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We are making great progress in the development of Strategic Directions for AALL, and this is a good time to give you an update on where we are at.
In November the AALL Executive Board, Executive Director and senior staff met in retreat to engage in a concerted strategic thinking process. Based on comments received from members and stakeholders and information gleaned from background documents about the future of the profession and the world in which law librarians function, the Board developed what it felt to be the core ideology and envisioned future of AALL. From there the Board identified mega issues facing AALL and our members and worked to establish goals and conditions to address those issues.
In December Cate Bower, CAE, principal partner of Tecker Consultants, LLC who facilitated the November discussion, supplied the Executive Board with a summary report of the conclusions reached at its November retreat. Board members reviewed the summary report and responded whether they agreed or disagreed with the conclusions and added further thoughts and comments.
In January a subcommittee of the Executive Board (Nina Platt, Chair, Executive Board members Merle Slyhoff and Kathy Carlson, and Gen X/Gen Y Task Force member Elizabeth LeDoux) met during a very snowy weekend to write the draft set of Strategic Directions. The subcommittee emerged with a document that will now go to the AALL Executive Board for comment and revision at the April Executive Board meeting.
Immediately following the April board meeting the draft set of Strategic Directions will be circulated to membership for discussion and comment. The Executive Board subcommittee will then incorporate member feedback and make further refinements as needed.
In July the Executive Board will ratify the final draft and present it to membership for approval at the San Antonio business meeting.
We will continue to keep you apprised of the process, and we always welcome your comments and feedback.
The 2005 Teach-In campaign is under way, and we are prepared to bring you an excellent package of materials to enhance your instructional programs.
The 13th National Legal Research Teach-In, brought to you by the Research Instruction & Patron Services SIS (RIPS-SIS) and scheduled in conjunction with National Library Week (April 10-16, 2005), offers the opportunity to improve the skills of your patrons and showcase your skills as a teacher and information provider. As in previous years, the Teach-In Committee has worked with West and LexisNexis to prepare unique instructional and promotional materials. Thanks to generous donations from the two companies, the materials will again be available at no charge. It is a true measure of their commitment to the law library community that both West and LexisNexis continue to underwrite this activity, as they have since its inception 13 years ago.
More information on the National Legal Research Teach-In can be found here.
The AALL Grants Program provides financial assistance to law librarians or graduate students who hold promise of future involvement in AALL and the law library profession. The Association, individual members, and vendors provide grant funds. Grants are awarded to cover the Annual Meeting registration fee or the registration fee for workshops presented at the Annual Meeting. Preference is given to applicants who are new to the profession and are active in AALL or one of its chapters.
The AALL Grants Program began in 1952 and is one of the oldest and most successful AALL programs. More than 1,000 librarians have received funding to assist them in attending AALL educational activities. Many of those recipients are leaders in the profession today.
In 2001, the Minority Leadership Development Award was created to ensure that AALL's leadership remains vital, relevant, and representative of the Association's diverse membership. The Award provides up to $1,500 toward the cost of attending the Annual Meeting, an experienced AALL leader to serve as the recipient's mentor, and an opportunity to serve on an AALL committee during the year following the monetary award.
Applications for both the AALL Grants Programs and the Minority Leadership Development Award must be received at Association Headquarters by April 1, 2005.
The AALL Research Committee is accepting applications through April 1 for research grants from the AALL/LexisNexis Research Fund Grants Program, totaling up to $5,000.
The committee will award one or more grants to library professionals who wish to conduct research that supports the research/scholarly agenda of librarianship. The grants program funds small or large research projects that create, disseminate, or otherwise use legal and law-related information as its focus. Projects may range from the historical (indexes, legislative histories, bibliographies, biographies, or directories) to the theoretical (trends in cataloging and publishing or new service models in libraries) to the practical (implementation models for collection, personnel, or infrastructure management).
More information on the AALL/LexisNexis Research Fund Grants can be found here.
Sincerely,
Susan
E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director
American Association of Law Libraries
53 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 940
Chicago, IL
60604
312-939-4764, ext. 11
Fax 312-431-1097
AALL: Maximizing the Power of the Law Library Community Since 1906.
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