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Get involved with ACRL: Volunteer to serve on a division or section committee
C&RL News, October 2004
Vol. 65, No. 9
ACRL division and section committee volunteers are an integral part of the association and drive our success. Committee members help shape the organization by implementing its strategic plan, reshaping the association, and influencing the direction of academic and research librarianship.
If you have been looking for a way to become more involved with ACRL, consider volunteering for a division or section committee. Vice president Camila Alire invites all ACRL members to contact the Appointments Committee about serving on one of ACRL’s 23 committees for next year. Members may also contact one of the section vice chairs regarding service on one of the many section committees.
The benefits of volunteering
Volunteers not only give to the association, they get back from the association. As an ACRL division or section committee member, you will:
• build ties with academic and research librarians around the country,
• enhance your leadership abilities through consensus building and persuasion,
• share your expertise with colleagues, and
• gain additional expertise by learning more about a new area of academic librarianship or picking up new ideas for your current area.
The appointment process
Appointments are made at both the section and division levels. The ACRL vice president is responsible for the committee appointments at the division level for the year he or she serves as president. Likewise, section vice chairs are responsible for committee appointments in their respective sections the year they serve as chair. Committee slates are usually completed shortly after the Midwinter Meeting during the year in which the individual serves as president-elect or chair-elect. The ACRL Appointments Committee assists the president-elect in this process in an advisory capacity.
Factors influencing appointment
Although the emphasis in the appointment process may vary from year to year according to the prerogatives of the president-elect and section chairs, the same factors are considered. They include:
• Evidence of potential committee member’s interest. Have you attended the meetings and introduced yourself to the chair? Do you have previous experience that relates to the work of the committee? Have you indicated your interest on the volunteer form?
• Demographics and composition of committee. A balance is sought with respect to type of library (community college, college, or university), geographic representation, ethnic diversity, and gender. Those who have not had the opportunity to serve on an ACRL committee are encouraged to volunteer.
• Recommendation of the current committee chair. Current committee chairs are asked to suggest potential members.
Although all of these factors are considered, the final appointments are the prerogative of the ACRL president-elect and the section chair-elects.
How to apply
1. Select the committees that interest you. A list of ACRL committees and their charges is available on the ACRL Web site. Attend the committee’s meetings at the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference to help you decide if those are the activities that interest you.
2. Submit a volunteer form. Complete the volunteer form included with this article. (This form is also available on ACRL’s Web site.)
Be sure to cover all of the items asked for in the background information section of the form. If you have attended committee meetings or programs, mention that. Fill out one form for ACRL division committees and a different form for each ACRL section committee you volunteer to serve on.
Send the ACRL committee volunteer form to Janet D. Simmons-Welburn at the address on the bottom of the volunteer form; send the section volunteer forms to the appropriate section chair-elects (see list of addresses below).
3. Introduce yourself. Talk with committee members. Express your interest to the committee chair. Explain how you might contribute to the work of the committee.
4. Volunteer again . . . and again. If you are not successful in being appointed one year, volunteer again the next year . . . and the next.
Remember that a multitude of factors—number of appointments made, number of volunteers for each committee, number of volunteers from your type of library or your geographic area—determine the actual appointment, and these factors change from year to year.
ACRL divisional committee appointments
ACRL has 23 standing committees to which appointments may be made for 2004–2005. A list appears on the volunteer form at the end of this article. You will also find the committees listed along with their charges on the ACRL Web site.
Appointments to ACRL standing committees are made in the spring for terms beginning immediately after the ALA Annual Conference. The Appointments Committee recommends to the president-elect of ACRL the names of members who might fill the vacancies. The president-elect makes the final appointments.
If you want to be considered for an appointment to an ACRL committee, complete the form and return it to Janice D. Simmons-Welburn at the address given on the form before December 3, 2004.
ACRL section appointments
ACRL has 17 sections (listed below). You will find a description of their areas of responsibility in the ALA Handbook of Organization, 2004–05.
The chair-elect of each section appoints the chair and members of all section committees. Most of these appointments are made in the spring for terms beginning immediately after the ALA Annual Conference.
If you would like to be considered for appointment as a chair or member of a section committee, fill out the ACRL Section Committee Volunteer Form and mail it to the chair-elect of the appropriate section listed below before December 3, 2004.
African American Studies Librarians Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Heather Martin, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Mervyn H. Sterne Library, Sl 135, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0014; e-mail: hmartin@uab.edu.
