annrpt20.indd ANNUAL REPORT2019–2020 Sheena Philogene Isabel Soto-Luna Samatha Harlow Sara Belasco Hytham Dali John D. Brdecka Participants Chat Share Screen Record 6 LEAVE report cvr20.indd 1report cvr20.indd 1 11/11/2020 12:04:41 PM11/11/2020 12:04:41 PM C&RL News December 2020 560 Karen Munro ACRL’s 81st President I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as ACRL president in 2019-2020. I want to thank everyone who participated in the work of the association during this year, including the Board of Directors, staff, and members who contributed at all levels. ACRL is truly an association powered by its thousands of energetic, talented, and passionate members. This has been a year of rapid and sometimes challenging change, both for ACRL and for the world. Within our association, I’m proud of the proactive and thoughtful way in which ACRL members have participated in planning for ALA’s revised governance and financial structure. ACRL is a key division of ALA, and our input is important to ensuring that our shared future is bright and sustainable. In addition to the many organizational changes underway at ALA, 2020 saw a significant personnel change at ACRL with the retirement of Mary Ellen Davis as executive director, after nearly 20 years in the role. It was a highlight of my career to have had the opportunity to learn from Mary Ellen, who led ACRL to become such a thriving organization. As painful incidents of racist violence have rocked North America, ACRL has continued our ongoing work to address systemic racism in our own organization. The Core Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in our strategic plan has ensured that members all across the association re-evaluate their work through this lens. The demographic data we now collect about our volunteer appointments process will help us to know where we need to do better going forward. ACRL members of sections, committees, interest groups, and discussion groups have drafted working plans with anti-racist outcomes throughout the association. Of course, the spring of this year brought an unprecedented change to our professional and personal lives, as we grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m proud of ACRL’s advocacy for maintaining library worker salaries and health benefits as buildings closed, and of the resources that ACRL provided to help library workers turn to remote work and services. While the pandemic continues, I feel sure that ACRL will continue to find ways to support academic library workers’ needs. I was also pleased to participate in many core ACRL programs this year. The annual recognition of the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year is a true highlight, and it was my pleasure as well to announce the Excellence in Academic Libraries awards. The 2020 ACRL President’s Program was another rewarding event, providing an opportunity to reflect on ways in which we can hold ourselves and each other generously accountable for equity and inclusion in library work. As I review my year as president of ACRL, I’m struck by the courageous and open-hearted ways in which my fellow members have furthered the association’s work this year. There is no doubt that it was a year of change and challenge, but also a year that I hope heralds needed transfor- mation for ACRL, ALA, and for the world. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to serve. Message from the President December 2020 561 C&RL News Jon Cawthorne Vice-President/President-Elect During this remarkable year, it has been an honor and privilege to serve as ACRL’s vice-president/president-elect. I’ve interacted with so many dedicated, smart, and passionate members that I am deeply, deeply en- couraged for the future of our profession. My hope and enthusiasm also comes from working with the amazing, dedicated, and flexible ACRL staff, as well as the Board, leaders on committees, sections, and other groups. As vice-president, my first responsibility was to oversee and participate in the annual process for divisional committee and volunteer leadership appointments. While this is always a tremendous undertaking, we completed this work with the excellent Appointments Committee and ACRL staff along with the many, many member volunteers who participated in the process. I learned several important leadership lessons about creating a better process for communicating with and seeking recommendations from member leaders. I hope and trust future vice-presidents will benefit from these process and timeline improvements. As in the year previous, we remained committed to asking volunteers optional demographic questions about their race, ethnicity, and gender. In coming years, as we remain committed to gathering data about those committed to serve our association, I know we will not only better understand our members, but we will also remind ourselves of the importance of living out ACRL’s Core Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Another one of my responsibilities was to continue and advance the EDI work already undertaken by ACRL. The Core Commitment articulates an inspiring goal: infuse EDI into all ACRL planning actions and initiatives throughout the association. This work cannot be done in one year, so it is important to recognize Lauren Pressley, Karen Munro, and all the past ACRL presidents’ commitment to EDI. I am delighted we now have a Diversity Alliance Task Force to bring recommendations that will strengthen the Diversity Alliance. During my presidential year, I am planning to build on EDI through the 2021 President’s Program. We also, due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, held a virtual Leadership Council retreat facilitated by McKensie Mack. From this year’s Leadership Council, I hope we inspired members to review how EDI may fit into this year’s committee work. Needless to say, this been a year full of change! Not only in our respective institutions, but in our society, our communities, and our American Library Association. We’ve experienced the furloughing of ACRL staff, the relocation of the ALA and ACRL offices, and the continued search for the next ACRL executive director. While the challenges we face seem daunting, rest assured as I enter ACRL presidency, I am keen on listening and supporting all ACRL members as we position the association for the future. I am so incredibly grateful for the support of the Board, my fellow presidents, and ACRL’s incredible Interim Executive Director Kara Malenfant. If you can, please take a moment to thank the incredible ACRL staff. There remain challenges in this remarkable time, but let’s not let fear, uncertainty, and worry overwhelm our ability to see, appreciate, and take advantage of opportunities to build a bright future for ACRL. Message from the Vice-President C&RL News December 2020 562 Kara Malenfant ACRL Interim Executive Director This year brought great change for academic libraries, higher education, and society at large. The COVID-19 pandemic has created uncertainty for higher education funding, and ACRL supports libraries facing increasingly complex fiscal outlooks. In spring 2020, ACRL affirmed statements by ALA and APA regarding library services during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect library workers. Full details on our variety of responses to the pandemic are available throughout this report. Continued violence against Black people in the U.S. spurred ACRL to increase its dedication to creating diverse and inclusive communities in the association and the profession. ACRL bolstered its Core Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion by supporting ALA, BCALA, and APALA statements condemning violence and racism. The association also called on ACRL members to reflect and take action against systemic injustices and inequitable policing practices. Notably this year, a joint task force of ACRL; PLA; the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services; and ARL members began work to develop a framework for cultural profi- ciencies in racial equity, which will serve as a foundational resource to build inclusive cultures, within libraries and their broader communities. The ACRL 2021 Conference strives toward greater inclusion with a new call for proposals that encourages presenters and topics reflecting “the library community’s diverse range of race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, economic background, age, and/or ability.” For the first time, ACRL is implementing participation limits for speakers to allow as many individuals as possible to participate as conference presenters. In addition to the work noted above, I am proud that when the 2020 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago was cancelled, ACRL quickly offered ACRL Together Wherever, a freely available, donation-based virtual week of programming and networking opportunities. It featured 14 programs covering algorithm bias, invisible labor in archives, open peer review, drag queen story hour, meaningful accountability for inequity, and more. Changes at ALA impacted ACRL this year, including the sale of the headquarters building, the appointment of Tracie Hall as ALA executive director, and approval of a new ALA division with concurrent dissolution of others. More ALA structural changes are forthcoming as working groups examine the relationship of ALA to its membership divisions and implement recommendations on organization effectiveness from the “Forward Together” report. As previously noted, we celebrated a bittersweet milestone with the retirement of ACRL Executive Director Mary Ellen K. Davis in April 2020. Her service of more than thirty-six years with ALA, and nearly twenty years leading ACRL, enriched the association in many ways. Mary Ellen was a generous friend, wise mentor, and valued colleague to many association members, leaders, and staff. Letter from the Interim Executive Director December 2020 563 C&RL News ACRL Together Wherever Programs ACRL Together Wherever Programs  2020 President’s Program – Shifting the Center: Transforming Academic Libraries through Generous Accountability  Empowering Student Workers Using Flipped and Agile Project Management  Everyday Inclusion Begins with Me: Diversity and Intergroup Communication in the Workplace  Flip the Deficit Script: First-Year Student Interviews About Everyday Life Research Can Change Your Instruction  Forgotten Hispano-American Literature: Representation of Hispano-American Presses in Academic Libraries  Meeting the 99 AI Challenge: An Open Learning Experiment for Non-Tech Experts  New Metrics for Telling Your Library’s Story  Open Peer Review: Considerations for Authors and Publishers  Privies, Pumping, and Prayer: Negotiating Private Needs in Public Spaces  Reframing Reference Services: Perceptions and Futures of the Reference Desk, Findings from a Mixed-Methods Survey of United States Academic Libraries  Students Do Not Attend Alone: A Community Approach to College Information Literacy  Supporting Diversity in Campus Communities with Drag Queen Story Hour  Teaching Computer Science Students about Algorithm Bias  The Invisible Labor in Archives and Special Collection Libraries ACRL could not accomplish as much as it does without the passionate commitment of its membership and staff. I thank you and am grateful for your service. I especially want to thank ACRL 2019–20 President Karen Munro and the ACRL Board of Directors for their work in advancing ACRL’s Plan for Excellence. I also want to thank the many donors, Friends, corporations, and libraries who contributed to ACRL’s successes through their commitment of time and resources. I encourage you to take a few moments to review this report and learn more about ACRL’s many accomplishments in FY20. C&RL News December 2020 564 Friends of ACRL donations support ACRL’s mission in key areas, including the ACRL Advancement Fund, ACRL Conference Scholarship Fund, and RBMS Scholarships Fund. Since the establishment of the Friends of ACRL, 1,114 donors have become Friends and contributed more than $421,800 to dem- onstrate support for ACRL initiatives. Money from the Friends Funds has been used to provide scholarships for ACRL professional development activities, support for the Library Copyright Alliance Project, Project Outcome, and providing open access for C&RL News backfiles. Thanks to our 518 donors who contributed more than $53,900 to the Friends of ACRL in FY20 (September 1, 2019–August 31, 2020). A complete list of Friends of ACRL is avail- able on the ACRL website at www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/givetoacrl/donate/friends2020. A list of contributors to the ACRL 2021 Conference Scholarship Campaign may be found at https://conference.acrl.org/campaign/. ACRL also expresses its sincere appreciation to its sponsors for their generous dona- tions to the various programs and events the association has offered throughout the year. Thanks to your support, ACRL members benefited from enhanced programs and services this year. A complete list of sponsors is available on the ACRL website at www.ala.org/acrl/ acrl-2019-2020-sponsorships. Friends of ACRL and Sponsorships Advancement Fund RBMS Scholarships Fund ACRL Conference Scholarship Fund http://www.ala.org/acrl/give 3 w ay s t o g ive ! December 2020 565 C&RL News ACRL by the Numbers 34 librarians and libraries received ACRL awards in 2020 33,696 on-demand Academic Librarianship in the Wake of the Coronavirus webcast series views 21,316 TWITTER FOLLOWERS 8,316 FACEBOOK LIKES 1,107 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS 400 PINTEREST FOLLOWERS 1,678 YOUTUBE CHANNEL SUBSCRIBERS M o re t h an 1 ,5 0 0 A C R L m e m b e rs s e rv e d o n c o m m it te e s in F Y 2 0 2,769 attendees accounted for 4,600 live webcast views 225,415 total visits to online ACRL standards, guidelines, and frameworks in FY20 Forty-six current members of the 3,240 Project Outcome for Academic Libraries users created 536 surveys and collected 52,000 responses ACRL by the Numbers C&RL News December 2020 566 COVID-19 Response The 2020 fiscal year represented an unprecedented time in academic and research libraries. As the ACRL Board of Directors noted in a statement to the association membership, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an overwhelming effect on workplaces and lives, upending daily life and caus- ing widespread fear and uncertainty. In late March, the ACRL Board affirmed the statement that ALA and the ALA Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) released regarding library services during the COVID-19 pandemic. We strongly urged the closure of in-person services at academic and research libraries, and in alignment with ALA and with ALA-APA, we also urged libraries to ensure that all library workers receive fully paid leave, including health coverage, while libraries are closed. ACRL launched a Pandemic Resources for Academic Libraries LibGuide in March. The freely accessible guide features a variety of resources for distance education and engagement, details on free webcasts and publications, information on self-care and working from home, best practices on collection maintenance and preparing to reopen, up-to-date information from public health officials, and collections of ALA and community-sourced resources to assist in navigating a pandemic. The guide is continually updated as the pandemic evolves. The association held Academic Librarianship in the Wake of the Coronavirus, a series of eight free ACRL Presents webcasts covering topics directly related to working during the COVID-19 pandemic this spring. Webcast topics included “Advocating for Library Workers during Uncer- tain Times,” “Copyright for Campus Closures: Exploring the Copyright Issues around Moving Instruction and Reference Online,” “Evaluating Online Library Learning,” “Information Literacy Instruction at a (Social) Distance: Strategies for Moving Online,” “Managing Remote Workers,” “Pandemic Pedagogy: Resources for Library Instruction at a Distance,” “Quickly Implementing Accessibility Tools,” and “Tips for Suddenly Switching to Online Reference and Access Services.” Recordings of all webcasts are freely available on the ACRL website and YouTube channel. There were nearly 6,000 total registrations for the live events and the webcast recordings have been viewed more than 30,000 times. Additionally, ACRL coordinated with the Public Library Association (PLA), as well as other ALA units and library organizations, to survey the library community in mid-May to understand the current impacts the crisis is having on their operations, programs, services, and finances. Results of the survey were made available in June 2020. While ACRL was able to provide robust online support for the community during the pandemic, COVID-19 necessitated changes to many in-person events. The RBMS 2020 Conference and Immersion ’20 program were canceled to ensure the safety and health of participants and presenters, while a number of scheduled events in the traveling RoadShow program, as well as two regional Immersion Programs, were postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. In fall 2020, the Board of Directors also made the decision to move the ACRL 2021 Conference to a virtual-only event. Year in Review December 2020 567 C&RL News Additionally, ALA made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person version of the 2020 ALA Annual Conference, replacing the conference with ALA Virtual—Community through Connec- tion, an online event with educational programming, special author events, and social networking. ALA Virtual featured a selection of sessions covering a variety of topic areas slated to be presented in Chicago, including programs of interest to the academic and research library community. To augment ALA’s online event, ACRL Together Wherever, a week of virtual programming and networking opportunities for the academic and research library community was held in early June 2020. ACRL Together Wherever featured 14 high-quality programs and was presented free of charge to all with a suggested donation, with 100% of donations going to the ACRL Advancement Fund to support programs and initiatives that strengthen ACRL’s influence in higher education and its ability to create diverse and inclusive communities in the association and the profession. More than 2,769 individuals signed up for the virtual event, accounting for nearly 4,600 live webcast views. ACRL’s Plan for Excellence This report highlights ACRL’s many accomplishments during the 2020 fiscal year across the four strategic goal areas highlighted in the Plan for Excellence—the value of academic libraries, student learning, research and scholarly environment, and