ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


October 1 9 9 3 /5 1 9

ACRL wants you!

ACRL seeks volunteers fo r  sections, 
committees, a n d  editorial boards

A re you interested in contributing to ACRL?
There are opportunities for your involve­

m ent in ACRE sections, standing committees, 
and editorial boards. ACRL needs your su p ­
port to act best on the interests of its members. 
ACRL dep en d s on m em bers to volunteer for 
and serve on committees to accomplish its goals 
and objectives. With over 30 standing commit­
tees and ló5 section committees there are lots 
of opportunities for serving ACRL. This article 
gives you a brief description of h o w  the ACRL 
appointm ent process works.

Appointm ents: The process
Appointments are m ade at both the section and 
division levels. The ACRL president is respon­
sible for the comm ittee appointm ents at the 
division level for the year he or she serves as 
president. Likewise, section chairs are respon­
sible for committee appointm ents in their re­
spective sections the year they serve as chair. 
Committee slates are usually com pleted shortly 
after the Midwinter Meeting during the year in 
which the individual serves as president-elect 
o r chair-elect. T he ACRL A p p o in tm e n ts & 
Nominations Committee assists the president­
elect in this process in an advisory capacity.

Factors influencing a p p o in tm en t
Although the em phasis in the appointm ent may 
vary from year to year according to the pre­
rogatives of the president and section chairs, 
the same factors are considered. They include:

•  E v id e n c e  o f  p o t e n t i a l  c o m m it t e e  
m em b e r ’s interest: Have you attended the 
meetings and introduced yourself to the chair? 
Do you have previous experience that relates 
to the w ork of the committee? Have you indi­
cated your interest on  the application?

•  D e m o g r a p h ic s  a n d  c o m p o s it io n  o f  
com m ittee: W hen making appointm ents an

effort is m ade to keep the m em bership of a 
comm ittee balanced with respect to type of li­
brary (com m unity college, college, or univer­
sity), geographic representation, ethnic diver­
sity, a n d  gender. In addition, som e committees 
have special requirem ents. For example, one 
m em ber of the Professional Education Com­
mittee m ust be a library educator; the Mem­
bership and Legislative Committees have strict 
regional representation requirem ents.

•  T he r e c o m m e n d a tio n  o f  th e  cu rren t 
c o m m itte e  chair: Current com m ittee chairs 
are asked to suggest potential mem bers. Al­
tho u g h  all of these factors are considered, the 
final a p p o in tm e n t is the prerogative of the 
ACRL p resident-elect a n d  the section chair- 
elects.

H o w  to a p p ly
1. S elect th e  c o m m itte e s  th a t in te r e s t 

yo u . The ALA H andbook o f  O rganization lists 
all of ACRL’s committees and their charges. (ALA 
m em bers may obtain a free copy of the hand­
b ook by calling (800) 545-2433, ext. 4287.) 
Attend the com m ittee’s meetings at the Mid­
w inter Meeting and Annual Conference to help 
you decide if those are the activities that inter­
est you.

2. In trod u ce y o u r se lf. Talk with commit­
tee mem bers. Express your interest to the com ­
m ittee chair. Explain how  you might contrib­
ute to the w ork of the committee.

3. Subm it a v o lu n te e r  form . Complete the 
volunteer form that is printed each year in a 
fall issue of C&RL News (or request one from 
the C&RL News office). Be sure to cover all of 
the items asked for in background information. 
If you have attended committee meetings or 
programs, m ention that. Fill out one form for 
ACRL division comm ittees and a different form 
for each ACRL section you w ant to volunteer 
for. Send the division volunteer form to Suzanne 
H. Calpestri at the address on the bottom  of 
the volunteer form; send the section volunteer 
forms to the appropriate section chair-elects at 
the addresses given elsew here in this article.

Ed. note: The ideas in this article are based on the work o f  the 1991-92 Appointments & Nominations 
Committee chaired by Marion Reid a n d  on the article by Pat Rom, C&RL News, October 1990, pp. 885-86.



