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ACRL Board of Directors' actions, June 2004: Highlights of the Board's Annual Conference meetings

C&RL News, September 2004
Vo. 65, No. 8

During the 2004 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, the ACRL Board of Directors met on June 26 and 29 and took the following actions.

Strategic Area:  Higher education and research
Goal Area:  Learning—ACRL and its members are recognized as collaborative leaders in teaching lifelong learning skills, improving techniques for assessing learning outcomes, and in creating environments for discovery.

Approved a revision to the IS Innovation Award description and criteria to give greater emphasis to the idea that nominated projects must be innovative within a national context.

Approved revisions to the “Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services.”

Goal Area:  Scholarship—ACRL and its members are recognized as authorities on knowledge management, and the creation, collection, preservation, access, and exchange of information.

Reappointed William Gray Potter as editor
of College and Research Libraries for a term running from the 2005 ALA Annual Conference through the 2008 ALA Annual Conference.

Approved revisions to the “Guidelines for the Interlibrary Loan of Rare and Unique Materials.”

Adopted the ACRL Scholarly Communications Agenda and Research Agenda for 2004/2005 as proposed by the Scholarly Communications Committee.

^{ACRL Board 2003–04 (l to r): (back) Nancy Allen, Dorothy Washington,
Pamela Snelson, Deborah B. Dancik, Patricia A. Kreitz, Susan Allen,
Lois Cherepon, W. Bede Mitchell; (front) Patricia A. Wand, Helen H. Spalding,
Frances Maloy, Mary Ellen Davis. Not shown: Tyrone Cannon, Rita Jones.}

Goal Area: Advocacy—ACRL has greater influence on the higher education and research environment.

Approved an extension of the Review and Revision of the Access Guidelines Task Force for them to complete their work.  A draft is expected by the end of summer, with the draft available for comment and review prior to Midwinter 2005.

Approved the new “Standards for Libraries in Higher Education” and rescinded the existing three separate higher education standards:  “Standards for Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges Learning Resources Programs,” “Standards for College Libraries,” and “Standards for University Libraries.”

Strategic Area:  The profession
Endorsed the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom’s proposed revisions to ALA’s “Intellectual Freedom Manual” and supported their passage in ALA Council.

Goal Area: Continuous Learning—ACRL provides continuous learning opportunities enabling members to strengthen their effectiveness and achieve recognition as valued contributors to their academic and research communities.

Approved a revision to the ACRL Scholarship
Policy to give preference to those who have not previously been awarded an ACRL scholarship.

Approved “Statistics for Librarians,” “Re-inventing Libraries for the 21st Century: A Visioning Workshop,” and “Getting Faculty/Teacher Attention for Information Literacy” workshops for the 2005 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston.

Approved the proposed list of 19 conference programs for the 2005 ALA Annual Conference-Chicago.

Approved the use of Friends of ACRL funds in the amount of $5,000 to provide ten $500 scholarships for ACRL members who have not previously received ACRL scholarships for attendance at preconferences of the ACRL 12th National Conference.  Publicity will be incorporated into the National Conference materials and will not require an additional publicity expenditure.  The receipt and review of the applications and the awarding of the scholarships will be carried out by the National Conference Innovations and Scholarships Subcommittee, with the assistance of ACRL staff.

Note:  a portion of the $500 will be used to cover the cost of the preconference registration.

Approved the expenditure of up to $3,000 in FY 2005 from the Friends of ACRL Fund to carry out the spirit of the proposal of the ACRL International Relations Committee (IRC), dated June 27, 2004, to act on ACRL’s cross-border agreements with CONPAB and CACUL and to bring one academic librarian from Canada and one academic librarian from Mexico to participate in ACRL’s 12th National Conference, in 2005, in Minneapolis.  The selection of the awardees will be made by the ACRL IRC and reported to the Board.

The $3,000 for this activity will be funded by allocating the approximately $2,000 that have accumulated in the Global Connections Fund category and drawing the remainder from the undesignated category.

