Section members who wish to volunteer for a committee are encouraged to submit an ACRL online volunteer form.
- Executive Committee: made up of elected officers of the section, plus chairs of the section's standing committees.
- Conference Planning Committee: plans and implements the annual conference program and coordinates program sponsorship with other ALA units as appropriate.
- Membership Committee: coordinates recruitment activities for the Section and any education activities for the promotion of English and American literature librarianship within ALA.
- Nominating Committee: prepares the slate of new officers.
- Planning Committee: develops a strategic plan for the Section and reviews the Section's bylaws every five years.
- Publications Committee: coordinates all publications associated with the Section, including the newsletter and the website. It identifies publication needs, encourages research and writing, and recommends new publications to the Executive Committee.
- Virtual Participation Committee: explores and recommends options for virtual meetings and other forms of distance participation.
About Committee Service
To serve on any committee within the Association of College and Research Libraries, you must be a member of the Association. For section committees, you must also be a member of the section. It is American Library Association policy that no member of ALA may serve simultaneously on more than three committees, including division and section committees, unless membership is ex-officio.
If you have accepted an appointment on a LES Section Committee, you should receive an ACRL Appointment Acceptance Form from your committee chair or the LES Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. Complete the form and send it to the LES Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect.
Committee Details: Composition and Charge
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Composition
The Executive Committee is made up of all the elected officers of the section: Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Immediate Past-Chair, Secretary, and Member-at-Large. Also included are the chairs of the section's standing committees: Nominating, Publications, Planning, Membership, and the two Conference Program Planning Committees. These are the only voting members of the Executive Committee. The Newsletter Editor, Website Editor, and E-list Moderator serve as non-voting members of the committee. The Section Chair is also Chair of the Executive Committee. Regular meetings of the Executive Committee shall be at the time and place of the Annual Conference and the Midwinter Meeting of ALA. Special meetings may be called by the chair.
Charge
This committee has the responsibility for overseeing and directing all of the section's affairs.
Specific Functions and Responsibilities
1. Supervises the administration of established policies, programs, and operations.
2. Acts for the Section and to makes decisions on matters which require immediate action before the next scheduled Section meeting. If necessary, the Executive Committee may make decisions by electronic mail or conference call during the period between regularly scheduled meetings.
3. Makes final decisions regarding the strategic plan and revisions thereof proposed by the Planning Committee, after consultation with the membership at large.
4. Appoints the section newsletter editor, website editor and e-list moderator for terms of three years, with the option of renewal.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM PLANNING COMMITTEE
Composition
The vice-chair/chair-elect shall appoint a Conference Program Planning Committee of at least four members, excluding ex officio members, to plan programs for the annual conference which concludes his or her term of office. The vice-chair/chair-elect may choose to chair the committee or to appoint one of the four members as chair. If a separate chair is appointed, the vice-chair/chair-elect will still work closely with the committee. The term of office for the committee members begins at the start of the midwinter meeting held the calendar year before that of the annual conference for which the committee is planning, and ends at the conclusion of that annual conference. Thus, during any given midwinter meeting or annual conference there will be two Program Planning Committees, each designated by the year of the conference for which it is planning, and each committee member will serve a single term of approximately eighteen months. Note that this differs from the terms of other standing committees, and that this committee must be appointed by the vice-chair/chair-elect in the fall, considerably earlier than other committee appointments.
Charge
This Committee is charged with planning and organizing the Section's Annual Conference program. After reviewing past program topics and soliciting ideas from section members, the committee is given the responsibility of selecting a topic or theme of timely interest to Section members and to a broad spectrum of ALA members. Topics which can be shown to relate to the ACRL Strategic Plan or to the current ACRL vice-president's "presidential theme" often have a better chance of receiving funding and of being highlighted in conference publicity. This does not mean that the committee should feel constrained by the larger organization in finding a topic that will be of value to LES members; but in reporting to ACRL, the committee should be creative in finding ways to demonstrate the relevance of the topic to ACRL priorities. After a topic has been selected, the committee seeks to recruit the best available speakers on the selected topic. The committee is encouraged to find other groups within ALA to co-sponsor programs, and to coordinate co-sponsorship in accordance with ALA procedures. In the case of co-sponsorship, a joint committee may be formed with representatives of the various units involved. The committee must also prepare a budget proposal for the program, for the reimbursement of any expenses or for the purpose of offering honoraria to non-librarian speakers. The committee also is responsible for handling the equipment needs for the program, and for publicity. The committee chair is responsible for providing a summary of the annual program for the fall edition of the Biblio-Notes and to College and Research Libraries News.
