ALCTS Council of Regional Groups
ALA Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 24 & 26, 2011
Combined Report
Planning Meeting -- June 24, 2011
Executive Committee Meeting -- June 26, 2011
CRG and Affiliates Membership Meeting -- June 26, 2011
By Louise Ratliff, Chair
I am submitting the final report of the ALCTS Council of Regional Groups, to reflect our activities at the ALA Annual Conference of June 24-28, 2011. As of the end of Conference, the Council will be dissolved and replaced by the newly formed ALCTS division-level Affiliate Relations Committee (ARC). The charge of the new ARC remains the same as the CRG, while the new name and flattened structure will make our focus clearer to the rest of ALCTS, and allow us to be more effective in our outreach efforts. The first chair of the Affiliate Relations Committee as of July 1, 2011 will be Marlene Harris and the secretary will be Naomi Young.
At the Planning Meeting, CRG members reviewed the proposed changes in the ALCTS bylaws as presented by Organization & Bylaws Committee representative Morag Boyd, and were in agreement with the changes. They also approved the wording of the charge to the new ARC. Both were formally approved by a vote of members present at the Planning Meeting.
Individual assignments were made for specific committee tasks, and the list of Affiliate Groups was reviewed. Each ARC member will be a liaison for three to four groups. Methods of communication were discussed, including email lists, ALA Connect, and Twitter; the committee will make use of various tools for sharing information with the groups.
The CRG decided that ARC will sponsor a program at ALA Annual 2012 in Anaheim, CA, where affiliate groups will be spotlighted. The idea is for several representatives to make short presentations about practical solutions to technical services problems or challenges, so that attendees can take away specific useful ideas and approaches. In this way, our affiliate groups can be recognized at the national level for the thoughtful and creative programming that they produce throughout the year. The program may reflect the current ALCTS theme of “transforming collections” because that would harmonize with ALCTS and with ALA, whose theme this year is “transforming libraries.” A program proposal was submitted by Susan Mueller, who will shepherd it through the process. Thank you, Susan!
At Sunday’s Affiliates Membership Meeting, we heard from several representatives about the programs they have hosted during the past six to twelve months. Programs have included everything from MARC XML to metadata development and cataloging artists books, and many of the speakers are nationally recognized. Please join me in acknowledging and celebrating the creative and talented technical services people in our Affiliated Groups throughout the country!