced yourself to the chair? Do you have previous experience that relates to the work of the committee? Have you indicated your interest on the application?

• Demographics and composition of committee: When making appointments an effort is made to keep the membership of a committee balanced with respect to type of library (community college, college, or university), geographic representation, ethnic diversity, and gender. In addition, some committees have special requirements. For example, one member of the Professional Education Committee must be a library educator; the Membership and Legislative Committees have strict regional representation requirements.

• The recommendation of the current committee chair: Current committee chairs are asked to suggest potential members. Although all of these factors are considered, the final appointment is the prerogative of the ACRL president-elect and the section chair-elects.

How to apply

1. Select the committees that interest you.The ALA Handbook of Organization lists all of ACRL’s committees and their charges. (ALA members may obtain a free copy of the handbook by calling (800) 545-2433, ext. 4287.) Attend the committee’s meetings at the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference to help you decide if those are the activities that interest you.

2. Introduce yourself.Talk with committee members. Express your interest to the committee chair. Explain how you might contribute to the work of the committee.

3. Submit a volunteer form.Complete the volunteer form that is printed each year in a fall issue of C&RL News (or request one from the C&RL News office). Be sure to cover all of the items asked for in background information. If you have attended committee meetings or programs, mention that. Fill out one form for ACRL division committees and a different form for each ACRL section you want to volunteer for. Send the division volunteer form to Maxine Reneker at the address on the bottom of the volunteer form; send the section volunteer forms to the appropriate section chair-elects at the addresses given elsewhere in this article.

Ed. note: The ideas in this article are based on the work of the 1991-92 Appointments & Nominations Committee chaired by Marion Reid and on the article by Pat Rom,C&RL News, October 1990, pp. 885-86.

4. Volunteer again . . . and again.If you are not successful in being appointed one year, volunteer again the next year . . . and the next. Remember that a multitude of factors—number of appointments made, number of volunteers for each committee, number of volunteers from your type of library or your geographic area—determine the actual appointment, and these factors change from year to year.

Commonly asked questions

1. What is the role of an intern on a committee and should I say that I am willing to be one?Internships were created to expand the opportunities for participation in ACRL. The only difference between an intern and a regular appointment is the term of service. Interns may only serve for one year.

2. If I am appointed as an intern will I automatically be appointed to the committee?Not necessarily. The purpose of the internship is to expose members to the work of ACRL. Serving as an intern can be a positive learning experience that can be applied to other work of the organization. Appointments are still the prerogative of the president-elect or section chair-elects and reappointment is not automatic.

3. What are my chances of being reappointed once I am serving on a committee?It varies. Committees need both continuity and new ideas and energy. Some president-elects opt for very few reappointments because of a desire for wider participation and greater diversity. Sometimes there is a need for specific projects to be finished and continuity is important.

4. Should I give up if I am not appointed the first time I submit a volunteer form?Absolutely not. Remember there are often more people willing to serve than there are places. Keep submitting your forms. A high percentage of members who submit forms are appointed to a committee.

ACRL section appointments

ACRL has 17 sections (their names are listed below). You will find a description of their areas of responsibility in the ALA Handbook of Organization, 1994-95. The chair-elect of a section appoints the chair and members of all section committees. Most of these appointments are made in the spring for terms beginning immediately after the ALA Annual Conference. If you would like to be considered for appointment as chair or member of a section committee, fill out the ACRL Committee Volunteer Form and mail it to the chair- elect of the appropriate section listed below before December 15, 1994.

Asian, African and Middle Eastern Section.

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: James N. Gentner, 1735 Kenyon St., NW, Washington, DC 20010-2616; e-mail: gentner@mail.loc.gov.

Afro-American Studies Librarian Section.

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Gladys Smiley Bell, Kent State University Libraries, Library & Media Ser- vice/Room 161, Kent, OH 44242; e-mail: gbell @ kentvm. kent. edu.

Anthropology and Sociology Section.Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect: James Williams, 405 E. Mumford Drive, Urbana, IL 61801-6213; e-mail: jamesww@uiucvmd.

Arts Section.Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Christine A. Whittington, 98 Mill Street, Orono, ME 04473- 1728; e-mail: christin@maine.edu.

Bibliographic Instruction Section.Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect: Esther S. Grassian, Reference Instruction Librarian, Univ. of California-Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024; e-mail: ECZ5ESG@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU.

