ACRL Chapters Council

All:

This is a reminder that the ACRL Board needs examples of the procedures by which individual state and regional chapters choose delegates to Chapters Council. By "delegate", the Board means a member of a chapter's executive board who would represent the chapter in the absence of the President (Chair) or the Vice-President (Vice-Chair). Since I have received just one response so far from a chapter that has such a procedure in place, I have extended the deadline to Friday, August 4. Please see the original message below for details.

Thank you very much.

Eric Edwards

The ACRL Board is in the process of considering Chapters Council's request to change the guidelines for elections, so that any member of ALA/ACRL and a state or regional chapter is eligible to run for Chapters Council officer, either Secretary or Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. Currently, only people who are in leadership positions within a state or regional chapter--specifically President (Chair), Vice-President (Vice-Chair), or a delegate who is a member of the chapter's executive board--are eligible to run for Chapters Council officer. Due to this rule, the Chapters Council leadership has found it difficult to recruit candidates to run for either office in recent years. By opening up eligibility to any state or regional chapter member, Chapters Council hopes to increase the number of candidates for each office

ACRL Interim Executive Director Payne has asked, on behalf of the ACRL Board, that Chapters Council provide additional information on the process by which state and regional chapters select delegates to Chapters Council; this would be in addition to the chapter's President (Chair) and Vice-President (Vice-Chair). Since there is not a standard process across chapters, the ACRL Board would appreciate several examples from individual state and regional chapters. This information will help the ACRL Board make  a final decision at its Fall, 2023, meeting--tentatively scheduled for late September or later--on whether or not to approve Chapters Council's request to change the eligibility rules to run for Chapters Council officer.

If you would be willing to share your chapter's process for selecting delegates to Chapters Council, please e-mail me at eedwards@ilsos.gov by Friday, July 28 (NEW DEADLINE FRIDAY, AUGUST 4), if possible. I will then compile a list of responses to send to the ACRL Board and share the list with the Chapters Council membership.

Thank you very much.

Eric Edwards

2023-24 ACRL Chapters Council Chair

All:

This is a final reminder please to share examples from your own chapter, if possible. Thank you very much to everyone who has responded so far.

Eric Edwards

All:

Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to provide examples of the processes by which state and regional chapters choose delegates to Chapters Council. I submitted the four examples I received to Executive Director Payne and the rest of the ACRL Board earlier this week, and the Board believes it has enough information on this question. For your reference, here are the four responses I received and submitted.

Florida Chapter (Florida ACRL)

Usually, the Chapter President or President-Elect attends meetings. Occasionally, the Past President can step in and report back to the group. For the delegate, it has been a volunteer, but there is no formal procedure. In response to the ACRL Board's inquiry, the Florida Chapter might revise its bylaws to formalize the process for selecting a delegate.

--Rachel Cooke and Dr. Clarissa West-White

Iowa Chapter (Iowa ACRL)

The Iowa Chapter has a designated Executive Board member who serves as representative to Chapters Council. It's a non-elected position, with appointment by the Chapter's President. The appointment lasts one year, with the goal of keeping the person in the role for several years. Historically, it has been someone with prior experience on the Executive Board, which is composed of committee chairs, two at-large representatives, the Vice-President, the President, and the Past President. There is also an appointed Representative for Government Relations.

--Carrie Dunham-LaGree

New Jersey Chapter (New Jersey ACRL)

The New Jersey Chapter does not have a process for selecting a separate delegate to Chapters Council. The representative is solely the President, with the Vice-President attending in the President's absence. For the New Jersey Chapter, the President and the Vice-President are the only Executive Board members who are required to belong to both ACRL and the state library association (New Jersey ACRL is incorporated under the New Jersey Library Association). Therefore, the President and the Vice-President are the only Executive Board members guaranteed to meet the ACRL membership requirements for serving on Chapters Council.

--Gary Marks

Ohio Chapter (Academic Library Association of Ohio)

The Ohio Chapter has an ACRL Liaison position with a term length of three years, with reappointment possible. The ACRL Liaison is required to belong to ALA and ACRL. A call goes out for interested individuals before each new term, and an appointment is made at the discretion of the President, with the approval of the Executive Board.

--Gerald Natal

I will post the Board's second question to this space shortly.

Thank you very much.

Eric Edwards

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Eric Edwards
Interlibrary Loan Librarian
Illinois State Library
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