CHICAGO - Pamela Bluh, associate director for technical services & administration at the Thurgood Marshall Law Library, University of Maryland School of Law, has been elected president of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), for the 2007-2008 term.
Bluh will become ALCTS president-elect in July 2006 and will assume the ALCTS presidency in July 2007. Nancy Gibbs, head of acquisitions, Duke University Library, ran against Bluh.
"Continuing education in preparing library staff to anticipate, acknowledge, and manage the rapidly changing nature of technical services is vitally important in today's library and will be a focus of my term in office," Bluh said. "Building on ALCTS' successful collaborations and developing a comprehensive Web course curriculum will provide more opportunities for library staff in all types of libraries."
Bluh has been active in ALCTS for many years, most recently as a member of the Planning Committee. During her service as chair of the Fundraising Committee, she was instrumental in establishing the Sage Library Support Staff Grant, which is awarded to library support staff to attend ALA's Annual Conference. Presently, Bluh is completing a term as editor of the ALCTS Papers on Library Technical Services & Collections. She also has served as chair of the Serials Section and several awards juries.
In addition to her committee work, Bluh, together with colleague Cindy Hepfer, was responsible for planning two highly successful ALCTS midwinter symposia on electronic resources. She is again collaborating with Hepfer on "Definitely Digital" a midwinter symposium to be held in conjunction with ALA Midwinter in January 2007 in Seattle, the initial event in ALCTS 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Bluh has published articles on a variety of topics ranging from inventory control to open access. Recently, she collaborated on the publication of "Managing Electronic Resources: Contemporary Problems and Emerging Issues," with Cindy Hepfer. She was the recipient of the 2004 Bowker-Ulrich's Serials Librarianship Award and an ALCTS Presidential Citation for outstanding service to ALCTS.
Bluh received her bachelor's degree in English from Vanderbilt University, a master's degree in German from Northwestern University and her MLS from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn.
The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services provides leadership to the library and information communities in developing principles, standards, and best practices for creating, collecting, organizing, delivering, and preserving information resources in all forms. It provides this leadership through its members by fostering educational, research, and professional service opportunities.
| Bluh elected ALCTS president for 2007-2008 |