new roles and changing landscapes—along with the association’s enabling programs and services. The Value of Academic Libraries ACRL made significant progress on the association’s goal of assisting academic libraries in demon- strating alignment with, and impact on, institutional outcomes this year. The association provides support and training to ACRL liaisons to other higher education organizations and disciplinary societies so that they are prepared to talk about the value of academic libraries in those contexts. The association announced recipients of the fourth round of its Value of Academic Libraries (VAL) Travel Scholarships this year. These scholarships of up to $2,000 each support librar- ians presenting on their work demonstrating the impact of academic libraries in the broader landscape of higher education. The program was expanded for this round of applications so that proposed presentations could be related to any of ACRL’s four strategic goal areas or the Core Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, as articulated in the ACRL Plan for Excel- lence. The selection committee chose four proposals in this competitive round of applications. They are Elizabeth Cheney (California State University–Northridge), Erin Durham (University of Maryland–Baltimore County), Samantha Kennedy (Rowan University), and Pamela Mann (St. Mary’s College of Maryland). VAL Committee Chair Jill Becker and ACRL Program Manager Sara Goek guest-edited a special issue of College & Research Libraries this April. The issue centered around new research on Year in Review C&RL News December 2020 568 Year in Review the impact of academic libraries on student learning and success in higher education, including research that advances the six priority areas established in ACRL’s 2017 report Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to Research. Project Outcome for Academic Libraries continues to be a vital part of the VAL initiatives. Based on a model developed by PLA, this free toolkit is designed to help academic libraries understand and share the impact of essential library programs and services by providing simple surveys and an easy-to-use process for measuring and analyzing outcomes. The standardized surveys allow libraries to aggregate their outcome data and analyze trends by topic and program type. Project Outcome published a report on its development and first year of use in the field in early June. The annual report outlines the work of ACRL and its members to develop and promote the toolkit and brings together aggregate data to show how academic libraries have applied Project Outcome data to make improvements and engage in advocacy. As of September 2020, Project Outcome for Academic Libraries has 3,240 users and 536 academic libraries have created surveys and collected 52,000 responses. ACRL’s Standards for Libraries in Higher Education, another important component of the VAL work, has been visited more than 16,000 times this year. National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System/ACRLMetrics The ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey incorporates the Integrated Postsec- ondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Academic Library Component and makes the results available through ACRLMetrics. The 2019 survey closed on April 22, 2020. The response rate for academic libraries in the United States was 51% with 1,634 respondents. The survey also received an additional 33 responses from academic libraries outside the United States. The survey also enables participants to easily transfer their IPEDS responses to the institutional keyholder for the IPEDS survey. The ACRL/ALA/ARL IPEDS Task Force completed revisions to the instructions for counting digital/e-serials to include COUNTER 5 in advance of the 2020 IPEDS survey launch in September. Student Learning The following activities are examples of ways ACRL moved towards meeting the association’s goal of assisting librarians in transforming student learning, pedagogy, and instructional practices through creative and innovative collaborations this fiscal year. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has introduced a new way of thinking and practicing to the academic library community and continues to bring both inspi- ration and challenge to librarians as they explore new directions in information literacy practice and research. The ACRL Framework Sandbox, an openly accessible platform and repository for librarians and their educational partners to discover, share, collect, and use ongoing work December 2020 569 C&RL News related to the ACRL Framework in practice and professional development, was visited 89,871 times this year. The Sandbox now provides access to 229 resources, including 28 resources that were added or revised this year. The online version of the Framework itself has been accessed more than 89,000 times this year. ACRL has selected a team of three curriculum designers/presenters to develop a new RoadShow workshop to support librarians in engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and discovering how their teaching impacts student learning. This workshop will be intended for any librarian who interacts with students and faculty, as well as teaching center staff and faculty interested in collaborating on SoTL projects. The curriculum design and presentation team includes Lauren Hays, assistant professor of instructional technology, University of Central Missouri; Rhonda Huisman, dean of university library, St. Cloud State University; and Melissa Mallon, director of the Peabody Library and director of teaching and learning, Vanderbilt University. ACRL released several books related to student learning and information literacy issues this year, including Building Teaching and Learning Communities: Creating Shared Meaning and Purpose; The Critical Thinking About Sources Cookbook; Games and Gamification in Academic Libraries; Hidden Architectures of Information Literacy Programs: Structures, Practices, and Contexts; Improving Library Services in Support of International Students and English as a Second Lan- guage Learners; Learning Beyond the Classroom: Engaging Students in Information Literacy through Co-Curricular Activities; Libraries Promoting Reflective Dialogue in a Time of Political Polarization; Library Partnerships in International Liberal Arts Education: Building Relation- ships Across Cultural and Institutional Lines; and Supporting Today’s Students in the Library. Perspectives on the Framework, a column focusing on the Framework and edited by the Stu- dent Learning and Information Literacy Committee, continues to appear bimonthly in C&RL News. Column topics this year have included first-generation students and the Framework, new models for instruction, re-examining the Framework for community colleges, reflections on science librarianship, library instruction in Indigenous Studies, and using the frames to teach incarcerated students. A variety of e-learning courses and webcasts, along with several ACRL Together Wherever sessions, provided additional opportunities for librarians to gain additional skills in these important areas. Year in Review “I value the opportunity to see ACRL as an avenue for unlearning, especially when it comes to information literacy and higher education in marginalized communities. The ACRL Framework is indicative of this, and I hope we can expand it as a guideline and policy framework to have a more prominent role in cultural competency efforts regarding information research involving BIPOC communities.” – Patrice Green, ACRL Member of the Week C&RL News December 2020 570 Research and Scholarly Environment ACRL’s scholarly communication program actively promotes a commitment to the greater good through the transition to more open systems of scholarship. The association announced the recipients of its latest Scholarly Communications Research Grants in December 2019. These grants of up to $5,000 each support new research that will contribute to more inclusive systems of scholarly communication in areas suggested by our 2019 report Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future. The selection committee from the Research and Scholarly Environment Committee (ReSEC) chose seven proposals from a highly competitive round of applications. The Scholarly Communication Toolkit, developed and maintained by ReSEC, continues to provide content and context on a broad range of scholarly communication topics and offers resources and tools for the practitioner. The toolkit features sections on topics such as fair use, public access mandates, and library publishing in addition to more fully developed sections on open access publishing and repositories. The ACRL Scholarly Communication Discussion Group, Scholcomm discussion list, and the ACRL/SPARC Forum on Emerging Issues in Scholarly Communication continue to be important venues for strengthening the association’s role in supporting new models of scholarly commu- nication. Monthly articles on scholarly communication issues and trends in C&RL News play an important role in disseminating a body of knowledge for the field. The new book Copyright Conversations: Rights Literacy in a Digital World was also published this year. ACRL raised awareness of important scholarly communication issues by offering a free ACRL Presents webcast, “Understanding