Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Dear Colleagues,

While enjoying the wonderful upcoming meeting in San Antonio, some of you will start planning your programs for the 2006 St Louis Centennial meeting. Please keep the following in mind:

• "Pioneering Change" Theme for 2006 St Louis Meeting.

"Pioneering Change" is the theme chosen by the Annual Meeting Program Committee, expertly chaired by Jean Wenger. "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. AMPC members will have a table at the Annual Meeting in San Antonio and an open forum to help you submit program proposals. Together with the Local Arrangements Advisory Committee, ably co-chaired by Ann Fessenden and Phil Berwick, and the Centennial Committee, chaired with enthusiasm by Carol Billings, they are preparing what will certainly become a most exciting meeting, the centennial meeting of our Association. For more information on the theme, see http://www.aallnet.org/press/ftdo_claire_germain_050305.asp

• Extended VIP Program.

Please consider including a VIP in as many programs as possible, particularly from the legal community. One of the new AALL strategic directions is to enhance the visibility of law librarians and the law library profession to constituencies outside of the library, that is, the people we serve and the decision-makers in the legal profession: lawyers, judges, legislators, court administrators, law school deans, other legal educators, and media journalists. The Annual Meeting is a great occasion to invite them, share information, network, and impress them.

Since we are also celebrating the centennial of our Association, it seems fitting to have as many VIPs as possible, both legal and educational professionals from the United States, but also law librarians from different countries of the world. The idea is to enlighten outsiders about our work and our visions and to be enriched by having them contribute their own perspectives and knowledge as speakers in our educational programs.

• Names of Plenary and Other Speakers

If you have special connections to speakers who would be great contributors, please send a note to Jean Wenger, AMPC chair, or to me. Your help and personal connection may facilitate our getting speakers who may otherwise not be interested. Your name suggestions are greatly appreciated in advance.

• Centennial Variety Show

Saturday, July 16, 2005. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Salon B. Marriott Riverwalk.

During the 2006 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, AALL members will stage a variety show in celebration of the Centennial. The one-hour event, show time yet to be determined, will feature musical acts and comedy sketches performed by law librarians. The Centennial Variety Show Committee, under the leadership of Kelly Browne, has reserved a conference room from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 16, 2005, so that persons interested in participating in the event can meet to discuss their ideas. Location is: Salon B, Mariott Riverwalk. For more information, go to www.aallnet.org/committee/cenceleb/activities/variety_news.asp.

• St Louis Meeting Booth

Don’t forget to check out the St Louis Local Arrangements Advisory Committee Booth in the Exhibit Hall.

Looking forward to seeing you soon in San Antonio!

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.