ACRL Chapters Council

All:

For those who don't know me, my name is Eric Edwards, and I became Chapters Council Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect at the beginning of July, after serving two years as Secretary. Kelly McCallister, who began a one-year term as Chair at the beginning of July, has decided to step down, due to professional and personal obligations. I would like to thank Ms. McCallister for her service and dedication to Chapters Council and wish her the best as she moves forward with her new endeavors.

In the wake of Kelly McCallister's resignation, I have agreed to serve out her term as Chair, which ends on June 30, 2023, before beginning a one-year term as Chair in my own right. I am looking forward to working with everyone over the coming year-and-a-half, and I welcome any ideas you might have for making Chapters Council as useful a resource as possible for the statewide and regional chapters, along with increasing Chapters Council's visibility and role within ACRL and ALA. Please feel free to e-mail me at eedwards@ilsos.gov with any comments, suggestions, or ideas you might have. You are also welcome to contact Dawn Behrend, Past Chair, at dawn.behrend@lr.edu.

Since I am no longer serving as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, we need a volunteer to fill that role. Technically, this person would be serving as Vice-Chair only,  since the person would not continue on to the Chair position at the conclusion of the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect's term on June 30, 2023.  The Vice-Chair's main responsibilities would be to administer the Chapters Council elections, which take place during Chapters Council's meeting at ALA Annual in June, and also to attend two meetings a year--one during LibLearnX, formerly Midwinter, in January, and the other being the one at ALA Annual. The Vice-Chair might also need to assist with various projects.

We are also in need of someone to serve as Secretary, a position that has been open since I ended my 2021-22 term. The Secretary's main responsibility would be to attend and take minutes at the two annual meetings; the Secretary would need to submit the final version of the minutes to ACRL within 30 days of each meeting. As with the Vice-Chair, the Secretary might also need to assist with projects.

For more information on the roles and responsibilities of these two officer positions, please go to ACRL Chapters Council Leadership Position Description/Responsibilities. To be eligible to serve, one must be a member of ALA and ACRL, and a current member of the board for one's state or regional ACRL chapter.  The chapter rosters are available at https://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/chapters/roster. If your chapter's roster is not current, please contact Lauren Carlton so that she can correct the information. The specific wording in ACRL's policies is, "The Chapters Council shall consist of the president (chair) and vice-president (vice-chair) of each ACRL chapter or a delegate who is a member of the executive board of the chapter. Each member of the Chapters Council shall be a member of the national association." This information is also available at https://www.ala.org/acrl/resources/policies/chapter5#5eight.

Please note also that in-person attendance at Chapters Council meetings is not required, as there is a hybrid option.

If you would be interested in serving as either Vice-Chair or Secretary on an interim basis (again, both terms would last through June 30, 2023), please let me know via e-mail as soon as possible, at eedwards@ilsos.gov. Again, if you have any questions about what serving in one of these offices would entail, please do not hesitate to contact Lauren Carlton, Dawn Behrend, or myself.

Thank you very much.

Eric Edwards