Volunteer for an ACRL Committee or Section by February 12, 2021!

Thank you for volunteering to contribute your time and expertise to ACRL! This is an incredible time within higher education and society, and we value your continued commitment to fostering a strong and healthy association that supports our collective professional efforts. Our association relies on the time, energy, and talent of our member volunteers to carry out the work of the Association and envision and enact our future. In the interest of creating an appointment process that is as transparent as possible, I will issue a statement informing the membership of the number of opportunities and volunteers, and other relevant information, after the appointments process is complete. 

Thank you,

Julie Ann Garrison
ACRL 2021-2022 Vice-President/President-Elect

ACRL Volunteer Guidelines

These guidelines are intended to help ACRL members understand which priorities are considered in appointing members to volunteer positions at the division level. These guidelines are not intended to serve as a strict rubric. Generally, the Vice-President, Appointments Committee, and section Vice-Chairs should approach appointments with a holistic perspective, seeking overall balance in service to the association’s goals and priorities.

Core Commitment to Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

ACRL has made a core commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Appointments should seek to offer leadership and service opportunities to members with this commitment in mind. Racialized and racially or ethnically underrepresented colleagues should be offered opportunities wherever possible, in order to help ACRL acknowledge and address historical racial inequities; challenge oppressive systems within academic libraries; value different ways of knowing; and identify and work to eliminate barriers to equitable services, spaces, resources, and scholarship.

In general, appointments should:

• seek geographic diversity on committees and sections. This can include international representation, and/or it can include representation from different regions of the United States.
• seek diversity in types of institutions represented on committees and sections. Candidates from public, private, and non-educational (research) institutions, consortia, and other institutions should be included, as well as candidates from community colleges, four-year college and universities, and research and doctoral universities. Historically, community college representation is particularly needed in order to ensure equitable representation for colleagues employed in community colleges.
• consider diversity in roles and duties represented on committees and sections. Candidates from all areas of academic and research librarianship should be considered for appointment, although in some cases it may be important to appoint candidates with particular expertise to carry out particular duties.
• seek to balance seniority, experience, and tenure in committees and sections.

Eligibility

• Candidates must be current members in good standing of ALA and ACRL, and must remain so for the duration of their appointment. Candidates cannot serve on any committee or section for more than 5 consecutive years.
• Candidates must not hold more than 3 concurrent appointments within ALA or ACRL at any one time.
• If a candidate with 3 existing appointments wishes to take up additional appointments, they must resign from one of their current appointments.

Learn more! Please view the recording from the ACRL Membership Committee's webinar, ACRL Get Involved: Everything You Need to Know about Volunteering for an ACRL Division-level Committee, Section Committee, Interest and Discussion Groups, which was held on January 13, 2021.

Volunteers benefit by:

• Building ties and engaging with academic and research librarians around the country
• Enhancing their leadership abilities through consensus building and project management
• Sharing their experience with colleagues
• Developing new expertise or updating knowledge in a current specialization
• Advancing the ACRL Plan for Excellence
• Advancing the work of the work of the profession

Volunteer by February 12, 2021!
Appointments are made in the spring for terms beginning immediately after the ALA Annual Conference.

Division-level Committees: The Appointments Committee recommends to the President-Elect the names of members who might be suitable to fill the vacancies. The President-Elect makes the final appointments for committees.

Editorial Boards: The editors or chairs of editorial or publication advisory boards recommend to the Publications Coordinating Committee (PCC) individuals to fill vacancies. PCC is responsible for approving appointment recommendations and the President-Elect extends offers.

Sections: Section vice-chairs appoint the members of section committees.

Trouble logging in? The volunteer form is tied to your ALA/ACRL membership. To become an ALA/ACRL member or to add sections, please login to the ALA website or call ALA Member & Customer Support at 1-800-545-2433.

Questions about the form or eligibility may be directed to ACRL Program Manager for Strategic Initiatives Allison Payne at apayne@ala.org or ACRL Senior Program Officer Megan Griffin at mgriffin@ala.org.

For more information, please refer to Volunteer & Appointment Process and Member Service on ACRL Committees.

• Questions about division-level committee appointments may be directed to the ACRL Appointments Committee Chair Robert H. McDonald at rhmcdonald@colorado.edu or ACRL President-elect Julie Ann Garrison at julie.garrison@wmich.edu. 
• Questions about section appointments may be directed to the vice-chair of each section. Full contact information is available from the section landing page.
• Questions about editorial board appointments may be directed to the chair of the Publications Coordinating Committee Julia M. Gelfand at jgelfand@uci.edu or Editor-in-Chief of C&RL News/Senior Communications Strategist David Free at dfree@ala.org.
• Questions about the form or eligibility may be directed to ACRL Program Manager for Strategic Initiatives Allison Payne at apayne@ala.org or ACRL Senior Program Officer Megan Griffin at mgriffin@ala.org.