Dear IRRT Members,
The Executive Committee is happy to be able to provide you with a couple of exciting updates related to our work as a round table:
- · The new round table Rules (previously called Bylaws) are now in place! Having successfully been voted in by the membership in the recent ballot, we now have new Round Table Rules that are in line with the standardization work across round tables that has been years in the making. The Executive Committee is in the process of updating the Officer's Manual and the new Rules will be added to the manual and the IRRT website. Thank you to all of you who voted in the recent election and ballot initiative!
- · A new IRRT Code of Conduct now in place! While ALA has some codes of conduct in place for online forums and for the Annual Conference, there are not any general codes that govern our work within the organization (committee work, representatives in taskforces, etc.). The IRRT Executive Committee decided to be proactive this year and create an IRRT Code of Conduct to govern our work as a round table. The code was drafted by Erica Saito, IRRT Secretary/Treasurer, and was reviewed by the IRRT committee chairs for feedback and revisions before being voted into force by the Executive Committee. As Chair of IRRT, I feel that the code is a beautifully-crafted document that will help us be effective in our work and can potentially serve as an example for other ALA groups as well. The new code will also be added into the revised Officer's Manual and added to the website, but you can take a look at the new IRRT Code of Conduct in the attachment.
- · Website under construction! If you have visited the ALA (and IRRT) website recently you might have noticed that things look quite a bit different to what you are used to seeing. ALA decided centrally to update the website and systems and that change has now been implemented. We have been anticipating this change over the last several months and will now be using this opportunity to make the necessary changes related to our upcoming new committee structure, new Rules, and other initiatives. Our ALA Staff Liaison Delin Guerra and our amazing web editors, Joan Weeks and Florence Mugambi, will be working over the next couple of months to get the website back into shape. We appreciate your patience while we undertake this website remodel! If there is something that you are unable to find during this transition, please do not hesitate to reach out (my email is mam1196@psu.edu).
These update items, in combination with the new committee structure that will begin on July 1st, mark big changes for our round table and the Executive Committee would like to thank you all for your dedication, flexibility, and support for IRRT this year. There is a reason my Chair's Theme for this year was "Celebrating Our Past and Looking to Our Future"!
In the coming weeks we will be sending out information about all of the fantastic programming that IRRT has put together for the Annual Conference and you should make sure to keep an eye out for the next Issue of International Leads which will also provide conference and anniversary celebration details!
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns!
Mark Mattson
Chair, IRRT
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Mark Mattson
Global Partnerships and Outreach Librarian
Penn State University
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