ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 414 / C &R L News A C R L P re s id e n t’s re p o rt By Jo a n n e R . E u ster A C R L ’s 49th President A C R L ’s past year in perspective. E nergetic, creative, fruitful: these are the words which characterize A C R L ’s 49th year. It was a year which saw many “firsts.” Among the high­ lights: •O ur first overseas conference, “Shared Re­ sources, Shared Respon­ sibilities,” was held in F lo r e n c e , I t a ly , in April, organized by the Western European Spe­ cia lists S e c tio n and chaired by Assunta Pi- sani. • W e h av e c o n ­ tracted with Nancy Van House to develop an out­ Jo a n n e R. Eusterput m easures m a n u a l for academ ic libraries. This extensive project was developed by the ad hoc committee on Performance Measures for Academic Libraries chaired by Virginia Tiefel, and will be completed in 1989. •A very successful workshop for Historically Black Colleges and Universities was conducted in October with support from the Mellon Founda­ tion, under the chairmanship of Beverly Lynch. F u r th e r w orkshops and o th e r a c tiv itie s are planned. •A nationw ide teleconference on C D -R O M technology was presented in April, cosponsored by the Community and Junior College Libraries Sec­ tion, and AECT/CCA IT. •A new award, sponsored by A C R L, LAMA, L IT A, and R T S D , was established to honor the life and accomplishments of Hugh C. Atkinson. The 1988 recipient was Richard M. Dougherty. •A new award, sponsored by K .G . Saur for the best article of the year appearing in C olleg e an d R esearch L ib r a rie s , was presented to Robert Boice, Jordan Scepanski and W ayne Wilson for “L ib rari­ ans and Faculty Members: Coping with Pressures to Publish.” •Following up on adoption of the Strategic Plan in June 1986, the first annual Operating Plan, de­ veloped by executive director JoAn Segal and the Planning Committee, chaired by Carolyn Dusen- bury, was approved, as well as the planning cycle and calendar for succeeding years. •In order to bring programmatic and budget­ ary planning together, a Five-year Financial Plan is being developed by the Budget and Finance Committee, chaired by Patricia W and. Fostering creativity and innovation This was the first time to my knowledge and in re cen t m em ory th a t th e A C R L P resid en t a n ­ nounced a theme for the year. “Fostering Creativ­ ity and Innovation,” was announced in C &R L and in C &R L N ew s, followed by a new column in the N ew s, titled “Innovations,” which sparked submis­ sions from m em bers and w ill be a continuing column. During the year, I focused on creative leadership in my visits and talks to chapters. At Midwinter, A C R L Board leadership development was expanded to a half day of presentations, group discussion and learning exercises designed and pre­ sented by fellow Board members. As the conclud­ ing event of the year, my President’s program “C re­ ativity in the W orkplace: From Conception to July /August 1988 / 415 Application,” featured Scott Isaksen, director of the Center for Studies in Creativity in Buffalo, New York, as keynote speaker, and Susan Jurow, program officer for training of the Association of Research L ibraries’ O ffice of M anagement Ser­ vices, who led the group in creative problem ­ solving techniques. New initiatives W hile the bulk of the work of A CRL is carried out by the sections and standing committees, ad hoc committees and task forces are the means for prom pt response to short term and im m ediate needs which are not covered by standing groups. This year a number of such groups were appointed: •The Task Force on Awards is considering an overall awards philosophy for ACRL and a future “awards agenda.” Joan Chambers chairs the task force. •The Task Force on Extended Campus Library Service Guidelines will develop appropriate guide­ lines, and is chaired by Mary Joyce Pickett. • The Task Force on A C RL and Social Responsi­ bility, chaired by Karyle Butcher, will make rec­ ommendations for any needed changes in the Stra­ tegic Plan related to social issues. • T h e Task F o rc e on Professional E th ic s is charged to consider and make recommendations for Association action. The chair is Doug Stewart. •The ad hoc Faculty Workshops Committee, chaired by Sharon Rogers, along with members of AAUP, is working with representatives of other higher ed u cation associations to plan a jo in t librarian-facuity workshop. •The National Conference Executive Com mit­ tee is hard at work planning the 1989 A CRL Na­ tional Conference in Cincinnati, which will cele­ brate 100 years since the founding of the College L ibrary Section of ALA and 50 years since the founding of both ACRL and C ollege an d R esearch Libraries. Martha Alexander Bowman and Evan Ira F arber are co-chairs. Values and investments As I rep orted at th e end of 1 9 8 7 , m any of A C R L ’s recent activities have focused on questions of values. Nowhere are values more concretely ex­ pressed than in how an organization allocates its resources, as we know all too well from our own li­ braries! A C RL has for several years had the goal of a reserve fund equalling 50 % of the annual operat­ ing budget (exclusive of C h oice). This reserve, the so-called “fund balance,” has reached its goal, and has enabled ACRL to make m ajor investments in significant large-scale p rojects. Prep aration of B ooks f o r C ollege L ibraries, third edition, has been supported in this way, for example. The Output M easu res M an u al f o r A c a d e m ic L ib r a r ie s , ap­ proved at Midwinter, is being similarly funded. At M idw inter the Board approved an additional $20,000 for Special Grants to sections, committees, and chapters for one-time projects not included in regular budgets, and adopted guidelines for pro­ posals drawn up by a special committee chaired by Bob Carmack. By means of this sort of management of A C R L ’s financial resources, we are able to support pro­ grams and projects which are beyond the scope of the annual budget, and which are indeed invest­ ments in the future w ell-being of academic li­ braries. Standards and guidelines The values of a profession are also expressed in the standards which the members set for them­ selves and for the conduct of the profession. ACRL standards and guidelines which received final ap­ proval by both A C R L and the ALA Standards Committee during 1987-88: •Guidelines on the Selection of General Collec­ tion Materials for Transfer to Special Collections. •Mission of a University Undergraduate L i­ brary: Model Statement. •Guidelines for Audiovisual Services in Aca­ demic Libraries. •Guidelines Regarding Thefts in Libraries. In addition, the University Library Standards, developed in cooperation with the Association of Research Libraries, was ready for comment at an open hearing at the New Orleans Annual Confer­ ence. The Academic Status Committee also held hearings during the New Orleans Conference on Guidelines for Academic Status for College and University Librarians and on the Statement on the Certification and Licensing of Librarians. Just as much of ALA’s program is the sum of the programs and activities of its component parts, so A C R L ’s accomplishments depend heavily on the ideas, efforts and dedication of committees, sec­ tions, discussion groups, and chapters. A complete report of all of their activities is beyond the scope of this b rief summary. C o lle g e a n d R e s ea r c h L i ­ braries News chronicles the month-by-month plans and accom plishm ents of A C R L units, and the growing size of the News is testimony to the vitality of our association and the deep involvement of the membership in it. The last two years as President-elect and Presi­ dent, coinciding as they have with my transplanta­ tion to the East coast and Rutgers University, have been exciting, provocative and fruitful. I am grate­ ful for the opportunities, experiences and satisfac­ tions which have come from working with so many competent and dedicated members, committees, sections and chapters, our outstanding Board of Directors, and our superior central staff. I am looking forward to turning the Presidential responsibilities over to Joseph C. Boissé, who I know will lead A CRL well, and assuming the tra­ ditional past president’s role of organizational memory and conscience!