Timetable
The committee must adhere to the deadlines established by the ALA Conference Arrangements Office. Similarly, the committee must meet the deadlines for ACRL for the submission of a budget request. In recent years, the ACRL office has scheduled all section Conference Program Planning Committees to meet at the same time and location as the ACRL Conference Program Planning Committee. If this occurs, the chair of the section committee should decide whether a separate meeting will also be necessary, and should inform the section chair, who must make the scheduling arrangements. The ACRL Conference Program Planning Committee generally meets fairly early in the conference; this may give the section committee the opportunity to cancel a later meeting if it can complete its business during the ACRL committee meeting.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Composition
The committee is composed of at least four members, excluding ex officio members.
Charge
The committee coordinates recruitment and retention activities for the section, as well as for English-language literature librarianship within ALA. The committee also coordinates any education activities for the promotion of English and American literature librarianship. The Membership Committee consults and cooperates with the Publications Committee in connection with the production and distribution of publications promoting membership in LES. The chair of the committee attends the meetings of the ACRL Membership Committee, or, if unable to attend, will designate an alternate to attend. The chair of the committee receives membership statistics from the section chair, and the committee makes use of these in planning its activities.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Composition
The committee consists of at least three members, excluding ex officio members. Ideally, these should be people who have been involved with the section for some time, and who are familiar with section members who would be promising candidates for office. The Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect may not serve on this committee.
Charge
This committee is to produce every year a slate of candidates for the section's elected positions: Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Secretary, and Member-at-Large. The committee shall encourage candidates for Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect to address the LES Strategic Plan, indicating their areas of emphasis, in their written statements of concern for the ACRL ballot. The slate requires at least two candidates for each position. It is necessary to obtain written consent from a candidate to place his or her name on the ballot. The nominations are to be filed with the executive director of ACRL and with the secretary of LES within the deadlines specified by ACRL.
Timetable
The Committee Chair must meet all deadlines established by ACRL for the nomination of candidates. Because the elections take place in the spring, the committee should meet at the annual conference prior to the election to begin discussing the next year's candidates. The committee should, as soon as possible, begin obtaining written permission from the candidates, and should solicit biographical information and a candidate's statement to appear on the ballot. The committee generally has little to do at the Midwinter meeting.
PLANNING COMMITTEE
Composition
The committee consists of at least four members, excluding ex officio members. The chair and the immediate past-chair of the section are ex officio members.
Charge
The Planning Committee is charged with:
- preparation and revision of the section's strategic plan for review by section membership and the Executive Committee.
- annually monitoring the section's progress toward achieving strategic plan goals.
- preparing written documentation for ACRL relating to the division's strategic plan and periodic Section reviews.
- conducting periodic (5-year) reviews of the section's governance documents.
- other planning tasks as delegated by the Executive Committee.
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
Composition
The committee consists of at least four members, excluding ex officio members. The newsletter editor, the website editor, and the moderator of the LES electronic discussion list are ex officio members.
Charge
The committee coordinates all publications associated with the Section. The committee identifies publication needs, stimulates research and writing, recommends new publications to the Executive Committee and, if approved, oversees production and development of these projects as well as of the Section newsletter. The Executive Committee may charge the Publications Committee with particular publication projects. Appeals for funding of special publication projects must be channeled through the Executive Committee.
VIRTUAL PARTICIPATION COMMITTEE
Composition
The committee consists of at least four members, excluding ex officio members.
Charge
The committee fosters equitable community among librarians in the section by planning and/or coordinating virtual professional development opportunities and ensuring virtual participation and access to LES events, including during the two annual ACRL-LES meetings. The committee collaborates with the executive committee and other LES committees and discussion groups to ensure equitable virtual participation.
Comments may be directed to the LES Website Administrator, Jenny Dale.
Special thanks to Jackie Hackman for designing the LES logo.
Last updated: February 9, 2024