History and Accomplisments of the Council of Liaisons

An excerpt from ACRL's 1995-96 strategic plan states, "Particularly promising, however, in regard to ACRL's being able to influence the higher education environment has been ACRL's increased networking with other higher education organizations through the new Council of Liaisons, the National Forum on Information Literacy, and especially through regional accrediting agencies projects….”

Following the formal establishment of the council, the concept of the group was part of each succeeding ACRL strategic plan. A brief chronology of the Council would include:

January 2005 ACRL Board of Directors, at its January 18, 2005, meeting in Boston, approved one-year appointments for Tom Kirk to the Council of Independent Colleges, for Kate Corby to the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and for Larry Hardesty to the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition (NRC). Additionally, the Board approved these organizations for a one-year liaison relationship.
June 2005 ACRL Board approves Council of Liaisons charge, liaison job description and procedures for identifying potential liaison relationships.
January 2006 Council of Liaisons Chair Julie Todaro works with ACRL staff to launch a Council web page.
June 2006 Frances Maloy becomes chair of the Council. Council begins the work of canvassing ACRL membership about possible new liaison relationships.
October 2006 ACRL Executive Committee, at its October 28, 2006, meeting in Chicago, approved the reappointment of Larry Hardesty as the ACRL liaison to the National Resource Center for the First -Year Experience and Students in Transition (NRC-FYEST), Tom Kirk as the liaison to the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and Kate Corby as the liaison to the American Educational Research Association (AERA), each for a 3-year term from July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2009, contingent upon the Board approving continued relationships with those associations over that period.
June 2007 ACRL Board of Directors, at its June 23, 2007, meeting in Washington, DC, approved the establishment of liaison relationships with the following organizations:
- American Anthropological Association (AAA)
- American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
- American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)
- American Sociological Association (ASA)
- Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
- Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE)
January 2008 Council begins the process of selecting individuals to be liaisons to the newly approved organizations.
June 2008 Council of liaisons welcomes Susan Kroll as its new chair, and a number of new liaisons including Kathleen Bethel, ACRL Liaison to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); Sally Wilson Weimer, to American Sociological Association (ASA); Vanessa J. Earp, to Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE).