ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


M arch 1983 / 79

The View from HQ

D on n a H arlan 
D epu ty E x ecu tiv e D irecto r

T a k in g  leave for on e year from  my university li­
brary to com e to A C R L  as deputy executive d irec­
to r has expanded som e horizons I had only viewed 
dim ly and m any th a t I 
never dream ed existed.
W h a t does a deputy ex­
e c u t i v e  d i r e c t o r  d o ?
H ow would I be spend­
ing m y day? W h o  w ould 
I b e  w o r k in g  w it h ?
T hese are norm al ques­
tions th a t anyone m ight 
reasonably ask about a 
new jo b .

P ro b a b ly  the most ex­
c itin g , b ew ild erin g, and 
ch allen gin g tim e to w alk 

D on n a H arlaninto A L A  is, as I did, ju st 
b efore th e results of a n ­
nual elections are announced. E lectio n s are always 
excitin g to people ru nn in g in them  and som etim es 
to  th e  p eo p le w h o  w ill b e w o rk in g  w ith  th ose 
elected. T h e  A LA  sta ff cycle o f a ctivity takes o ff by 
n otifyin g th e w inners and o utlin in g for them  the 
responsibilities o f th eir offices.

T his is also th e tim e o f year w hen th e new roster 
is com p iled. In addition to the elected officers th ere 
are th e m any people appointed to A C R L  co m m it­
tees and section co m m ittees, th e A C R L  representa­
tives to ALA and divisional com m ittees, and lia i­
so n s to  o u ts id e  o r g a n i z a t io n s . A ll th e s e  
ap p ointm ents must be recorded w ith institutional 
a ffilia tio n , addresses, and phone n um bers, so th a t 
each and every one can  be reached . In  th e fa ce o f 
recordin g th e m u ltip licity o f activities w e engage 
in , one gains respect fo r th e am ount o f work done 
by our m em bers and the dedication w ith w hich 
they o ffer th eir professional expertise.

C o n cu rren tly w ith this m ountain o f paperw ork, 
rapidly a p p ro ach in g is an equally exciting and de­
m and ing event in th e A CRL/ALA  calend ar. T h e  
A nnual C o n feren ce w ith its program s and all the 
c o m m ittee, section, ch a p ter, and discussion group 
m eetings requires check in g the schedules carefully 
to m ake sure everyone is scheduled as planned, a r­
ra n g in g  for th e  speakers and p h ysical fa c ilitie s , 
m akin g sure the c a terin g  is ru nning sm oothly, and 
so on. T h e  telephone calls to check out last m inute 
arrangem en ts never seem to end. P ackin g the co n ­
feren ce trunks is also occasion for high anxiety. 
W ill w e have w ith us the files and supplies th a t are 
needed to m ake everyone’s work easy and a c cu ­
ra te?  W h a t a re w e fo rg e ttin g  th a t w e c a n ’t get 
a lo n g  w ith o u t?  F o rtu n a te ly  th ere a re  lists from  
previous years to check against so th a t one only has

to allow  for w h atever is new o r unique this year.
E v en  a fter th irty  years o f atten d in g A LA  co n fer­

ences, th e shock o f going to your first co nference as 
a sta ff m em b er is to ta lly  unforeseeable. F o r in­
stan ce, w hen I attended as an ALA  m em b er and I 
had a little  extra tim e I would drop by the exhibits 
to brow se. By th e end o f co nference I had usually 
covered th e aisles and had som e tim e to go back to 
p articu la rly  interestin g exhibits and ask questions 
about new products. As A LA  s ta ff I did n ’t even get 
near th e exhibits.

T h e  A C R L  sta ff is fu lly scheduled to cover as 
m any o f our ow n divisional m eetings as possible, to 
a ct as resource persons w hen ap p ro p riate, and to 
keep up w ith  m em b ersh ip  interests. W e  co lle ct 
questions, problem s, and needs th a t w e brin g back 
to  A C R L  headqu arters for answers and solutions. 
W e  also return w ith th e actions taken by the A C R L  
Board o f D irecto rs, the com m ittees, and th e sec­
tions th a t requ ire s ta ff actio n  to in itiate.

In  addition to these fo rm al m em bership a ctiv i­
ties th ere is th e daily rou tine o f advisory services o f­
fered to the lib ra ry  com m u nity. T h e  types o f advi­
sory questions range from  th e sp ecific (statistics, 
b ib lio g rap h ic in fo rm atio n , e tc .) to th e most gen­
eral.

A C R L  offers a n um ber o f p u blications for sale at 
h eadqu arters. T hese a re m onographs w hich h ave a 
lim ited m arket b u t are o f im p o rtan ce to acad em ic 
or research lib ra ria n s— our guidelines and stan ­
dards, for instance. O rders fo r these p u blications 
are filled from  th e A C R L  o ffice files in response 
both to sp ecific title  requests and requests for gen­
eral info rm atio n .

M em bership p rom otion is handled largely by 
our M em bership C o m m ittee and by the C hap ters 
C ou ncil com posed o f A C R L ’s state and regional 
chap ters. Both o f these groups are very activ e and 
c o n c e rn e d  th a t A C R L  c a n  grow  in to  an even 
stronger o rganization and th at all potential m em ­
bers have th e ch an ce to sh are in our association’s 
benefits. T h is o ffice tries to help by designing and 
p rin tin g m em bership brochures and info rm atio n al 
m aterials w h ich  a re m ad e av ailab le to th e individ­
uals and groups who wish to  use th em . F o r  anyone 
w ho has read this fa r and w ants to help spread the 
w ord, a ca ll or a card  to m e will b rin g you any o f 
the m aterials w e have availab le.

In sum m ary, this has proven to be a stim u lating 
year for m e, w orking w ith v ita l, concerned profes­
sionals w ith m uch to offer th eir colleagues. W h o 
could ask fo r m ore? ■  ■