Fair Use Through Case Law,” in February 2020 to celebrate Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week. Another free ACRL Presents webcast, “Open for Students and Educators: Open Educational Resources Level the Playing Field,” was offered in October 2019 to celebrate Open Access Week. New Roles and Changing Landscapes The New Roles and Changing Landscapes goal focuses on assisting the academic and research library workforce in effectively navigating change in higher education environments. In September 2019, after an open and competitive call for applications and careful consideration of an excellent candidate pool, a selection committee made up of representatives from the ACRL New Roles and Changing Landscapes Committee chose a curriculum design and presentation team for a new Open Educational Resources (OER) and Affordability RoadShow. Heather Blicher, e-learning librarian and assistant professor, Southern New Hampshire University; Kathy Essmiller, OER librarian and library liaison to Music and Theatre departments, Oklahoma State University; Michelle Reed, director of open educational resources, University of Texas–Arlington; Year in Review December 2020 571 C&RL News Year in Review and Ariana E. Santiago, open educational resources coordinator, University of Houston; were selected as the inaugural team. The curriculum for the new RoadShow is complete, and the workshop will launch in a virtual format by early 2021. This new RoadShow will help academic librarians understand the basics of OER and how libraries can be involved in affordability initiatives at their institution. Learning outcomes include the ability to: • summarize key principles of open educational resources, affordability, and inclusion to explain common motivators for the adoption, modification, and creation of open and alternative course materials; • analyze how existing library skills and tools can be leveraged to advance the use of open and affordable resources in a variety of institutional contexts; and • identify possible roles for librarians and campus partners in supporting open and affordable resource use to articulate achievable actions that build community, further knowledge, and/or advance open and affordable resource solutions. The New Roles and Changing Landscapes Committee also selected the team of Dani Brecher Cook, Cinthya Ippoliti, and Brianna Marshall to plan and develop an asynchronous online learning course on change management that includes self-guided, self-paced readings and activities, as well as activities and exercises to be completed as a team. The project will be developed in two phases—an online workbook titled Fostering Change: A Team-Based Guide, freely available from the ACRL website, and a paid virtual leadership cohort based on the guidebook, the ACRL Fostering Change Incubator, scheduled to launch in 2021. Core Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion As the higher education association for librarians, ACRL is dedicated to creating diverse and inclusive communities in the association and in academic and research libraries. This core commitment permeates the work of the association, cutting across all ACRL sections, committees, interest and discussion groups, and communities of practice by acknowledging and addressing historical racial inequities; challenging oppressive systems within academic libraries; valuing different ways of knowing; and identifying and working to eliminate barriers to equitable services, spaces, resources, and scholarship. This May, ACRL endorsed ALA’s statement condemning violence and racism towards Black people and all people of color. The association also endorsed a statement of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association condemning the death of George Floyd at the hands of po- lice officers within the Minneapolis Police Department, and a statement from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, which denounces the rise in racism and xenophobia against Asians and Asian/Pacific Americans in wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ACRL Together Wherever President’s Program, “Shifting the Center: Transforming Academic Libraries through Generous Accountability,” asked participants to imagine a world where holding ourselves truly accountable for systemic inequity in our profession and institutions is a welcome C&RL News December 2020 572 Year in Review opportunity for growth. The program, featuring keynote speaker McKensie Mack, anti-oppression consultant, researcher, facilitator, founder of #BoundaryWork, and former executive director at Art+Feminism, explored how doing this work—holding ourselves, each other, and our institutions meaningfully accountable for inequity—can be an opportunity for generosity, humor, and care. In support of ACRL’s Core Commitment, the ACRL 2021 Coordinating Committee developed an Equity Statement that is included in the ACRL 2021 Call for Participation. The committee strives to develop an inclusive conference program that reflects the library community’s diverse range of race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, economic background, age, and/or ability. In addition, to allow as many individuals as possible to participate as conference presenters, the committee established presentation limits for the first time at an ACRL conference. An individual can present a maximum of two times at ACRL 2021, regardless of session format or presenter role. ACRL; PLA; ARL; and ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, formed a Building Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity Framework Task Force this year. The task force is charged to create a framework for cultural proficiencies in racial equity that can be used in public and academic libraries. The task force will circulate drafts of the framework for public comment and revise as appropriate before submitting a final document to the associations. The timeline will include requests for comments in spring 2021, with the final document expected in summer 2021. ACRL’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion LibGuide contains a wealth of information on ways the association has implemented its Core Commitment to EDI, including the ACRL Diversity Alliance; standards and guidelines; information on conference and online learning programming; links to books, articles, and other publications focusing on EDI topics; a calendar of association activities; and suggestions on ways for members to get involved in this important work. ACRL Diversity Alliance The ACRL Diversity Alliance unites academic libraries who share a commitment to increase the hiring pipeline of qualified, talented individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The ACRL Diversity Alliance grew out of an initiative led by founding members American Uni- versity, the University of Iowa, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University. There are currently 46 ACRL Diversity Alliance member institutions. Enabling Programs and Services In addition to the four Plan for Excellence goal areas, ACRL serves its members, along with the academic and research library community, through a wide variety of programs and services. Highlights of the regularly recurring operations relevant to the ability of ACRL to lead academic and research librarians and libraries in advancing learning and scholarship are reported below. December 2020 573 C&RL News Member Engagement ACRL’s membership activities build on retaining core membership while recruiting from new and diverse communities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, complete FY20 membership numbers were not available at press time. There were several changes to ACRL communities of practice this year. The Distance Learning Section was renamed the Distance and Online Learning Section. The Personnel Administration and Staff Development Discussion Group changed their name to the Human Resources and Or- ganizational Development Discussion Group while the New Members and Continuing Education Discussion Group dissolved. A new Language and Linguistics Discussion Group was formed, and the Global Library Services Discussion Group merged with the International Perspectives Discussion Group. As part of the ongoing commitment to furthering EDI in librarianship, ACRL supported Neah Ingram-Monteiro as its 2019–20 Spectrum Scholar. Ingram-Monteiro is a student at the University of British Columbia School of Information. The ACRL Dr. E. J. Josey Spectrum Scholar Mentor Program has matched more than 200 ALA Spectrum Scholars interested in careers in academic librarianship with ACRL members to mentor them since its establishment in 2003. This year the committee overseeing the program continued its efforts to assess the program’s effectiveness so it can improve the experience for the participating scholars and mentor volunteers. ACRL’s social media presences continue to grow and provide our membership with new avenues to connect with colleagues and the association. A virtual orientation session was held in summer 2020 for incoming leaders and offered a webcast to help members volunteer for ACRL committees. A number of ACRL committees, interest groups, discussion groups, sections, and the Board of Directors are working virtually and taking advantage of ALA Connect and other virtual meeting systems to keep the work of