5 2 0 /C& RL News

4. V o lu n teer again  . . . a n d  again. If you
are not successful in being a p p o in ted  one year, 
volunteer again the next year . . . a n d  the next. 
Rem em ber that a m ultitude of factors— n u m ­
b e r o f a p p o in tm en ts m ade, n u m b e r of v o lu n ­
teers for ea ch  com m ittee, n u m b e r of v o lu n ­
teers from your type of library or your geographic 
area— determ ine the actual appointm ent, and 
these factors change from year to year.

C o m m o n ly a s k e d  questions
1. W hat is t h e  r o le  o f  a n  in te r n  o n  a 

c o m m itt e e  a n d  s h o u ld  I s a y  th a t I a m  w i l l ­
in g  to  b e  on e? Internships w ere cre a te d  to 
e x p a n d  the op p o rtu n ities for participation in 
ACRL. T he only difference b e tw e e n  an intern 
a n d  a regular a p p o in tm e n t is th e term  of ser­
vice. Interns m ay only serve for o n e  year.

2. If I am  a p p o in te d  as a n  in te r n  w ill I 
au to m a tica lly  b e  a p p o in te d  to  th e  c o m m it­
tee? Not necessarily. The p u rp o se  of th e in­
tern sh ip  is to ex p o se  m em bers to th e w o rk  of 
ACRL. Serving as an intern can be a positive 
learning e x p e rien c e  th at can b e  a p p lie d  to 
o th er w o rk  of th e organization. A ppointm ents 
are still th e prerogative o f the president-elect 
or section chair-elects a n d  rea p p o in tm e n t is 
n o t autom atic.

3. W hat are m y  c h a n c e s  o f  b e in g  r e a p ­
p o in te d  o n c e  I a m  se r v in g  o n  a c o m m it­
tee? It varies. Committees n e e d  b o th  continu­
ity  a n d  n e w  i d e a s  a n d  e n e r g y . S o m e  
president-elects o p t for very few  re a p p o in t­
m ents because o f a desire for w ider participa­
tion and greater diversity. Sometimes there is a 
n e e d  for specific projects to b e  finished a n d  
continuity is im portant.

4. S h o u ld  I give u p  i f  I a m  n o t  a p p o in te d  
th e  fir st tim e  I su b m it a v o lu n te e r  form ? 
Absolutely not. Rem em ber there are often m ore 
p eo p le willing to serve than there are places. 
K eep subm itting your forms. A high percen t­
age of m em bers w h o  subm it form s are a p ­
p o in ted  to a committee.

ACRL section ap p o in tm en ts
ACRL has 16 sections (their nam es are listed 
below ). You will find a description of their ar­
eas of responsibility in the ALA H andbook o f  
O rganization, 1993-94.

The chair-elect of a section appoints the chair 
a n d  m em bers of all section comm ittees. Most 
of these appointm ents are m ade in the spring 
for term s beginning im m ediately after the ALA 
Annual Conference. If you w ould like to be

considered for appointm ent as chair or m em ­
b e r of a section com m ittee, fill out the ACRL 
Com m ittee V olunteer Form and mail it to the 
chair-elect of the appropriate section listed b e ­
low  before D ecem ber 15, 1993.

A fro-A m erican  Studies L ibrarian S e c tio n .
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Michael C. Walker, 849 
W. W ythe Street, Petersburg, VA 23803-4007.

A n th r o p o lo g y  a n d  S o c io lo g y  S ection . Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: Margaret R. Dittemore, 8711 
G rant Street, Bethesda, MD 20817.

Arts S e c tio n . Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Lynn B. 
Williams, 254 Creek Nation Drive, Auburn, AL 
36830.

A sian, A frican, a n d  M iddle E astern S ection .
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Brenda E. Bickett, 1201
S. Scott #719, Arlington, VA 22204.

B ib lio g r a p h ic  I n s tr u c t io n  S e c tio n . Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: Katherine A. Branch, Kline 
Science Library, Yale University, 219 Prospect 
Street, N ew Haven, CT 06511.

