Leading Transition . . .
and Saying Farewell

Carlen Ruschoff, ALCTS President

photo credit: ©2000 George Singleton

January 9th, 2001, started out as just another birthday for me. As adults, most of us take birthdays in stride. Many of us approach the day as “another day in which to excel” and move on with the work at hand. That was my plan. With the ALA Midwinter Meeting just around the corner, I had my plate full of last-minute tasks as well as the routine work of the day for the University of Maryland. However, a phone call that afternoon from Karen Muller changed my focus from the immediate tasks at hand to long-term planning. Karen called to tell me that she had decided to accept the position of Librarian and Knowledge Manager within ALA and would be leaving the ALCTS/LAMA Office in early March. I was shocked, speechless, chagrined, and utterly deflated! Karen has led our association for nearly fourteen years. She has been a mover, a shaker, a mentor, and ultimately the historian for our organization. She has been a strong leader for ALCTS and has helped to move our agenda forward. You might even say that sometimes, she had to drag it forward. Those of you who have had the opportunity of working closely with her know how much Karen has contributed to the association and has done so, seemingly effortlessly! Her expertise will most certainly be missed by all of us!

The news of Karen’s departure had a major impact on the business of the ALCTS board at Midwinter. Our counterparts in LAMA decided that their association needed to have its own executive director. After discussing the pros and cons of finding another office partner, the ALCTS board agreed ALCTS also should seek a full-time executive director, rather than share a director with another ALA division. We recognized that this decision might mean that we will have to dip into some of our reserve funds short-term. But, after examining our strategic goals and anticipated income, we agreed that the association should have sufficient monies to support its own staff within a year.

Since the Midwinter Meeting, a new job description for the ALCTS executive director has been written, and an advertisement for the position was posted in February. A search committee that I will chair has been formed, including Bill Robnett (vice president/president-elect of ALCTS); Pamela Bluh (chair of the Fund Raising Committee); Marty Kurth (chair of the Membership Committee); Mary Ghikas of the ALA executive office; and an executive director from one of the other divisions, yet to be named. This group will be reviewing resumes and interviewing applicants for the executive director position in the spring months and we hope to make a selection by the annual conference in June.

The new executive director will work with the ALCTS board to create an office structure that works best for our association. We are in a very good position to make purposeful decisions about the office organization and the staffing levels, because the board already has developed and adopted a five-year strategic plan and has created a framework to strengthen our continuing education program. We have a clear picture, at this point, of what we need in terms of staff skills to support our activities over the next five years.

The transition period from the shared office staff to two single offices is expected to extend from March until September of this year. The ALCTS/LAMA office will remain intact until the beginning of the 2002 fiscal year on September 1, when separate ALCTS and LAMA offices will be established. Charles Wilt will be the acting executive director of both divisions during this period. And, of course, the ALCTS/LAMA staff-Yvonne McLean, Shonda Russell, Andrea Tobias, Elisa Coghlan, and Julie Reese-will continue in their dual capacity, serving both associations until the end of the fiscal year. I must say Karen is leaving us in very good hands with such a strong staff! On behalf of the association I would like to say: Karen, thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For your expertise, your contributions, your leadership, and simply for being there for us, these past fourteen years! You have done an amazing job!

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