ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 319 walls. Everyone is familiar with the graffiti that grows like a fungus on public rest room walls. That it bloomed as fast and as virulently as it has in the new stack addition is discouraging and sur­ prising. What is it in human nature that must foul a place it inhabits before it feels comfortable in it? It is the side of humans brought to vivid life by the orcs in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord o f the Rings— those beings who scarred and destroyed every­ thing they touched, who could be tracked across the countryside by the detritus and filth and bro­ ken things they left in a broad trail behind them. Will the people who write in library books and cut the pages or steal the signs be the same ones who leave their beer cans and potato chip bags in Grand Teton National Park? This orcishness of human beings is an expen­ sive problem to the library, the solution for which the library is still searching. W hatever steps are taken to protect the library buildings, furnishings, and collections, it appears that more vigilance will be required, more of a public rela­ tions effort will be necessary, and that penalties for culprits will need to be strictly enforced. It is also undoubtedly true that an indignant, angry faculty and student body will be the libraries’ best allies in the fight against the enem ies of books. 1Clyde Hendrick & Marjorie Murfin, “Project Library Ripoffi A Study of Periodical Mutilation in a University Library,” College & Research Li­ braries 35 (1974): 402-11. See also Dana Weiss, “Book Theft and Book Mutilation in a Large Urban University Library,” College I? Research Libraries, 42 (1981): 341-47. Editor’s Note: This contribution originally ap­ peared in the May, 1981, issue o f Library Notes, published by the University o f North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill. The View from HQ C. B rigid Welch ACRL Program Officer Editors Note: Written in response to membership requests, this column features news from ACRL headquarters and discusses features o f the office’s operations. In 1980 and 1981 ACRL initiated two new pro­ grams in continuing education and bibliographic instruction. This column summarizes the direc­ tion th ese program s have taken and the plans for th e ir fu tu re developm ent, and will point out several ways in which members may become involved. Continuing education courses at the ALA An­ nual Conference in San Francisco and at the ACRL National Confer­ ence in Minneapolis are am ong th e first steps toward establishment of C. B rigid Welch the long-range program of continuing education mandated by the ACRL Board of Directors in June 1979. The program’s goal is to provide quality continuing education at a reasonable cost to ACRL members. Short, concentrated courses will include topics from the following five subject areas: manage­ m ent, library skills, technology u p d ate, the academ ic en v iro n m en t, and professional d e ­ velopment. These short courses (one to two days in length) will feature an intensive treatment of a particular topic, thus enabling the participants to gain more than an overview of the subject. In order to facilitate and enhance the educational experience of the participants, courses will build upon one another, enrollment will be kept low (35 registrants maximum), and specific levels of background and experience will be required. A proven means of providing quality, cost- effective continuing education, the Medical Li­ brary Association’s continuing education program has been adopted as ACRL’s model. The ACRL continuing education program will utilize, like MLA’s program , stan d ard ized instructional materials—course outlines and exercises, syllabi, bibliographies—for each course. ACRL will con­ tract with qualified course designers to develop the instructional materials; a network of instruc­ tors at the national and regional level will be asked to teach the courses. This approach reduces the design costs frequently incurred with each continuing education course offering and at the same tim e increases th e accessibility of the courses to ACRL members. C u rren t work on th e continuing education program s development includes identification of qualified course designers as well as instructors from the academic library and information science community. Planning is underway for courses to be offered prior to the ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Proposed topics include writing 320 and publishing the journal article, maps in librar­ ies, bibliographic instruction teaching methods, academic library consulting p ro ced u res, and group skills—to name only a few. Response to the continuing education courses in San Francisco and Minneapolis indicates a strong membership interest in the ACRL continu­ ing education program. Members with sugges­ tions for courses, possible course designers, and/or instructors are urged to contact C. Brigid Welch at ACRL Headquarters or any member of the ACRL C ontinuing Education Com mittee. Chapters wishing to work with ACRL in a pilot project aimed at offering these courses on the re­ gional level