ACRL Board of Directors’ Actions

Highlights of the Board’s 2025-2026 Meetings

For Winter 2026, the ACRL Board of Directors held a virtual meeting on January 29 and February 25. An informal virtual Board Update meeting was held on January 16. The Board also met virtually with the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee for a joint meeting on February 6. For the 2026 ALA Annual Conference, the ACRL Board met in person on June 27 and 28. The Board canceled the informal virtual Board Update meeting scheduled for June 9. Also, during the 2025-26 program year, the Board held virtual meetings on October 3 and April 30, as well as an in-person Strategic Planning Meeting held March 11-13 in Chicago.

During Winter 2026, the Board met virtually with the leaders of four of the five goal-area committees: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; New Roles and Changing Landscapes; Research and Scholarly Environment; Student Learning; and Value of Academic Libraires (written report) to assess progress on ACRL’s strategic plan, the Plan for Excellence. At Annual, the Board met with three of the five goal-area committee leaders: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Research and Scholarly Environment (written report); Student Learning and Information Literacy; New Roles and Changing Landscapes; and Value of Academic Libraries (written report).

During Winter and Annual 2026, the Board met with ACRL’s ALA Executive Board Liaison Nick Buron. The Board received an advocacy update from Lisa Varga, Associate Executive Director, Public Policy & Advocacy, ALA Public Policy and Advocacy (PPA) Office during Winter 2026. Amy Katzenberger, ALA Director of Development, gave an update on the 150th Anniversary Campaign during the Spring 2026 meeting.

Board members, whose service ended on June 30, 2026—Leo S. Lo, Walter Butler, Rebecca Miller Waltz—were recognized and thanked for their service.

The ACRL Board of Directors took the following actions during the 2025–26 program year. Each action is followed by the Board approval date.

Value of Academic Libraries

• Established the following communities of practice:
  • Assessment Interest Group (Annual 2026)

Research and Scholarly Environment

• Merged the Scholarly Communication, Copyright, and Research Assessment and Metrics Discussion Groups merge to become the Scholarly Communication, Copyright, and Bibliometrics Interest Group (Annual 2026).

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

• Approved $1,500 in budgeted expenses to support a Fall 2026 Resident Librarian Retreat (Winter 2026).
• Approved to use up to $10,000 from the FY26 TBD strategic initiatives budget to fund 50 ALA and ACRL memberships for BIPOC and library workers with disabilities (Winter 2026).
• Dissolved the following communities of practice:
  • Asian, African and Middle Eastern Studies Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
  • Library EDI Committees Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
  • Training & Equity in Library Work Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
• Renamed the ACRL Diversity Alliance Committee to the ACRL Residency Program Resource Committee (Annual 2026).

Enabling Programs and Services

Strategic goal areas will be supported by financial and operational planning and will guide the development and implementation of programs and services that target education, advocacy, and member engagement.

Advocacy

• Approved for the ACRL External Liaisons Committee to award up to $2,000 per grant recipient to eligible ACRL Liaisons Assembly members (Spring 2026).

Education

• Approved Baltimore, Maryland, as the host city for the ACRL 2029 Conference, to be held April 10–13, 2029 (Winter 2026).
• Approved Columbus, Ohio, as the host city for the ACRL 2031 Conference, to be held March 18–21, 2031 (Spring 2026).
• Updated the Speaker Honoraria Policy to establish honoraria scales based on type of presentation to ensure better equity, transparency and consistency (Fall 2025).

