Registration for ALCTS 50th anniversary celebration now open

Contact: Charles Wilt

ALCTS Executive Director

312-280-5030

cwilt@ala.org

For Immediate Release

January 2, 2007

Registration for ALCTS 50th anniversary celebration now open

(CHICAGO) The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) will host a national conference in celebration of its 50th anniversary themed “Interactive Futures: A National Conference on the Transformation of Library Collections & Technical Services.” Registration is now open for the day and a half conference to be held June 20 to 21 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

The conference will engage attendees in a thought-provoking, open and participatory exchange on the transformation of our work and the profession. Presenters and attendees will collaborate to explore the challenges we face and to develop a vision of the future roles of collections and technical services librarians. Participants will leave with an active agenda for the future.

Conference speakers include Richard Lanham, professor emeritus, UCLA, and author of the “Economics of Attention;” Susan Nutter, vice provost and director of libraries at North Carolina State University; David Lankes, Syracuse University, School of Information Studies, and author of the recent study “Participatory Networks: The Library as Conversation; and Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation, Sirsi/Dynix, whose collected writings are to be published by ALA Editions in early 2007. Registration for ALCTS members is only $250 and includes breakfast, lunch and a reception. For more information, please visit http://www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctslrts50/ALCTS50Conf.htm.

ALCTS will begin accepting proposals for conference poster sessions in February. In keeping with the conference theme, poster session proposals should document a transformative and/or consequential change or innovation in any area of collections and technical services practice: collection development/management, cataloging, acquisitions, preservation, and serials. The poster session may describe a change that has been implemented or may suggest an innovation or change in philosophy or practice.

ALCTS also will host a gala 50th anniversary dinner aboard the luxurious Odyssey III on June 21. Attendees will cruise the Potomac River, enjoying the sites of Washington and Georgetown. Tickets for the dinner are $75, and boarding begins at 6 p.m.

The ALCTS 50th Celebration is made possible in part by generous contributions from our sponsors: OCLC, Innovative Interfaces, EBSCO, Elsevier, Amazon.com, Swets, Preservation Technologies, and individual contributions through the “ALCTS $50 for 50 Years Campaign.”

Individual contributions can be made at a variety of levels by clicking the “50 for 50” icon on the ALCTS Web site. To be a sponsor, visit www.ala.org/alcts50and click “Sponsorships.”

Stay up to date with these and forthcoming ALCTS 50th Anniversary events by going to the ALCTS web site, www.ala.org/alcts.

ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.