Call for Members for the 75th IRRT Anniversary Celebratory Committee
The IRRT will be 75 years old next year! It is exciting news and we're planning to organize this 75th anniversary celebration at the ALA Annual in San Diego. The IRRT was established by the ALA Council in 1949 as the Round Table and has grown to over 1000 members with 15 committees and one interest group. IRRT members come together to promote interests in library issues and librarianship worldwide. The IRRT helps coordinate international activities within the ALA, serving as a liaison between the International Relations Committee and those members of the Association interested in international relations. The IRRT develops programs and activities that further the international objectives of ALA and provide hospitality and information to visitors from abroad.
To energize its mission and to celebrate its activities, the IRRT's Executive Board (EB) formed an ad hoc committee to organize a fanfare event at the ALA Annual in 2024. This ad hoc committee is looking forward to recruiting another 3-4 members from the IRRT General Body. The ad hoc committee currently is comprised of 4 EB members: Jim Neal, Mark Mattson, Julia Gelfand and Safi Safiullah. They will work together with the recruited members to organize the 75th anniversary. The celebration will highlight IRRT's achievements, remember its contribution to global libraries, and begin discussions about various issues that libraries and librarians are facing today. The ad hoc committee will organize a reception during which the ALA president along with its executive board members, past and current IRRT chairs, as well as IRRT members. The meet and greet event will be an excellent networking opportunity for international librarians and librarians who are working in the international field. The IRRT's EB members are looking forward to having a strong ad hoc committee that will bring new and fresh ideas to create a successful fanfare celebration in San Diego in June 2024.
You can find the history of the IRRT here as well in the International Lead March 1999, September 1999 (more detailed), and March 2009 issues. If anyone is interested in joining this committee, please contact Safi Safiullah (ssafiullah@slcpl.org), or contact Delin Guerra (dguerra@ala.org) or one of the IRRT's Executive Board members by September 19th. We look forward to seeing some of you join the ad hoc committee.
Dr. Safi Safiullah
IRRT Chair
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Safi S.M. Safiullah
IRRT Chair
Manager
The Salt Lake City Public Library
he/him/his
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