College Libraries Section.Vice-Chair/Chair- Elect: Larry L. Hardesty, Director, Eckerd College, William Luther Cobb Library, 4200 54th Avenue South, P.O. Box 12560, St. Petersburg, FL 33733-2560.

Community and Junior College Libraries Section.Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Gretchen H. Neill, 660 Wood Work Way, Roswell, GA 30076- 2660.

English and American Literature Section.

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Timothy Shipe, Coordinator Humanities Division, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, IA 52242-1379; e-mail: timothy-shipe@uiowa.edu.

Education and Behavioral Sciences Section.

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Patricia E. Libutti, 300 Van Buren Avenue, Teaneck, NJ 07666-3137; e-mail: libutti@mary.fordham.edu.

Extended Campus Library Services Section.

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Susan Potter, Assistant Director, Regis University, Dayton Memorial Library, 3333 Regis Blvd., Denver, CO 80221.

Law and Political Science Section.Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect: Judy L. Solberg, 1206 Holton Lane, Takoma Park, MD 20912-7502; e-mail: JS145@umail.umd.edu.

Rare Books and Manuscripts Section.Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect: Elizabeth L. Johnson, Associate Librarian, Indiana University, Lilly Library, Bloomington, IN 47405.

Science and Technology Section.Vice-Chair/ Chair-Elect: Alison Scott Ricker, Science Librarian, Oberlin College, Kettering Hall Science Library, Oberlin, OH 44074-1083; e-mail: PASRICKER@OBERLIN.

Slavic and East European Section.Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect: Alan Pollard, 233 Buena Vista Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48103-4301; e-mail: AlanPollard@ um. cc.umich.edu.

University Libraries Section.Vice-Chair/ Chair-Elect: William J. Crowe, Dean of Libraries, University of Kansas, Spencer Research Library, Lawrence, KS 66045-2800; e-mail: WCROWE@UKANVM.

Western European Specialists Section.Vice- Chair/Chair-Elect: Michael P. Olson, West European Bibliographer, Harvard University Library, Widener #197, Cambridge, MA 02138; e-mail: m-olson@harvard.edu.

Women’s Studies Section.Vice-Chair/Chair- Elect: Grace M. Jackson-Brown, Reference Librarian, Indiana University, Main Library E159, Tenth Street & Jordan Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405; e-mail: JacksonB@IUBACS.

ACRL committee appointments

ACRL has about 30 standing committees to which appointments may be made. A list appears on the form at the end of this article. You will find the committees listed with a description of their charges in the ALA Handbook of Organization.

Appointménts to ACRL standing committees are made in the spring for terms beginning immediately after the ALA Annual Conference. The Appointments and Nominations Committee recommends to the presidentelect of ACRL the names of members who might fill the vacancies. The president-elect makes the final appointments. If you are interested in being considered for an appointment to an ACRL committee, you should complete the ACRL Committee Volunteer Form included in this issue of C&RL News and mail it to the- Chair of Appointments and Nominations, Maxine Reneker, 437 College Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306-1525; e-mail: mreneker@nps.navy.mil, before December 15, 1994.

Editorial boards

ACRL has editorial boards for these six publications: Choice, College & Research Libraries; College & Research Libraries News-, New Publications; Publications in Librarianship; Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship.

Appointments to editorial boards are made at the Midwinter Meeting for terms that begin immediately after the ALA Annual Conference. The editors recommend the name of a person to fill the vacancy. The Publications Committee must approve the recommendation, and the president of ACRL makes the appointment.

If you would like to be considered for appointment to an editorial board, contact the editor of the editorial board.

Choiceacting editor: Fran Graf, Choice, 100 Riverview Center, Middletown, CT 06457.

College & Research Librarieseditor: Glori- ana St. Clair, Assistant Dean and Head of Information Access Services, E506 Pattee Library, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; e-mail: gss@psulias.bitnet.

College & Research Libraries Newseditor: Mary Ellen Davis, C&RL News, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2795; e-mail: mary.ellen.davis@ala.org.

New publications editor: Hugh Thompson, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; e-mail: hugh.thompson@ala.org.

Publications in Librarianshipeditor: Stephen E. Wiberley Jr., University of Illinois at Chicago University Library, Chicago, IL 60680; e-mail: u30959@uicvm.uic.edu.

Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianshipeditor: Sidney E. Berger, University of California, University Library, P.O. Box 5900, Riverside, CA 92517-5900; e-mail: spcolseb@ ucrvms.bitnet. ■