in the spring of 1982 are also urged to contact ACRL. In 1980 The ACRL Board of D irectors ap­ proved funding for a two and one half-year proj­ ect to provide information concerning academic librarianship to organizations and individuals in­ volved with higher education through the de­ velopm ent of channels of communication with professional and higher education associations. The result of this action was the establishment of the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Liaison Proj­ ect. Based upon the promotion of bibliographic in­ struction as a basic library service, the project is an answer to members’ perception of a critical need for faculty and administrators to understand bibliographic instruction and its relation to the mission of higher education. In addition to pro­ moting bibliographic instruction among these or­ ganizations and associations, the project helps members coordinate activities directly related to the furtherance of bibliographic instruction as a basic library service. Since annual meetings and conferences provide the best opportunity for communication with the greatest number of individuals, a primary objec­ tive of the project is assistance in planning and executing bibliographic instruction related pro­ grams at these conferences. These programs will feature librarians and faculty members involved in successful bibliographic instruction programs at academic institutions around the U.S. The project has decided upon the following as target organizations: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association for Higher Education, American Council on Edu­ cation, American Federation of Arts, American Historical Association, American Political Science Association, American Psychological Association, American Society for Ethnohistory, Modern Lan­ guage Association, and the American Sociological Association. ACRL member involvement in these associations was a strong factor in their selection as target groups. The success of the project depends upon the cooperation of library and faculty involved in bib­ liographic instruction programs and in the associ­ ations selected. Individual names will be com­ piled in a resource list, and they will be con­ tacted for participation in programming efforts. In teres ted m em bers are urged to contact C. Brigid Welch at ACRL or any member of the ACRL BIS Cooperation Committee. ESTHER J. PIERCY AWARD NOMINATIONS INVITED The Esther J. Piercy Jury Awards Committee of ALA/RTSD is now accepting nominations for the 1982 award. The candidates for the award may be nomi­ nated by anyone who is well acquainted with the candidate’s contribution to librarianship in the field of technical services. The award will be given to a librarian with not more than ten years of professional experience who has shown out­ standing promise for continued contribution and leadership in technical services by professional activity, innovation, publication, or research. The jury selection of the award winner will be based on the documentation subm itted by the nominator. Nomination forms should be submit­ ted not later than December 15, 1981. Forms are available from Julieann V. Nilson, Head, Automated Processing D ep’t, University Library, Bloomington, IN 47405. Take Your Pick New The Publications Association from of College ACRL and Research Libraries Libraries and Accreditation in ACRL University Libraries Institutions of Higher Education: Statistics 1 9 7 8 -7 9 : A Compilation Proceedings of an invitational of Statistics from Ninety-eight Non-ARL conference sponsored by ACRL and University Libraries. the Council on Postsecondary 1980. 47 pp. Accreditation, June 26-28, 1980. ACRL Members: $5 Julie Carroll Virgo and David Alan Yuro, Nonmembers: $7.50 eds. 176 pp. 1981. ACRL Members: $14.95 Petals Around a Rose: Abstract Nonmembers: $18.95 Reasoning and Bibliographic Instruction. 1981. 23 pp. Paper CLIP Note #2-81: Collection presented in the program “Learning Development Policies. 1981. 131 pp. Theory in Action: Applications in Prepared by the ACRL College Bibliographic Instruction” sponsored Libraries Section’s C.E. Committee. by the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Information collected relating to and Community and Junior College collection development policies in Libraries Sections’ Instruction and academic libraries. Use Committees. ACRL Members: $8.75 ACRL Members: $4 Nonmembers: $11.50 Nonmembers: $5 Slavic Ethnic Libraries, Museums Academic Status Survey. 1981. and Archives in the United States: 340 pp. Results of an ACRL 100 A Guide and Directory. Libraries Project survey of academic 1980. 164 pp. Compiled by status policies in academic and Lubomyr Wynar. research libraries. ACRL Members: $14 ACRL Members: $12 Nonmembers: $17.50 Nonmembers: $17 Order the above recent publications or other materials published by ACRL on academic and research librarianship, including standards and guidelines, policy statements on faculty status and governance, manuscripts and archives, collection development, continuing education, bibliographic instruction, and staff develop­ ment. Write for a complete list of materials available. Prepayment required.