ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 686 / C&RL News “Cooperative Library Storage: The California Experience” will explore policy, governance, and operational issues faced by the University of Cali­ fornia in implementing the concept of shared re­ mote storage. Program organizer: Claire Bellanti, University of California, Los Angeles. “Educational Reform: Im pact on Academic Li­ braries” will explore the im pact of education re­ form movements on the role and services of the aca­ demic library. Program organizer: L aura Gavrelis Blomquist, Ohio State University. “Libraries in Support of Economic D evelop­ m en t.” Presidents and librarians from a major uni­ versity and a community college will discuss the im portance of an adequate inform ation base to ec­ onomic developm ent activities. Program orga­ nizer: Patricia Senn Breivik, Auraria Library. Special collections “A utom ated F inding Aids for Special Collec­ tions: Item Level Access to the Treasures of the L i­ brary” will focus on the problems of applying com­ puter technology to special collections including the development of online finding aids. Program organizer: Lucy Shelton Caswell, Ohio State Uni­ versity. Technical services “The Art of the Cataloger: Editions and P rint­ ings.” A slide presentation th a t illustrates the intel­ lectual challenge, enjoyment, im portance, and fun of cataloging by examining the decision-making process involved in determ ining the DATE using AACR 2 rules. Program organizer: B arbara K. G aeddert, University of Kansas. “M anaging Approval Plans in Times of Fiscal Restraint” will discuss approval plans, their roles in the im m ediate future and the effect of budget con­ straints. Program organizer: Nancy Gibbs, Au­ burn University. “The Technical Services L ibrarian and Biblio­ graphic Instruction” will focus on the positive qualities a technical services librarian can bring to a bibliographic instruction program . Program or­ ganizer: Sandy L. Folsom, Central Michigan Uni­ versity. ACRL executive summary ALA began its fiscal year on September 1; it’s the m onth when the Jewish New Year is celebrated; schools usually reopen in September; and it’s also the m onth when I celebrate my birthday. So I tend to think of the m onth as a tim e of beginning. Here are some of ACRL’s major activities for September. Professional development We began work on the Historically Black Col­ lege and University libraries humanities project, which is supported by a grant from the National Endow m ent for the Humanities. The workshop is scheduled for February 22-24, 1989, at Paschal’s Motor Hotel and A tlanta University. Invitations have been sent out to all appropriate institutions. The ACRL W estern New York/Ontario C hapter held an excellent program w ith juried, contributed papers on September 26. The author of the w in­ ning paper received a free round trip ticket and registration for the Cincinnati Conference. The authors of all the accepted papers received free reg­ istrations. Enhancing service capability Advisory calls on a variety of topics were h an ­ dled. Some 20 questions were answered, and 350 ACRL standards and guidelines were mailed out to requesters. Strategic management directions This m onth’s hot issue is the drafting of a new “O perating Agreement” between ALA and its divi­ sions. COPES members, several division officers, division executive directors, and ALA m anage­ m ent staff have been involved in preparing for a meeting on November 11-12 in which consensus will be sought on the values of the ALA/divisional relatio n sh ip , th e principles underly in g a new agreement, and the process to be followed to bring it into practice. For the past few months I have been working w ith others on this task. Of course, I cannot predict w h at will happen w hen division spokespeople, COPES and Executive Board members, and other ALA staff actually meet. But I believe the ground­ work now being laid has been undertaken in good faith and w ith great care, and I hope we can move ahead on this issue, which has been in abeyance too long. The closing of the 1988 fiscal year on August 31 m arked the beginning of a huge am ount of work by program and accounting staff to ensure th at fi­ nances have been properly recorded for the year just ended. A summary will appear in next m onth’s C&RL News. On September 16-17 the presidents-elect of each of ALA’s eleven divisions came to headquarters to learn how ALA works, w ho is w ho, w ho does w hat, and to get to know their executive directors and their colleagues in other divisions better. The p ro g ra m , w h ich h a d its genesis in th e W o rld Book/ALA Goal Award project in 1984-85, was a success for the third year in a row. ACRL’s membership has plateaued. We ended the fiscal year w ith 10,170 members, an increase of just over 1.4 % over last year. —JoAn S. Segal.