Member Engagement

• Approved an updated charge and composition for the ACRL Appointments Committee (Annual 2026).
• Reduced the number of required Interest Group leaders from three to two leaders.
• Established the ACRL ANSS/Core M&C Committee on Cataloging: Anthropology, Sociology, and Criminology (Spring 2026)
• Established the ACRL External Liaisons Evaluation Task Force (Annual 2026).
• Established the following communities of practice:
  • First Year Experience Interest Group (Spring 2026)
  • Flourishing Discussion Group (Fall 2025)
  • Language and Linguistics Interest Group (Annual 2026)
  • Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group (Annual 2026)
  • Privacy Literacy Interest Group (Annual 2026)
  • Sensory-Friendly Libraries Interest Group (Annual 2026)
• Renewed the following communities of practice:
  • Digital Badges Interest Group (Spring 2026)
  • History Librarians Interest Group (Spring 2026)
• Reestablished the Western NY/Ontario Chapter (Spring 2026).
• Merged the Leadership Discussion Group and Human Resources and Organizational Development Discussion Group to become the Leadership Interest Group (Annual 2026).
• Moved the Image Resources Discussion Group to become a discussion group within the ACRL Arts Section (Annual 2026).
• Dissolved the following communities of practice:
  • Flourishing in Academic Libraries Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
  • Heads of Public Services Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
  • Librarians from Very Small Academic Institutions Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
  • Librarianship in For-Profit Educational Institutions Discussion Group (Annual 2026)
  • Digital Badges Interest Group (Annual 2026)

Publications

• Appointed Diane Dias De Fazio as editor of RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage for a second three-year term beginning July 1, 2026 (Annual 2026).
• Approved the following:
  • AI Competencies for Academic Library Workers (Fall 2025)
  • Nursing Framework Companion Document (Winter 2026)
  • Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians (Annual 2026)
  • Standards for the Employment, Promotion, and Tenure of Academic Librarians (Annual 2026)
• Rescinded the following:
  • Statement on the Certification & Licensing of Academic Librarians (Annual 2026)
  • Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians (Annual 2026)
  • Standard for the Appointment, Promotion and Tenure of Academic Librarians (Annual 2026)
  • Standards for Academic Librarians Without Faculty Status (Annual 2026)
  • Standards for Faculty Status for Academic Librarians (Annual 2026)

Operations

• Approved a four-year review cycle for the ACRL Awards Program, with staggered awards’ reviews on years one to three and evaluation of the ACRL Awards Coordinating Committee’s review process in year four. (Fall 2025).
• Extended the moratorium on establishing new awards through June 30, 2027. Beginning July 1, 2027, the ACRL Board may consider new awards that do not overlap with existing awards (Winter 2026).
• Approved that the Awards Coordinating Committee will revisit and review the process for establishing new ACRL awards in Fall 2026 (Winter 2026).
• Approved the 2025 ACRL Fall Board Virtual Meeting Minutes (Winter 2026).
• Approved a recommendation that the ALA Executive Board is to authorize Dina Tsourdinis, ALA Chief Financial Officer, and Denise Moritz, ALA Director of Financial Reporting and Compliance, to negotiate the sale of the Choice condominium located in Middletown, Connecticut (Fall 2025).
• Approved the Budget & Finance Committee recommendation to raise ACRL Individual Type I and Supporter membership dues by three dollars ($3.00) as permitted by the 2025 HEPI. The FY25 HEPI reported a 3.65% increase. This increase permits increasing the ACRL Individual Type I and Supporter dues rates for FY27 to $82 (Spring 2026).
• Approved the Budget & Finance Committee recommendation to reduce ACRL Individual Type II membership dues for FY27 to $56 (Spring 2026).
• Approved the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee’s recommendation to increase student dues for FY27 to $10 (Spring 2026).
• Approved the ACRL Budget & Finance Committee’s recommendation to approve FY26 budgets for ACRL and Choice (Fall 2025):
  • ACRL Revenues $2,204,799
  • ACRL Expenses $2,414,580
  • ACRL Net -$209,781
  • Choice Revenues $2,054,004
  • Choice Expenses $2,021,373
  • Choice Net $32,631
• Approved the ACRL Budget & Finance Committee’s recommendation to approve FY27 budgets for ACRL and Choice (Annual 2026):
  • ACRL Revenues $3,656,426
  • ACRL Expenses $3,630,373
  • ACRL Net $26,053
  • Choice Revenues $2,017,004
  • Choice Expenses $1,979,024
  • Choice Net $37,980