C o lleg e Libraries S ectio n . Vice-Chair/Chair- 
Elect: Susan McCarthy Campbell, Schmidt Li­
brary, York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA 
17405-7199.

C o m m u n ity  a n d  J u n io r  C o lleg e  Libraries 
S ectio n . Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Susan M. Malt­
ese, 2Ó2-E E ggleston A venue. Elm hurst, IL 
60126.

E d ucation a n d  B eh avioral S cien ces S ection.
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Nancy O ’Brien, 802 S. 
Urbana Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801.

E x te n d e d  C a m p u s L ibrary S e r v ic e s  S ec­
t i o n .  V i c e - C h a i r / C h a i r - E l e c t :  K a t h le e n  
O ’C onnor, Foley Center, G onzaga University, 
East 502 B oone, Spokane, WA 99258.

Law a n d  P o lit ic a l S c ie n c e  S e c tio n . Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: Ronald J. Heckart, IGS Li­
brary, University of California, 109 Moses Hall, 
Berkeley, CA 94720.

Rare B o o k s a n d  M an u scrip ts S ectio n . Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: Lisa M. Browar, T he New 
York Public Library, Room 316, Fifth A venue & 
42nd Street, N ew  York, NY 10018.



October 1993/521

S c ie n c e  a n d  T e c h n o lo g y  S e c tio n . Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: K atharine E. Clark, E2O5 
Pattee Library, Penn State University, Univer­
sity Park, PA 16802.

Slavic a n d  East E u ro p ea n  S e c tio n . Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: Alan P. Pollard, 233 Buena 
Vista Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103-

U n iv e r s ity  L ibraries S e c tio n . V ice-C hair/ 
Chair-Elect: Nancy L. Baker, W ashington State 
University, Pullman, WA 99164-5610.

W estern E uropean Specialist Section. Vice- 
Chair/Chair-Elect: Thomas D. Kilton, University 
of Illinois Library-425, 1408 W. Gregory Drive, 
Urbana, IL 61801.

W o m en ’s Studies Section. Vice-Chair/Chair- 
Elect: Lori A. Goetsch, 935 Sunset Lane, East 
Lansing, MI 48823.

ACRL com m ittee appointm ents
ACRL has about 30 standing com m ittees to 
which appointm ents may be made. These in­
clude: Academic Library Statistics, Academic Sta­
tus, ACRL Academic or Research Librarian of 
the Year Award, Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial 
Award, Audiovisual, Budget and Finance, Con­
stitution and Bylaws, Copyright, Doctoral Dis­
sertation Fellowship, Government Relations, In­
t e r n a t i o n a l  R e la tio n s , S a m u e l L a z e ro w  
Fellowship for Research in Acquisitions or Tech­
nical Services, Membership, MLA Bibliography 
Scope and Overlap, Orientation, Planning, Pro­
fessional Education, Professional Liaison, Pub­
lications, Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Research, 
K. G. Saur Award for Best College a n d  Research 
Libraries Article, and Standards and Accredita­
tion. You will find the committees listed with a 
description of their charges in the ALA H a n d ­
book o f  Organization.

A ppointm ents to ACRL standing com m it­
tees are m ade in the spring for term s beg in ­
ning im m ediately after the ALA Annual Con­
ference. The A ppointm ents and Nom inations 
Committee recom m ends to the president-elect 
of ACRL the nam es of m em bers w h o  might 
fill the vacancies. The president-elect m akes 
the final appointm ents. If you are interested 
in being c onsidered for an appointm ent to an 
ACRL com m ittee, you should com plete the 
ACRL Com m ittee V olunteer Form included in 
this issue of C&RL News and mail it to the 
C hair o f A p p o in tm e n ts  a n d  N o m in atio n s,

Suzanne H. Calpestri, head, C ooperative Ser­
vices, University o f California-Berkeley, Uni­
versity Library, Berkeley, CA 94720; (510) 642- 
3773; e-mail: scalpest@ library.berkeley.edu, 
before D ecem ber 15, 1993-

Editorial boards
ACRL has six editorial boards:

•  the Choice Editorial Board;
•  the College & Research Libraries Editorial 

Board;
•  the College & Research Libraries Afews Edi­

torial Board;
•  the New Publications Editorial Board;
•  the Publications in Librarianship Edito­

rial Board;
•  the Rare Books & M anuscripts Librarian- 

ship Editorial Board.

