ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 10 the same records as are needed in the business office. E. All expenditures, oth er than payroll, are ini­ tia ted in th e L earn in g R esou rces Units with p ay m en t m ade only on in voices v erified f o r paym ent by the s t a ff Purchases are initiated by the staff through preparation of purchase order or requisition. In­ stitutional business operations require approval of all invoices by the operating departments. F. To the legal extent p ossible and within the policies o f the B oard o f Trustees, purchases o f m aterials are exem pted fr o m restrictive annual bidding. Materials often are unique items obtainable from a single source. E quivalent prices and speedier service often can be obtained by direct access to the publisher or manufacturer rather than through a single vendor. Satisfactory service requires prompt delivery so that the needs which determined their acquisition might be met; a larger discount might justifiably be rejected if it entails a delay in filling the order. Satisfactory service rendered by a vendor in the past may more than outweigh the confusion and interrup­ tion of service inherent in frequent changes of vendors through annual bidding requirements for learning materials. G. Purchase o f m aterials is based on curricular requirem ents and o th er fa c to rs, and thus made throughout the y ear ra th er than annually o r sem iannually. Expenditures are based on need, availability and practical considerations such as processing time, rather than through fixed sequences which inhibit the functions of the unit. H. L earn in g R esou rces P rogram equ ip m en t is p u rchased through a systems approach. The purchase of any Learning Resources Pro­ gram equipment, like all functions of the Learn­ ing Resources Program, should be carried out through a systems approach based on well- defined institutional and instructional objectives. I. D evelopment o f perform an ce specifications f o r Learning Resources Program equipm ent to be p urchased f o r implementation o f instruction is based on valid criteria. Performance quality, effective design, ease of operation, cost, portability, cost of maintenance and repair, and available service are among the criteria which should be applied to equipment selection. Most important, however, is how the item or items will fit into planning for maintenance and improvement of curriculum programming as set forth in continuous instructional design p lans. Re­ sponsibility for evaluating, selecting and recom­ mending purchase of equipment is that of the Learning Resources staff. J. C oop erativ e purchasing o f m aterials, e q u ip ­ ment, parts, and services should be e ffe c te d w here possible. In an effort to secure the best m aterials, equipment, parts, and services at the lowest cost, cooperative purchasing should be developed with other area institutions. E d ito r ’s Note: The Guidelines will be concluded in the February issue of C&RL News. ■ ■ The View from HQ Hal Espo ACRL Deputy Executive D irector E d itor’s Note: This month s column is continued fr o m the D ecem ber issue in w hich som e o f the duties o f the ACRL Deputy Executive D irector w ere outlined. 4) Management of office administrative func­ tions. Now that the staff numbers nine and one half FT E , there is a great deal of coordination of administrative services required to allow the office to function effectively and efficiently. Nearly 100 pieces of mail are received daily which must be opened, sorted, date stamped and dis­ tributed. This process alone takes over an hour each day. Telephones must be answered. Filing our correspondence from the previous day at times takes over an hour. Though ACRL has just moved into the new ALA Huron Plaza building, we have already nearly outgrown the space ALA has provided. Locating adequate space is an on­ going problem. With the addition of our word processing capabilities has come the respon­ sibilities of making certain that the equipment is used efficiently and that the staff is adequately trained in its operation. Supplies must be requisi­ tioned, maintenance must be arranged and staff schedules kept. The detail of keeping an office functioning smoothly requires a great deal of time and patience. Because we are no longer a two or three person staff, more of my time must be spent coordinating staff and their activities than was the case in the past. 5) Coordination of activities vis á vis ALA. Be­ cause ACRL is an organization within an organi­ zation one must take note of the relationship between 11 the two. ACRL is not simply a 10,000 member association. I f it were, its operation would be less complex than it is. Because ACRL is part of a 35,000 member organization, the divi­ sion’s procedures are a part of the larger ALA picture. ALA’s involvement within ACRL is ex­ tensive and vice versa. Such