the association moving forward year round. ACRL Committee Members 2019–20 ACRL is pleased to acknowledge the ACRL leaders and volunteers who have worked hard to move the profession and the association forward in 2019–20. ACRL could not accomplish as much as it does without the passionate commitment and expertise of its volunteers. Many thanks to all our member volunteers for their service. Year in Review “I wanted to be sure to be connected to my colleagues to keep a pulse on what the trends were in academic libraries as well as to make sure my voice was also incorporated into our field’s discourse early on in my library career.” – Teresa Helena Moreno , ACRL Member of the Week C&RL News December 2020 574 Year in Review ACRL AWARD RECIPIENTS 2020 Division Award Recipients  Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award (Donor: GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO) John E. Ulmschneider, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian, Virginia Commonwealth University  Excellence in Academic Libraries Awards (Donor: GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO) College: Nevada State College, Henderson, Nevada; Community College: Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, University: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland  Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award (ACRL, ALCTS, LLAMA, LITA) Beth Denker, George Machovec, and Rose Nelson, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries Section Award Recipients  CJCLS Awards (Donor: EBSCO Information Services) Learning Resources Leadership Award Jean Amaral, Associate Professor and Open Knowledge Librarian, Borough of Manhattan Community College Community College Learning Resources Program Award Colorado Community College System, for their program “Colorado’s Top 40: Curating OER Content for the Top 40 GT Pathway Courses”  CLS Innovation in College Librarianship Award (Donor: SCELC) Alexandria Chisholm, Sarah Hartman-Caverly, and Brett Spencer, all Reference and Instruction Librarians at Penn State University–Berks Campus  DOLS Routledge Distance Learning Librarianship Conference Sponsorship Award (Donor: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group) Samantha (Sam) Harlow, Online Learning Librarian at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro  EBSS Distinguished Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian Award (Donor: American Psychological Association) Cassandra Kvenild, Associate Dean of Libraries, University of Wyoming  ESS De Gruyter European Librarianship Study Grant (Donor: Walter de Gruyter Foundation for Scholarship and Research) Emma Popowich, Acting Head of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library and Romance Languages Librarian, University of Manitoba, for her project “A Conscience of Cloth: Blue Textiles in the Identity of the Midi”  IS Awards IS Innovation Award (Donor: EBSCO Information Services) Kathy Anders, Graduate Studies Librarian, Sarah LeMire, Coordinator of First Year Programs, and Terri Pantuso, Coordinator of Freshman Composition, all of Texas A&M University, for their project “OER Textbook for Composition and Information Literacy” IS Ilene F. Rockman Instruction Publication of the Year Award (Donor: Carrick Enterprises) Amanda L. Folk, for her article “Reframing Information Literacy as Academic Cultural Capital: A Critical and Equity-Based Foundation for Practice, Assessment, and Scholarship” IS Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award(Donor: ACRL Instruction Section) Veronica Arellano Douglas, Instruction Coordinator, University of Houston  PPIRS Marta Lange/SAGE-CQ Press Award (Donor: SAGE-CQ Press) Jeremy Darrington, Politics Librarian, Princeton University (Awards continued next page) December 2020 575 C&RL News Awards Since 1923, the ACRL Awards Program has recognized and honored the professional contributions and achievements of academic libraries and librarians. This special recognition by ACRL enhances the sense of personal growth and accomplishment of our members, provides our membership with role models, and strengthens the image of our membership in the eyes of employers, leadership, and the academic community. In 2020, 34 outstanding individuals and institutions received ACRL awards recognizing their accomplishments. ACRL’s top honor, the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award, was presented to John E. Ulmschneider, dean of libraries and university librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University. Ulmschneider exemplifies academic and research librarianship through his decades-long career as a champion of innovation and inclusion. ACRL continues to present the Excellence in Academic Libraries Award to recognize the staff of a community college, a college, and a university library for exemplary programs that deliver outstanding services and resources to further the educational mission of their institution. This year’s recipients were Nevada State College, Henderson, Nevada; Santa Rosa Junior College, Year in Review  RBMS/Leab Exhibition Catalogue Awards (Donor: Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab Endowment) Category 1 (Expensive) Recipient: Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botani- cal Gardens for Nineteen Nineteen; Honorable Mention: The Grolier Club for A Matter of Size: Miniature Bindings & Texts from the Collection of Patricia J. Pistner; Category 2 (Moderately Expensive) Recipient: The University of Pennsylvania Libraries Kislak Center for Special Collec- tions, Rare Books and Manuscripts for Wise Men Fished Here: A Centennial Exhibition in Honor of the Gotham Book Mart, 1920–2020; Honorable Mention: Texas A&M University Libraries Cushing Memorial Library & Archives for The Stars Are Ours: Infinite Diversities in Science Fiction & Fantasy; Honorable Mention: Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library for Bibliomania; or Book Madness: A Bibliographical Romance; Category 3 (Inexpensive) Co-Recipient: Oakland University Art Gallery for Encountering the Rare Book; Co-Recipient: The University of Guelph School of Fine Art and Music and the Archives and Special Collections, McLaughlin Library for Spaces of Wonder, Wonder of Space: Encountering the Eighteenth Cen- tury in Image, Object, and Text; Category 4 (Brochures) Recipient: The University of Alberta Bruce Peel Special Collections for Fishing with Flies; Honorable Mention: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Rare Book & Manuscript Library for Making Mr. Darcy: Cultural Con- text for the Regency Gentleman; Category 5 (Electronic) Recipient: Northwestern University Transportation Library for Independence in the Air: African Aviation in the 1960s  ULS Outstanding Professional Development Award (Donor: Library Juice Academy) Mary Anne Hansen, Research Services Librarian, Montana State University/Tribal College Librar- ians Institute Coordinator  WGSS Achievement in Women’s Studies Librarianship Awards (Donor: Duke University Press) Career Achievement Emily Drabinski, Critical Pedagogy Librarian, Graduate Center, City University of New York Significant Achievement Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, Associate Dean of Teaching, Learning, and Engagement, New York University (Awards continued from previous page) John E. Ulmschneider, 2020 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year C&RL News December 2020 576 Santa Rosa, California; and the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. The award, sponsored by ACRL and GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO, includes a presentation ceremony on each recipient library’s campus. Publications Monographs ACRL’s monographs publishing program was very active during 2019–20, releasing 18 new books, including titles on copyright, leadership, sustainability, working with student employees, learning communities, gamification, and more. A complete list of titles is available in the table on page 578. ACRL’s Publications in Librarianship (PIL) series—a peer-reviewed collection of books that examine emerging theories and research— launched its first open peer review, for Stories of Open: Opening Peer Review through Narrative Inquiry by Emily Ford, this year. After being open for reader comments in winter 2020, Stories of Open is expected to publish in Spring 2021. Open peer review for a second title, Envisioning the Framework: A Graphic Guide to Information Literacy, edited by Jannette L. Finch, launched in late May. Envisioning the Framework is expected to publish in Summer 2021. Serials ACRL continues to make enhancements to the online versions of College & Research Libraries (C&RL), College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News), and RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage in the Open Journal Systems platform. As mentioned in the Value of Academic Libraries section of this report, a special issue of C&RL was published in April 2020 highlighting the projects of ACRL Academic Library Impact research grant recipients. RBM Editor Richard Saunders of Southern Utah University was reappointed to a second three-year term at the helm of the journal beginning in July 2020. Emily Drabinski, critical pedagogy librarian at the Mina Rees Library at the Graduate Center–CUNY, has accepted appointment as the new C&RL reviews