Approved changes to ACRL’s ALA Annual Conference program funding, effective FY 2006:
• Increased the amount budgeted for annual conference program funding to $20,000.
• Increased the maximum amount for a speaker honorarium to $1,000.
• Eliminated the limit for section contribution from basic services for programs at ALA Annual Conference.

Goal Area:  Leadership—ACRL members achieve recognition as leaders and advocates for academic and research libraries.

Approved a resolution honoring the late Charles Beard, an esteemed, long-time ACRL member.

Approved the nominations of the following members to represent ALA on IFLA standing committees: Billie Joy Reinhart for Science and Technology, Edward Teague for Art Libraries, Barbara Paulson for Rare and Precious Books and Manuscripts, and Lynne Rudasill for Social Science Librarians.

Renamed the Spectrum Scholar Mentor Committee the ACRL Dr. E. J. Josey Spectrum Scholar Mentor Committee.

^{ACRL Board 2004–2005 (l to r): (back) Nancy Allen, Lynne King,
Patricia A. Kreitz, Dorothy Washington, Pamela Snelson, Lori Goetsch,
Susan Allen, W. Bede Mitchell; (front) Elaine Didier, Frances Maloy, Camila Alire,
Mary Ellen Davis. Not shown: Tyrone Cannon, Rita Jones.}

Strategic Area:  The association
Approved the ACRL Board of Directors meeting minutes from the 2004 Midwinter meeting.

Approved a new Association of College and Research Libraries Strategic Plan.

Approved dissolution of the Research Discussion Group due to inactivity per Article XVII, Section 4 of the ACRL Bylaws.

Goal Area:  Sustainability—ACRL will have the fiscal resources, staff expertise, and organizational structure to advance the association’s strategic plan.

Approved the FY 2005 budget.

Approved a resolution stating the Board’s intention to propose an increase in ACRL’s dues at Midwinter 2005 as well as establishing a new dues category for students and retirees. The resolution states:

“Whereas in its review of the fiscal health of the Association, the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee recommended to the Board that the Board consider a dues increase. Key factors leading to this recommendation include:
• ACRL’s ad revenues, a significant portion of the association’s revenues, have dropped dramatically.
• The dues of the organization have not increased since 1990/1. 
• ACRL has the lowest dues of any ALA divisions and is the only division that provides two publications as a perquisite of membership.
• In ACRL, the cost of providing basic member services is $75/member/year.
• Overall, expenses are going up and revenues are going down, with the result that the association is rapidly spending down its operating reserve. 
• The association needs additional revenues to forward the strategic plan.

Be it resolved, that the ACRL Board inform the ACRL membership of its intention to propose, at the January 2005 Midwinter Meeting, the adoption of the following resolution:

“Be it resolved, that the ACRL Board propose to the ACRL membership that the annual dues for personal members shall be set at $55, except that the annual dues for personal members who are full-time students or retirees shall be set at $35.”

If the Board approves this resolution at the Midwinter 2005 meeting, it would then go to the full membership for a vote with the spring ballot.

Established a Dues Increase Communication Task Force to plan and execute a communications strategy that carefully and thoughtfully educates the membership and solicits feedback on the importance of a dues increase.

Approved an editorial change to the ACRL Bylaws to bring them into compliance with the ALA Bylaws and Procedures allowing electronic voting by the general membership.

Approved a proposed revision of SEES Bylaws, eliminating the elected position of Member-at-Large for placement on the Spring 2005 ballot.

Approved revisions to ACRL's IFLA appointment guidelines.

Approved an extension of the Virtual Meetings Task Force for them to complete a tip sheet for members’ use. A draft is expected to be available for review and comment by October 1, 2004.

Approved the Long-Term Investment Fund Task Force’s proposal that ACRL begin spending the net interest earned from the Long-Term Investment Fund in FY 2005. The interest will be spent on strategic initiatives to be identified by the Board. A one-year extension of the task force was also approved to allow the task force to complete its work.