involvement works to the mutual benefit of both parties, yet in order to maintain the flow of information and services time and energy must be expended coordinating functions. Membership, Subscriptions and Order Department, Conference Arrangements Office, Public Information Office, Reprographics, Data Processing, International Relations, Fiscal Ser­ vices, Administrative Services, other divisions, etc., are all ALA units with which ACRL has an active and mutually beneficial relationship. Coor­ dination of the activities among these offices de­ mands a great deal of time, patience, and political skill. Without its involvement with ALA, how­ ever, ACRL would be less effective in meeting the needs of our members and realizing the goals and objectives adopted by the Board of Directors. 6) Coordination of national conference and section preconferences. ACRL has sponsored at least one precon ference in each of the past twenty-two years. This past summer in San Fran­ cisco three sections held preconferences. Along with the increasing number of preconferences naturally comes an increasing responsibility at headquarters. Making arrangements for adequate hotel sleeping and meeting facilities and meals, handling registration and requests for informa­ tion, assisting the section committee with pro­ gram planning, and paying bills are some of the many functions which the office staff undertakes. Similarly, now that ACRL has begun holding national conferences, headquarters staff has as­ sumed a great deal of the administrative function of budget preparation, exhibit planning, sales promotion, and layout, site selection, contractual negotiations with hotels and suppliers, printing, registration, publicity and promotion, etc. Plan­ ning for a national conference is a five year com­ mitment from the time a site is first located. For both preconferences and national confer­ ences staff coordination is necessary for the pro­ gram planners to be able to arrange for the best program possible. The program committee must be able to feel that it can rely upon the staff to assist in all areas as necessary. Anticipating these unexpected needs and assisting with preparations is an important ongoing staff responsibility. I have outlined some of my major respon­ sibilities. Naturally, I do not perform all of these tasks by myself. I have been assigned a number of staff positions to help carry them out. Yet, as anyone in a managerial position knows, one can spend one’s entire day coordinating the work of others, preparing for and attending meetings, an­ swering telephone inquiries, dealing with per­ sonnel problems, and handling moments of crisis, and on the train home at night feel that none of one’s “own’’ work has been accomplished that day. To be sure, it is both frustrating and excit­ ing. Even if I were the best of writers an article such as this would be unable to identify com­ pletely what I do each day at headquarters. There is no way to fully describe to someone what association work involves. I welcome the opportunity to speak with any and all of you at an ALA meeting to further describe how your as­ sociation works and what role I play in it. I en­ courage you to visit the office to see what is in­ volved in keeping it and the association function­ ing. Finally, I encourage all of you who have ideas of how the executive director and I might better inform the membership of what the office is doing to write, call or approach us at confer­ ence. We need your help in keeping you in­ formed. ■ ■ N.J. BLACK CAUCUS SPONSORS PROGRAMS In May 1981 black librarians in New Jersey or­ ganized as a caucus and adopted the name of The New Jersey Black Librarians Network (NJBLN). Doreitha Madden, outreach services librarian for Trenton State Library and chairperson of ALA’s Black Caucus, met with the membership at that time and formulated Interim Guidelines for Op­ eration. Since then the NJBLN has sponsored two pro­ grams. The first was a membership meeting pro­ gram on October 24 at which a behavioral psy­ chologist, John Cosby, conducted a workshop on “Belief Systems and Time Management’’ at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton. On November 14 an awards/membership luncheon was held at Rutgers University Commons, New Brunswick. Following the theme address (“Black Librarians: A Legacy of Service”), awards for distinguished service to librarianship in New Jersey were pre­ sented to: Dorothy Jones, director of the East Orange Public Library; and Reginald Smith, asso­ ciate director of the New Jerse y C ollege of Medicine and Dentistry Library, Newark. Vivian D. Hewitt, librarian at the Shotwell Li­ brary, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was the keynote speaker for the awards luncheon. For more information on the NJBLN, contact Cheryl McCoy, 50 S. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, NJ 07042; (201) 744-0500. ■■