editor beginning in July 2020. Jennifer K. Sheehan of the Grolier Club has been appointed to the post of reviews editor of RBM, also beginning in July. C&RL’s Facebook and Twitter presences are home to updates on preprint and current articles, book reviews, highlights of past articles from the journal’s history, and exclusive content from C&RL editors and researchers. Year in Review December 2020 577 C&RL News Year in Review ALA JobLIST ALA JobLIST (joblist.ala.org), the online career center operated since 2006 by C&RL News in partnership with ALA’s American Libraries magazine, continues to develop improvements to the service to serve job seekers and hiring employers well in any environment and shares timely job search, hiring, and career advice through its popular social media channels. As institutions responded to the uncertain environment caused by the pandemic in 2020, the number of job openings abruptly dropped significantly. Consistent signs of a slow and steady recovery appeared as summer ended and libraries adjusted to their local circumstances. ALA JobLIST continues to provide financial support for the ALA JobLIST Placement and Career Development Center, operated by ALA’s Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment at major ALA and ACRL conferences. The placement center offers face-to-face workshops and career services at the conferences and has offered occasional webinars and other virtual development opportunities throughout the year. CHOICE Choice has continued to expand its content offerings, garnering an audience that now num- bers some 55,000 members of the academic library community who regularly engage with its sites and platforms. These content offerings include professional development webinars; podcasts; newsletters; and the Choice research program, publisher of white papers on topics in academic librarianship. Underwritten by academic publishers and service providers, content from these programs is available free of charge. Published alongside these, but with a more focused audience, is Choice’s traditional content: subscription databases intended to support the collection-development function through the publication of reviews. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged Choice, but amidst these challenges have been some genuine opportunities, chiefly among those free services and formats mentioned above. The ACRL-Choice webinar program has attracted almost 120,000 registrations and 45,000 attendees in its seven-year history. During the period March to September, attendance at webinars grew from 3,897 last year to 10,272, and eight of the webinars in this period attracted more than 1,200 registrations. Topics explored included text and data mining, decolonizing the literature curriculum, impacts of the pandemic on the future of libraries, and textbook affordability. “The Authority File,” Choice’s weekly podcast series, is now being heard by an average of 3,500 listeners a month, representing 51% growth over last year. The success of “The Authority File” has prompted the development of a second podcast series, “Patron Driven.” Unlike “The “As a new librarian at a small institution in a small town, I would feel very removed from the field of academic librarianship with- out ACRL. C&RL News and Keeping Up With… motivate me to evaluate our libraries’ materials, services, and facilities as well as my own instructional techniques. ACRL publications and eLearning opportunities give me the skills I need to correct deficiencies and implement new services.” – Erin Roper, ACRL Member of the Week C&RL News December 2020 578 Authority File,” which consists largely of interviews and conversations, this new podcast is structured as multi-episode narratives that combine interviews and storytelling to spotlight the work that academic librarians are doing to innovate in the face of challenging circumstances. The first series of “Patron Driven” launched in June of this year and is titled “The Heart of the Campus.” It tells the story of the destruction and subsequent rebuilding of the Lonestar College–Kingwood campus library in Kingwood, Texas, during and after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The story follows the library staff through the hurricane’s slow windup and stall over Houston, details the flooding, and informs listeners about what it takes to build something extraordinary out of the wreckage. To highlight these and other ways in which Choice is pivoting to address contemporary needs, a redesigned version of Choice’s public-facing website, Choice360.org, launched this summer. The new site provides immediate, one-click access to webinars, “The Authority File” and “Patron Driven” podcasts, forthcoming titles lists, LibGuides, white papers, newsletters, and more. The redesigned site also organizes all material, dating back as much as four years, under more than 30 topical headings, from Archives and Record Management to User Experience. Meanwhile, the pace of the Choice review publication program slowed somewhat in the spring of the year, as the flow of books submitted for review dwindled proportionally with reduced publisher operations. Choice’s subscription products, Choice Reviews, Choice magazine, New ACRL Books in 2019–20  The 360 Librarian: A Framework for Integrating Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence, and Critical Reflection in the Workplace  Becoming a Library Leader: Seven Stages of Leadership Development for Academic Librarians  Building Teaching and Learning Communities: Creating Shared Meaning and Purpose  Copyright Conversations: Rights Literacy in a Digital World  The Critical Thinking About Sources Cookbook  Developing the Next Generation of Library Leaders  The Engaged Library: High-Impact Educational Practices in Academic Libraries  Games and Gamification in Academic Libraries  Get the Job: Academic Library Hiring for the New Librarian  Improving Library Services in Support of International Students and English as a Second Language Learners  Hidden Architectures of Information Literacy Programs: Structures, Practices, and Contexts  Leading Change in Academic Libraries  Learning Beyond the Classroom: Engaging Students in Information Literacy through Co- Curricular Activities  Libraries Promoting Reflective Dialogue in a Time of Political Polarization  Library Partnerships in International Liberal Arts Education: Building Relationships Across Cultural and Institutional Lines  Sharing Spaces and Students: Employing Students in Collaborative Partnerships ACRL PUBLICATIONS Year in Review (Publications continued next page) December 2020 579 C&RL News Year in Review  Supporting Today’s Students in the Library: Strategies for Retaining and Graduating International, Transfer, First-Generation, and Re-Entry Students  The Sustainable Library’s Cookbook ACRL Serials  College & Research Libraries (https://crl.acrl.org)—The official open access, online- only scholarly research journal of ACRL.  College & Research Libraries News (https://crln.acrl.org)—Publishes articles on the latest trends and practices affecting academic and research libraries and serves as the official newsmagazine and publication of record of ACRL.  RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage (https://rbm.acrl.org)—ACRL’s journal covering issues pertaining to special collections libraries and cultural heritage institutions. CHOICE Publications  Choice Magazine—Each monthly issue offers 600 new reviews, a bibliographic essay, and upcoming titles worth knowing.  Choice Reviews on Cards—Choice reviews, and just the reviews, on cards.  Choice Reviews—The completely rebuilt Choice Reviews gives subscribers immediate access to a comprehensive archive of nearly 200,000 reviews representing a quarter-century of scholarship.  Resources for College Libraries—Copublished with ProQuest, Resources for College Libraries helps undergraduate institutions identify the essential titles for learning.  ccAdvisor—A creation of Choice in partnership with the Charleston Advisor, ccAdvisor is the searchable, authoritative, peer-reviewed guide to scholarly academic databases. Blogs/Online Publications  ACRL Insider (https://acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider)—ACRL Insider keeps the world current and informed on ACRL activities, services, and programs.  ACRL LibGuides (https://acrl.libguides.com)—ACRL LibGuides allow membership units to advance the work of ACRL by providing resources for the profession, such as toolkits and bibliographies.  ACRLog (https://acrlog.org)—The issues blog of ACRL features posts on current issues in academic and research librarianship from the blog team.  