Tuesday, May 3, 2005

On behalf of the 2005 Annual Meeting Program Committee, It is our pleasure to announce the theme for the 2006 Saint Louis Centennial meeting:

Pioneering Change

"Pioneering" reflects the frontier spirit in St Louis. "Change" is the operative word in our vocabulary as we take an active role in shaping the future, and become pioneers for change. We hope that these two words will resonate with you, the members.

How do we pioneer change? We, law librarians, need to build relationships and raise our visibility to the practicing bar, judiciary, and law school deans. Our raison d'être in the information society is clear. To insure our future, we must be visionaries in reinventing our profession, to meet the changes and developments on the horizon and beyond. We must actively communicate our value to significant decision-makers in the legal profession. The Annual Meeting VIP Program offers a valuable vehicle for enlightening legal and educational professionals about our work and our visions. Consider forging stronger relationships and communication by inviting a VIP to participate as a speaker in an educational program.

To effect change, law librarians need to build strategic alliances to foster collaboration and cooperation nationally and internationally in our global village. Law librarians must be the catalysts for enhancing the perceptions of law librarianship, and extending our sphere of influence beyond that of our immediate constituency.

St. Louis is the venue to celebrate the vital role of the law librarian in this new centennial, the century of information. As an Association, we come together to celebrate the accomplishments of our first hundred years, and to recognize the need to preserve the past to ensure the transmission of knowledge to future generations.

This year we are again excited to bring to you an opportunity to participate in the AALL Annual Meeting and Conference, our profession’s foremost educational and networking event. Each year, law librarians and information professionals look forward to honing their skills and exchanging ideas at the Annual Meeting, by choosing from a variety of educational programs, participating in hands-on workshops, and taking advantage of the opportunity to learn from colleagues. Our Program Planner's Handbook presents a wealth of information on developing quality and engaging programs, that offer successful strategies for pioneering internal and external change. Inside its pages, find suggestions for creative program formats, pointers for identifying speakers and tips for writing well-developed programs.

Once again, all program and workshop proposals will be submitted online, through the 2006 Program & Workshop Proposal Collection site, where you can develop your proposal(s) in your own virtual workspace, save your work as you go, and even share it with colleagues.

Join us in St. Louis to meet, to learn, to share, and to pioneer change in our new centennial!

Best regards,

Claire M. Germain
AALL Vice-President/President-Elect
Edward Cornell Law Librarian & Professor of Law
Director, Joint Degree Programs, Paris & Berlin
Cornell Law School
365 Myron Taylor Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Tel. (607) 255 5857
Fax (607) 255 1357
cmg13@cornell.edu

AALL:  Maximizing the Power of the Law Library Community Since 1906.