Home ACRL Board of Directors actions January 2005

ACRL Board of Directors' actions, January 2005: Highlights of the Boards Midwinter meetings

C&RL News, March 2005
Vol. 66, No. 3

During the 2005 ALA Midwinter Meetng in Boston, the ACRL Board of Directors met on January 16 and 18 and took a number of actions to further the work of the association. These actions are listed below according to how they support ACRL’s new strategic plan.

Of particular interest to readers may be the Board’s support of the Task Force on National Advocacy report, which focuses on the implementation of a coordinated system of response by ACRL to deal with proposed or current legislative and information policy at the federal and state level.  Also be sure to read about the Board’s vote to place a dues increase on the spring 2005 ballot to enhance the association’s sustainabilty. Details about this decision may be found on pages 179–187.

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

Approved a revision of the “Guidelines for Borrowing and Lending Special Collections Materials for Exhibition.”
Approved the creation of the Resources for College Libraries Editorial Board. The editorial board is charged to serve in an advisory capacity to CHOICE staff regarding Resources for College Libraries editorial policy matters.

Approved the proposed ACRL legislative agenda for 2005 as submitted by the ACRL Government Relations Committee.

Accepted the final report of the ACRL National Advocacy Task Force. In order to implement this plan of action to improve legislative advocacy efforts within ACRL, the Board has taken these actions:

1. Committed to the principles and activities of legislative advocacy outlined in this Plan, including those that affect the ACRL Board.

2. Charged the ACRL office and appropriate staff to implement the plan, including the establishment of the new volunteer position of Legislative Advocate as defined in the task force’s report and the employment of a Government Relations/Scholarly Communications Specialist with the job responsibilities as summarized in the plan.

3. Appropriate funding will be provided in the FY06 ACRL Budget, as determined by the ACRL office, to implement the plan successfully.

4. The effectiveness of the plan will be assessed on a regular basis as suggested in the plan.
The charge of the Government Relations Committee is modified to add responsibility for seeking input from relevant ACRL units in the formulation of the Legislative Agenda as well as monitoring the Legislative Advocacy Plan. The charges of the Copyright and Scholarly Communications Committees are modified to ask them to offer the Government Relations Committee formal input regarding the development of the annual ACRL Legislative Agenda.

Approved complimentary registration to the ACRL 12th National Conference in Minneapolis, April 7-10, 2005, for up to two non-librarian senior academic officers from institutions in the state of Minnesota.

Approved a proposal to provide $5,000 in funding to support the three planned Council of Independent Colleges “Transformation of the Library” Workshops to be held in the ALA/ACRL budget year from September 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006.

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 to allow the Council to continue its important work with other organizations and give the ACRL Board time to assess the Council of Liaisons program. The Board has asked the Executive Committee to work with the Council to draft policies, procedures, and criteria for identifying and selecting organizations with which to establish liaisons and for selecting the individuals to represent ACRL.

Approved the proposed workshop, “Getting to Yes: The Dynamics of Job Negotiations for the Academic Library Appointment,” to be held on January 20, 2006, at the 2006 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

Approved the use of up to $4,455 of Friends of ACRL funds in FY 2004-05 to provide 27 scholarships to the first Virtual National Conference for ACRL international members.

Approved the ACRL Board of Directors meeting minutes from the 2004 Annual Conference.

Confirmed the Board of Directors’ e-mail vote amending the 2005 Choice budget to increase the amount transferred into the Choice Long-Term Investment Fund from $25,000 to $49,999, the maximum amount permitted without two years’ prior notice and BARC approval.

Approved a change to the Standards and Accreditation Committee charge specifying that SAC is responsible for recommending to the ACRL Board the acceptability of proposed translations of standards, guidelines, and related documents into languages other than English.

Eliminated the Standards and Accreditation Policies and Procedures Manual with the direction that the Standards and Accreditation Committee and ACRL staff are to merge it with the appropriate chapter of the ACRL Guide to Policies and Procedures.

Approved the following resolution to change the dues amount for personal members of ACRL; this resolution will appear on the spring 2005 ACRL ballot:

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 (this dues increase was approved by membership on the 1989 ballot).

• 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 establish the annual membership dues as follows, subject to subsequent approval by the ACRL membership as required under the ACRL bylaws:

• Annual dues for personal members shall be set at $45 for one year (2006) and $55 thereafter, except that the annual dues for personal members who are full-time students or retirees shall be set at $35.

Approved an increase in the ACRL Organizational Member dues to $110.00 in the next membership renewal cycle, FY06.