Keeping Up With…(www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with)—Online current awareness publication featuring concise briefs on trends in academic librarianship and higher education. ACRL Social Media  Facebook (www.facebook.com/ala.acrl)  Twitter (www.twitter.com/ALA_ACRL)  Instagram (www.instagram.com/ala_acrl)  Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/acrlala)  YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/ALAACRL/) (Publications continued from previous page) C&RL News December 2020 580 Year in Review ccAdvisor, and Resources for College Libraries, continue to enjoy steady usage. The Choice Reviews database now contains more than 215,000 reviews of academic monographs. During the 2019–20 academic year users ran close to 400,000 searches in 120,000 user sessions. While smaller in scope, ccAdvisor now contains 481 lengthy (2,000 words or more) reviews of digital resources and is available at over 350 U.S. colleges and universities, including the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries and the Center for Research Libraries. The Resources for College Libraries database, a copublication with ProQuest, now holds close to 100,000 titles in its listing of core titles for undergraduate libraries. Reports, White Papers, Online Publications Keeping Up With…, ACRL’s online current awareness publication series, continued issuing concise briefs on trends in academic librarianship and higher education. Each edition focuses on a single issue, including an introduction to the topic and summaries of key points, including implications for academic libraries. The series’ offerings this year included information on microaggressions, universal design for learning, the 2020 Census, web annotation, COVID-19 and library advocacy, universal design for learning, and more. Standards, Guidelines, and Frameworks The development of standards and guidelines for all areas of academic and research librari- anship is a core service of ACRL. These standards, guidelines, and frameworks are a key ACRL contribution to the profession. The ACRL Board of Directors approved revisions of the ACRL-RBMS/SAA Guidelines on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries and ACRL Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians, along with a new Framework for Access Services Librarianship, this year. The online versions of ACRL’s standards, guidelines, and frameworks were accessed more than 225,000 times during the fiscal year. Education ACRL continues to offer a wide range of professional development programs and events to meet the needs of today’s academic and research librarians. ACRL Conference The ACRL Board of Directors made the decision to cancel the face-to-face portion of the ACRL 2021 Conference scheduled for April 14–17, 2021, in Seattle, Washington, because of the serious health risks posed by COVID-19. ACRL 2021 will continue as a virtual-only event held over approximately the same dates in April 2021. ACRL Together Wherever As previously noted, ACRL Together Wherever was held in June 2020 as a companion to the ALA Virtual online event. ACRL Together Wherever featured 14 programs covering topics including algorithm bias, telling your library’s story, invisible labor in archives, open peer review, drag queen story hour, and more. Opportunities for networking were also available immediately after each session and through the event ALA Connect community. A brief guided meditation for a relaxation session was also offered to help attendees reduce stress, train awareness, and achieve calm focus. Session recordings are freely available through the December 2020 581 C&RL News Year in Review ACRL YouTube channel. A list of programs is available in the table on page 563, and a recap of programs is available in the September 2020 issue of C&RL News. RoadShows ACRL continues to offer a variety of RoadShow workshops. Led by expert presenters, these one-day engaging workshops help academic librarians learn new skills and strengthen existing competencies to tackle the greatest issues facing the profession today. ACRL RoadShows focus on scholarly communication, the Standards for Libraries in Higher Education, assessment, research data management, and the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Educa- tion. This year, RoadShows were held at 9 institutions, reaching more than 300 attendees in 5 states, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. As previously noted, the development of two new RoadShows covering Open Educational Resources and Affordability and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning was announced this year. Plans to pivot all RoadShow workshops to a virtual environment to lessen the dependence on in- person events while continuing this popular program are currently underway. Online Learning The ACRL e-Learning program offered 25 e-Learning events, consisting of 21 webcasts and 4 multi-week courses, this year on a variety of topics such as signature pedagogies, fair use, leadership, the Framework for Information Literacy, copyright, and more. More than 550 individuals and 73 groups participated in this year’s e-Learning offerings. ACRL Presents… Webcasts The ACRL Presents… program offers free occasional webcasts on issues of broad interest and importance to the academic and research library community. In addition to the Academic Librarianship in the Wake of the Coronavirus webcast series discussed earlier in this report, ACRL Presents… webcasts offered this year included “Open for Students and Educators: Open Educational Resources Level the Playing Field” (October 2019), “An Introduction to Academic Librarianship” (October 2019), “Making Yourself Marketable for Academic Librarian Positions” (October 2019), “ACRL 2021 Proposal Tips” (January 2020), and “Understanding Fair Use Through Case Law” (February 2020). ACRL-Choice Webinars ACRL-Choice webinars connect academic and research librarians with content and service providers, publishers, authors, and other experts. During the past fiscal year, the program garnered more than 35,700 registrants and 15,300 attendees to its 32 webcasts. Topics ex- plored included text and data mining, decolonizing the literature curriculum, impacts of the pandemic on the future of libraries, textbook affordability, and more. Scholarships Many planned scholarships, including those for attending the RBMS 2020 Conference, were postponed due to COVID-19. The RBMS scholarship funds will be awarded in 2021. ACRL 2021 will still offer scholarships to the virtual conference and hopes to serve even more attendees without the costs of travel, per diem, and housing having to be factored into scholarship funding. C&RL News December 2020 582 Year in Review Advocacy Continuing the association’s focus on advocacy, ACRL aims to increase its communication on major trends and issues in libraries and increase its influence in public policy affecting higher education. Legislative Advocacy Public policy issues effecting higher education remain an essential focus of ACRL. The association acted on this focus in a number of ways over the past year. Each year, the ACRL Government Relations Committee, in consultation with the ACRL Board of Directors and staff, formulates an ACRL Legislative Agenda. Drafted with input from key ACRL committees, ACRL leaders, and the ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, the Legislative Agenda is prioritized and focuses on issues at the national level affecting the welfare of academic and research libraries. The 2020 ACRL Legislative Agenda focuses on four issues that the U.S. Congress has recently taken, or will most likely take, action on in the year ahead: Federal Funding for Libraries, Net Neutrality, Affordable College Textbook Act, and Consumer Data Privacy. The agenda also includes a watch list of policy issues of great concern to academic librarians but where there is no pending legislation. Issues on the watch list are: Public Access to Federally Funded Research, Federal Depository Library Program Modernization Act, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals/Immigration Issues. ACRL joined eight other library, research, and advocacy organizations (members of the Open Access Working Group) in January 2020 in sending a letter to the White House to express commitment to ensuring that American taxpayers are guaranteed immediate, free, and unfettered access to the results of taxpayer-funded scientific research and to encourage the Administration to support continued progress towards this shared goal. Also in January, ACRL submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Science Policy in response to their request for public comment on their Draft Policy for Data Management and Sharing and Supplemental Draft Guidance. In commenting on definitions, ACRL questioned why the concept of accessibility had been removed and recommended NIH clarify the definition of Scientific Data along with clarifying the scope and required date for Plan submission. ACRL and the Freedom to Read Foundation joined 24 other nonprofit groups in a coalition letter by the American Council on Education to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, which responded to the Department of Education’s January 17, 2020, notice of proposed rulemaking this February. In May, ALA and ACRL submitted comments in response to a Request for Information issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy “I value ACRL’s commitment to providing opportunities for early career librarians like myself. Whether it is an early career scholarship to attend the biennial ACRL conference or being a sponsor for the ALA Emerging Leaders program, I am incredibly grateful for the support that ACRL gives to me and other librarians like myself, because it leads to building a more dynamic and well-connected profession.” – Russel Peterson, ACRL Member of the Week December 2020 583 C&RL News (OSTP) on Public Access to Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Publications, Data and Code Resulting from Federally Funded Research. The comments