ALA HQ: NMRT and Executive Board Observer

The great thing about being onsite in Chicago is the opportunity for face time with the people I know and work with at ALA. I used my post orientation time to meet with staff in HRDR on New Members Round Table (NMRT) work. This included selecting and placing orders for NMRT ribbons to be available at Annual, get an update on our fund raising efforts for the 2009 Awards Reception, and preparing for my work as President for 2009-2010. Much to my surprise I spent a lot of time working!

When I was not in an ALA staff member’s office generating a to do list to execute when I returned to Pittsburgh, I was observing the Executive Board 2009 Spring Meeting. The current Board met on Friday morning to hear a presentation by Jenny Levine on ALA Connect. The presentation got me excited about using Connect more to do just that, connect with members in the association. It has a great deal of upside particularly for committee work. I hope NMRT will use it, especially those committees currently working with googlegroups and yahoogroups. I also learned about new developments with the at your library Web site.

Saturday's agenda very full. This included a membership update, development office report, research survey results, several reports related to finances, and closed executive session (I could not observe). There's a lot going on at ALA. The meeting agenda and documents are available from the Executive Board page.

ALA Executive Board Orientation highlights

Patricia Hogan, Steven Mathews, I spent April 22 and 23 at the ALA Headquarters for our new ALA Executive Board member orientation. The three of us will be seated on the board at the end of the Annual Conference and serve a three-year term for 2009-2012. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of information we need to know as future board members. Check out the robust itinerary.

April 22
8:15 - 8:45 Welcome and Governance Office Overview
8:45 - 9:20 Budgeting Process
9:30 - 11:00 Memorial service to honor Judith Krug
11:15 - 12:00 Public Information Office / Campaign for America's Libraries
12:15 - 1:30 Open House Lunch with ALA Unit Managers
1:40 - 1:55 Member Programs and Services Overview
2:00 - 3:15 Division Update (with Division Executive Directors)
3:15 - 4:30 Offices and What They Do
4:30 - 5:00 Strategic Planning / Organizational Culture and Change

April 23
8:30 - 9:00 Board Operation and Logistics
9:00 - 9:30 Development Office
9:30 - 10:00 Information Technology & Telecommunication Services
10:00 - 10:15 Break
10:15 - 11:15 Communications and Member Relations
11:15 - 11:45 ALA-Allied Professional Association
11:45 - 1:15 Lunch with Executive Director
1:15 - 1:45 Publications
1:45 - 2:15 Conference Planning
2:15 - 2:45 Washington Office
2:45 - 3:00 Division Update
3:00 - 3:45 Building Tour

I loved every minute of it. It was definitely more information than I could handle, but I took good notes, met so many wonderful people, and am thankful for the nomination to run and my Council colleagues electing me to this position. It will be a lot of work, and at times hard work, but worth it. It is also a reminder that our Association is all about the people.

Library Bar

I was invited to attend Pitt's ALA Student Chapter networking night. It was an evening of "library themed food, fun, and networking" held appropriate at the Library Bar. It was a lot of fun. I did not get to meet everyone, but I stayed for the entire event. It was even more fun to have someone I'd never met before, upon learning my name, be thrilled to meet me because of my roles in NMRT and ALA.

I wonder if I'll win something from their raffle.