C&RL News April 2022 176 ACRL Board of Directors’ actions Highlights of the Board’s LibLearnX and fall meetings Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, association governance continues to take place virtually. For the inaugural ALA LibLearnX, the ACRL Board of Directors met virtually in January and February 2022. The Board held a virtual update session on January 25 and held Board meetings on January 27 and 28. In addition, the Board and Budget and Finance Commit- tee convened for their annual joint meeting on February 1. This article also includes actions taken by the ACRL Executive Committee on November 9, 2021. In January, the Board received updates from the leaders of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, as well as its four goal-area committees: New Roles and Changing Landscapes, Research and Scholarly Environment, Student Learning and Information Lit- eracy, and Value of Academic Libraries to assess progress on the Plan for Excellence. The Board also met with a representative of the ACRL Awards Task Force. During the joint meeting, the Board and Budget and Finance Committee received an update on ALA finances, as well as an update on the work of the ALA Operating Agreement Work Group from the ALA treasurer and ACRL’s liaison from the ALA Budget Analysis and Review Committee and ALA Executive Board. At the fall 2021 meeting, the Executive Committee met with representatives of the ACRL Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. The ACRL Board of Directors and ACRL Executive Committee took the following ac- tions during November 2021 and January/February 2022: Core Commitment: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion • Approved for the ACRL Plan for Excellence a fifth strategic goal area of Equity, Di- versity, and Inclusion and clarified that the existing ACRL Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee will become this goal area’s committee. • Established a working group to develop draft language for a fifth strategic goal and objectives and bring that to the Board during its June 2022 strategic planning session for consideration. • Approved to use up to $15,000 from the TBD strategic initiatives budget to fund 72 ALA and ACRL memberships for BIPOC library workers serving underrepresented groups in FY22. • Approved the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee’s recommendation that ACRL develops budgeting benchmarks utilizing line-Item allocations and aligns funding to pro- grams and services in the amount of $150,000 for FY23. C&RL News April 2022 177 Enabling Programs and Services: Member Engagement • Approved a composition update for the Research and Scholarly Environment Com- mittee to include the convenor(s) of the Scholarly Communication Discussion Group as ex-officio member(s). • Approved to update the ACRL Section Membership Committee charge to no longer include “to gather section membership reports annually, compile them, and submit a com- prehensive membership report to the ACRL Board,” as staff currently perform this task. • Approved the dissolution of the ACRL Media Resources Discussion Group. • Created the ACRL Nominations and Policies Audit Task Force with the following charge: o Review current ACRL Bylaws and policies, focusing on the ACRL leadership nomi- nations and recruitment process and Board participation requirements, to identify areas that may be impeding efforts to expand dimensions of diversity in the leadership pipeline–includ- ing recruitment of people of color and minoritized groups, individuals in diverse roles within the library profession, and library workers in all types of academic library settings. o Identify and evaluate alternatives to current policy, as well as advantages and disad- vantages for each alternative, that may reduce barriers and encourage greater participation. o Recommend alternatives based on the evaluation of advantages and disadvantages. o Areas related to the appointments process should be considered within scope, albeit not the primary focus, in order to be flagged for future work. • Approved the ACRL Awards Task Force’s 13 recommendations: 1. That, based on the feedback gathered by this Task Force and by the 2017 Task Force, ACRL continues to dedicate the resources and support necessary for a strong awards program. 2. That the existing awards administered by sections and at the division-level resume for the 2023 award season only. 3. That, due to perennial issues with funding, overlap and gaps, a working group or ad hoc committee be appointed immediately and given 12 months to develop a new model for recognizing achievement and distinguished service in the 2024 season and beyond. The working group/ad committee should reflect the diversity of the profession and should include, at a minimum, representation from all sections that currently administer ACRL program awards. 4. That if the determination is made by the ad hoc committee/working group that either or both the Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhi- bition Catalogue Awards and the STS Oberly Award for Bibliography in the Agricultural or Natural Sciences should continue to be administered, they will be administered at the section level, outside the ACRL awards program, to the extent permitted by ALA policy regarding endowment terms and minimums. 5. That existing Research Awards and Grants (i.e., De Gruyter European Librarianship Study Grant) be renamed “Research Grants” and administered at the section level, outside the ACRL awards program, continuing to coordinate any sponsor outreach/fundraising through ACRL staff. 6. That the Routledge Distance Learning Librarianship Conference Sponsorship Award be renamed as “scholarship” and administered at the section level, outside the ACRL awards program, unless a determination is made to subsume it into a new, broader version of the C&RL News April 2022 178 ACRL conference scholarship. In all scenarios, any sponsor outreach/fundraising would continue to be coordinated through ACRL staff. 7. That EDI principles be incorporated into all aspects of the awards program and also into research grants and conference scholarships, whether administered at the division or section level. EDI principles include, but are not limited to definitions of achievement, award eligibility criteria, award nomination processes, and award committee appointment processes. 8. That specific participation in an ACRL section be removed as an eligibility require- ment for any award, research grant, or conference scholarship, whether administered at the division or section level. 9. That a system of checks and balances is established so that a recipient does not receive more than a single award, research grant, or conference scholarship for the same project in the same year. 10. That when ACRL lifts its five-year moratorium on the establishment of any new awards (through fall 2023), if not before, an award be created that recognizes service and/ or research efforts in equity, diversity, and inclusion. 11. That ACRL moves toward certificates instead of plaques for all awards. 12. That Section 12.2.8 of the Guide to Policies and Procedures be affirmed. This policy allows sections that lose sponsor funding for awards to continue to offer that award (going forward, limited to Research Grants and Conference Scholarships), either as an unfunded award or by using basic services funding to fund the award. 13. That ACRL sets a long-term goal of fundraising a minimum of $1 million to8 estab- lish an endowment to fund the ACRL awards program. Enabling Programs and Services: Publications • Approved the “Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Lit- eracy for Higher Education: Sociology.” • Approved the “Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Research Competencies in Writing and Literature” as a revision of the existing “Research Competency Guidelines for Literatures in English.” • Enabling Programs and Services: Operations • Confirmed asynchronous virtual votes approving the RBMS Conference plan and proceedings from the Board’s meetings during the 2021 ALA Annual Virtual Conference. • Approved the FY23 Budget Assumptions for ACRL and Choice. • Approved the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee’s recommendation to increase personal member dues up to the 2.7% increase in the HEPI index as allowed by ACRL Bylaws. Following the formula provided in the ACRL Bylaws, this 2.7% increase allows a $2 increase for its regular personal membership dues and $1 for its retired membership dues, but the Board approved to increase a $1 increase for both ACRL personal and retired member dues. The FY23 rates will be: o Personal members: $70 o Retired members: $46