reiterated our longstanding support for governmental policies and legislation that facilitate open access to scholarly information and open education. In June 2020, ACRL joined a number of other higher education organizations in sending a letter to U.S. House and Senate leadership to encourage the provision of substantial additional funding for higher education in future bills, with focus on those students and institutions hardest hit by the consequences of the pandemic. ACRL also joined ARL and the Oberlin Group of Libraries to urge library vendors to continue free access to resources, while holding subscription prices steady during COVID-19 pandemic. Through the association’s membership in the Open Access Working Group, ACRL joined six other organizations in submitting a letter to thank the White House OSTP for its leadership in convening a substantive and thoughtful discussion process on broadening public access to the results of federally funded research. ACRL also joined a number of scholarly societies as a signatory on a July 2020 statement from the Association of Asian Studies expressing deep concern over the People’s Republic of China’s imposition of sweeping new security legislation that severely curtails the freedoms guaranteed in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and the Interna- tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The association continues to be an active partner with ALA and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA). Over the course of the past year, LCA has acted on a number of important issues by issuing comments on pending legislation and court cases, joining briefs, and releasing papers and guides on a wide range of copyright and fair use issues, including digital preservation initiatives of state-run libraries and archives, intellectual property protection for artificial intelligence innovation, South Africa Country Practice Review, Georgia State E-Reserves Litigation, the appointment of the next Register of Copyrights, and more. Partnerships with Higher Education ACRL continues to work with higher education associations to strengthen both partnerships and the profession. The association collaborated with members of the Council of Higher Education Management Associations to offer the 2018 Women’s Leadership Institute. This program brought together mid-level administrators from across campus functions to share experiences, develop a better understanding of the campus as a workplace and culture, and create new networks and networking skills. The association maintains liaison relationships with a number of higher education associations through the Liaisons Assembly. ACRL currently has liaison relationships with American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), American Physical Society (APS), American Sociological Association (ASA), Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), Modern Language Association (MLA), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), National Resource Center for the First-Year Ex- Year in Review C&RL News December 2020 584 Year in Review perience (NRC-FYEST), National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), and more. A full list of ACRL liaison relationships is available at www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/ committees/acr-lclias. Organizational Effec- tiveness and Vitality ACRL sustains the fiscal resources, staff expertise, and organizational structure necessary to advance the association’s Plan for Excellence. ACRL Staff As previously noted, long-time ACRL Executive Director Mary Ellen Davis retired in April 2020. Davis led ACRL starting in 2001, the longest serving executive director in ACRL’s more than 75-year history. She first came to ALA in 1984 as assistant director for the NEH-funded “Let’s Talk About it” Program, and from there held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility in ACRL, including editor and publisher of C&RL News, manager of professional development, and associate director, culminating with her appointment as executive director. During her tenure as executive director, Davis oversaw innovations and programs that helped academic and research librarians advance learning, transform scholarship, and document their contributions to the broader campus and higher education communities. Davis additionally focused on building and maintaining the association’s finances to ensure its sustainability. She carefully stewarded ACRL’s resources so the association could invest in programs and services along with increasing the ACRL endowment from less than $1 million to more than $5 million, providing the association with a new steady income stream. Under her guidance, ACRL received a variety of grants to explore documenting the contributions that academic and research libraries make to student learning and research through programs such as the Value of Academic Libraries initiative. Many of you have had phone and e-mail contact with ACRL’s staff, of which there are 18.75 FTE positions in Chicago and an additional 22.4 FTE at the Choice office in Middletown, Connecticut. Take a minute to “meet” ACRL’s diverse staff on the association website at www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/staff/contactacrl. In June 2020, the main ALA/ACRL headquarters in Chicago moved to a new location. The new address for the office is 225 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60601. ACRL’s office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CST), Monday through Friday. All ALA staff have direct telephone lines. All prefixes are (312) 280-, followed by the four-digit extension. If you use the toll-free number (800-545-2433), you will be instructed to enter the extension of the person you wish to speak with. December 2020 585 C&RL News President Karen Munro Simon Fraser University Vice-President/President-Elect Jon E. Cawthorne Wayne State University Past-President Lauren Pressley University of Washington Budget & Finance Committee Chair Carolyn Henderson Allen University of Arkansas ACRL Councilor Jacquelyn A. Bryant Community College of Philadelphia Executive Director (Ex-officio through April 2020) Mary Ellen K. Davis ACRL/ALA Interim Executive Director (Ex-officio from April 2020) Kara Malenfant ACRL/ALA Directors-at-large Faye A. Chadwell Oregon State University Kim Copenhaver Emory University April D. Cunningham Palomar College Emily Daly Duke University Jeanne R. Davidson Utah State University Caroline Fuchs St. John’s University Cinthya Ippoliti University of Colorado-Denver Kelly Gordon Jacobsma Hope College ACRL Board 2019–20 (left to right): (back) Jeanne R. Davidson, Caroline Fuchs, Mary K. Ellen Davis, Emily Daly, Kim Copenhaver, April D. Cunningham, (middle) Jacquelyn A. Bryant, (front) Carolyn Henderson Allen, Karen Munro, Lauren Pressley, Jon E. Cawthorne. Not pictured: Faye A. Chadwell, Cinthya Ippoliti, Kelly Gordon Jacobsma, Kara Malenfant. ACRL Board of Directors, 2019–2020 ACRL Board of Directors, 2019–2020 C&RL News December 2020 586 Through a series of unprecedented and unanticipated events related to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACRL’s existing revenue streams have been dramatically reduced in the last months of the fiscal year. We have seen decreases in revenues due to the cancellation of face-to-face events (including the RBMS Conference and RoadShow travelling workshops), declining membership dues, and reduced publishing-related revenue (advertising, book sales). ACRL took steps to mitigate these reductions through various cost containment strategies. In addition, all ALA staff took 5 days of unpaid furlough in FY20, and ALA has secured Paycheck Protection Program funding and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan to help cover the budget gap created by revenue losses. ACRL’s full FY20 financial report will be added to the ACRL website when data is available, with notice published in a future issue of C&RL News. Financial Report Carolyn Henderson Allen Budget & Finance Committee Chair Budget & Finance Committee, 2019–2020 Carolyn Henderson Allen, University of Arkansas, chair Tara Baillargeon, Marquette University Fannie M. Cox, University of Louisville Erika Dowell, Indiana University Alexia Hudson-Ward, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Binh P. Le, Pennsylvania State University Scott B. Mandernack, Marquette University Kevin Wade Merriman, Yale University Joe Mocnik, North Dakota State University Marla E. Peppers, California State University–Los Angeles Brian Rennick, Brigham Young University Kristen Grace Totleben, University of Rochester Jon E. Cawthorne, Wayne State University, ex-officio Mary Ellen K. Davis, ACRL/ALA, ex-officio through April 2020 Kara Malenfant, ACRL/ALA, ex-officio from April 2020 Allison Payne, ACRL/ALA, staff liaison About the 2020 Annual Report cover The cover of the 2019-2020 Annual Report features images of ACRL members featured this year as Members of the Week on ACRL Insider and the association website. Contact Mary Jane Petrowski at mpetrowski@ala.org to submit a profile or nominate a colleague. ANNUAL REPORT2019–2020 Sheena Philogene Isabel Soto-Luna Samatha Harlow Sara Belasco Hytham Dali John D. Brdecka Participants Chat Share Screen Record 6 LEAVE report cvr20.indd 1report cvr20.indd 1 11/11/2020 12:04:41 PM11/11/2020 12:04:41 PM