Anthropology and Sociology Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Shawn W. Nicholson, Government Documents, Michigan State University Library, 927 Huntington Road, East Lansing, MI 48823; e-mail: nicho147@mail.lib.msu.edu.
Arts Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Jane E. Sloan; Rutgers University Libraries, Mabel Smith Douglass Library, 8 Chapel Dr., Douglass Campus, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8527; e-mail: jsloan@rci.rutgers.edu.
Asian, African and Middle Eastern Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Cynthia Tysick, State University of New York, 221D Lockwood Library, Buffalo, NY 14260-2200; e-mail: cat2@buffalo.edu.
College Libraries Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Robin Wagner, Gettysburg College Library, Box 420, Gettysburg, PA 17325; e-mail: rowagner@gettysburg.edu.
Community and Junior College Libraries Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Christine C. Godin, Northwest Vista College Library, 3535 N. Ellison Dr., San Antonio, TX 78251; e-mail: cgodin@accd.edu.
Distance Learning Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Jack Fritts, Benedictine University, Benedictine Library, 5700 College Road, Lisle, IL 60532-2851; e-mail: jfritts@ben.edu.
Education and Behavioral Sciences Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Douglas L. Cook, Shippensburg University, Lehman Library, 220 Hollar Ave., Shippensburg, PA 17257-2299; e-mail: dr_library_guy
@yahoo.com.
Instruction Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Lisa J. Hinchliffe, University of Illinois, 1408 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana, IL 61801; e-mail: ljanicke@uiuc.edu. Online committee volunteer form is available at www.ala.org/is.
Law and Political Science Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Connie S. Stoner, Shawnee State University Library, 940 Second St., Portsmouth, OH 45662-4347; e-mail: csalyers@shawnee.edu.
Literatures in English Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Susanna Van Sant, University of Maryland, McKeldin Library, College Park, MD 20742-7011; e-mail: svansant@umd.edu.
Rare Books and Manuscripts Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Katherine Reagan, Cornell University Library, 2B Kroch Library, Rare & Manuscript Collections, Ithaca, NY 14853-5302; e-mail: kr33@cornell.edu.
Science and Technology Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Julia M. Gelfand, University of California–Irvine, Science Library 228, Irvine, CA 92623-9556; e-mail: jgelfand@uci.edu.
Slavic and East European Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Daniel M. Pennell, University of Pittsburgh, G20X Hillman Library, 3960 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15260; e-mail: pennell@pitt.edu.
University Libraries Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Sandra G. Yee, Wayne State University Library System, 3100 Undergraduate Library, Detroit, MI 48202; e-mail: sandra.yee@wayne.edu.
Western European Studies Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Helene S. Baumann, Duke University, 022 Perkins Library, Durham, NC 27708-0196; e-mail: helene.baumann@duke.edu.
Women’s Studies Section. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Megan M. Adams, Swarthmore College, McCabe Library, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1306; e-mail: madams1@swarthmore.edu.
Editorial boards
ACRL has six editorial boards for its publications: CHOICE, College & Research Libraries, College & Research Libraries News, New Publications Advisory Board, Publications in Librarianship, and RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage.
Appointments to editorial boards are made at the Midwinter Meeting for terms that begin immediately after the ALA Annual Conference. The editors recommend the name of a person to fill a vacancy. The Publications Committee must approve the recommendation, and the president of ACRL makes the appointment.
If you would like to be considered for appointment to an editorial board, contact the editor of the editorial board early in the fall.
CHOICE editor: Irving Rockwood, Choice, 100 Riverview Center, Middletown, CT 06457; e-mail: irockwood@ala-choice.org.
College & Research Libraries editor: William Gray Potter, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, GA 30602-1641; e-mail: wpotter@arches.uga.edu.
College & Research Libraries News editor: Stephanie Orphan, C&RL News, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; e-mail: sorphan@ala.org.
New publications editor: Hugh Thompson, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; e-mail: hthompson@ala.org.
Publications in Librarianship editor: Charles Schwartz, Florida International, Green Library, University Park, Miami, FL 33199; e-mail: tony.schwartz@fiu.edu.
RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage editor: Richard Clement, head of special collections, University of Kansas, Spencer Research Library, Lawrence, KS 66045-2800; rclement@ku.edu .
For the ACRL and section committee volunteer forms visit: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/aboutacrl/resourcesforwork/acrlforms/acrlforms.htm.
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