I f  interested in an appointment 
to an ACRL committee, complete 
the ACRL Committee Volunteer 
Form (see page 522).

A ppointm ents to editorial boards are m ade 
during the spring for term s that begin im m e­
diately after the ALA Annual Conference. The 
editors recom m end the nam e of a p erso n  to 
fill the vacancy. The Publications Committee 
m ust approve the recom m endation, and the 
p resident of ACRL m akes the appointm ent.

If you w ould like to be considered for ap­
pointm ent to an editorial board, contact the 
editor of the editorial board.

Choice Editor: Patricia Sabosik, Choice, 100 
Riverview Center, Middletown, CT 06457.

College & Research Libraries Editor: Glori- 
ana St. Clair, Assistant Dean and H ead of Infor­
m ation Access Services, E5O6 Pattee Library, 
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 
PA 16802.

College & Research Libraries News Editor: 
Mary Ellen Davis, C&RL News, ACRL/ALA, 50 
E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2795.

New Publications Editor: Mary Ellen Davis, 
at the address listed in entry above.

P u b l ic a t io n s  in  L i b r a r ia n s h ip  E d ito r: 
S tephen E. W iberley, Jr., University of Illinois 
at Chicago University Library, Chicago, IL 60680.

Rare Books & M anuscripts Librarianship 
Editor: Sidney E. Berger, University of Cali­
fornia, University Library, P.O. Box 5900, Riv­
erside, CA 92517-5900. ■

mailto:scalpest@library.berkeley.edu


5 2 2 /C& RL News

ACRL VOLUNTEER FORM
ACRL w ould like you to participate in its activities. To volunteer, please com plete the form 
a n d  return it to the appropriate individual.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

O n a separate single sheet of p a p e r briefly sum m arize your background and activities in the 
following areas:

• ALA professional activities;
• ACRL professional activities;
• state and regional offices held and com m ittee appointm ents;
• educational background a n d /o r other professional experience that will assist the 

com m ittee in the appointm ent process;
• publications;
• express your professional concerns and the contribution that you can m ake tow ard 

strengthening ACRL;
• list any other professional organizations to w hich you belong. Please indicate those 

organizations (if any) for w hich you w ould be willing to serve as the ACRL liaison.

Note: M e m b e r s h ip  in ALA a n d  ACRL is  r e q u ir e d . A tte n d a n c e  a t  M id w in te r  M eetin g  a n d  A n n u a l Con­
f e r e n c e  is  r e q u ir e d .

RETURN THIS FORM TO: (Use duplicate forms if you are interested in bo th  a standing commit­
tee and a section appointm ent.)

ACRL S e c tio n  C om m ittees: If you w ould like to serve o n  a section com m ittee, send this form 
to the appropriate vice-chair/chair-elect b e f o r e  D e c e m b e r  1 5 , 1 9 9 3 - You m ust be a m em ­
b e r o f the section to be considered for appointm ent.

S tan d in g C om m ittees: If you are interested in serving on one of the standing committees, 
com plete this form  and return it to: Suzanne H. Calpestri, head, C ooperative Services, 
U niversity o f C alifornia-B erkeley, U niversity Library, B erkeley, CA 94720; (510) 642- 
3773; fax: (510) 642-9293e-mail: scalpest@ library.berkeley.edu. Forms m ust be returned 
by D e c e m b e r  1 5 , 1 9 9 3 , for you to b e  considered for appointm ent.

mailto:scalpest@library.berkeley.edu


October 1993/523