ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


S eptem ber 1 9 9 6 / 5 0 1

H ow  ACRL National Conference sites a re  selected

Q uestions often arise as to  h o w  ACRL en d s 
u p  hosting a N ational C onference in a certain 
city. B elow  w e  have a ttem p ted  to  a n sw e r th e 
m o st com m only a sk ed  questions.

1 ) W h o d e c id e s  w h e r e  to  h o ld  t h e  ACRL 
N a tio n a l C o n feren ce?  T he ACRL B oard of 
D irectors ap p ro v es a site re c o m m e n d e d  by 
staff after a len g th y  selectio n  p ro c e ss ( d e ­
scribed below ). T he ACRL B oard th e n  for­
w ard s its reco m m en d atio n  to  th e  ALA E xecu­
tive B oard, w hich has th e  final authority to 
ap p ro v e  o r n o t ap p ro v e  a site.

2 ) W hat a re th e  p r o c e d u r e s  f o r  s ite  s e ­
le c tio n ?

a. ACRL staff will identify potential cities 
for th e  N ational C onference th at m eet th e re­
qu irem en ts for:

• g o o d  potential for drive-in atten d an ce 
as w ell as airline travel;

• m eetin g  a n d  exhibit space;
• th e req u ired  n u m b e r o f sleeping room s 

w ithin a th ree-b lo ck  w alkin g distance o f the 
co n v en tio n  c e n te r (for the 1997 co nference 
this is 1,400 room s o n  th e p eak  night);

• d ate availability (traditionally, a spring 
m eeting that is sc h e d u le d  n o t to o  close to  the 
ALA M idwinter M eeting or Annual C onference, 
is b efo re th e  e n d  o f academ ic institutions' 
q u arters/sem esters, a n d  avoids conflicts w ith 
m ajor holidays).

b. T he ACRL executive d irecto r will co n ­
tact th e  executive directors o f ALA chapters 
in th e  states o f cities b ein g  co n sid ered  to  g et 
initial prelim inary s u p p o rt from th e  ch ap te r 
for investigating a co n feren ce site in  its state.

c. ACRL staff will visit potential sites to  check 
o u t suitability fo r a N ational C onference.

d. ACRL staff will contact all ALA an d  ACRL 
ch a p te r officers w ithin th e  state a n d  th e c o n ­
tiguous states a n d  regions to  th e  site u n d e r 
consideration to  solicit su p p o rt for a N ational 
C onference in th e  p ro p o s e d  city. ALA policy 
#8 req u ires that ch ap te rs b e  notified in w rit­
ing a b o u t a d esired  conferen ce site p rio r to  a 
division subm itting th e  req u est for app roval 
to  th e  ALA Executive B oard. It h as n o t b e e n  
th e  practice o f th e ALA Executive B oard to 
co n sid er a p p ro v al o f conferen ce sites w h e re

th ere is n o t w ritten accep tan ce from  th e  state 
ALA ch ap te rs as w ell as all o f th o se  state ALA 
ch ap te rs in th e  co n tig u o u s area.

e. ACRL staff will p re p a re  a d o c u m e n t for 
the ACRL B o ard’s review  reco m m en d in g  o n e  
o r m ore sites a n d  dates for future conferences.

f. T he ACRL B oard o f D irectors will re­
v iew  th e  staff recom m endation; if m ore than 
o n e  site is p ro p o se d , th e  B oard will select 
o n e  for approval.

g. T he ACRL B oard will forw ard its reco m ­
m endation to  the ALA B oard for final approval. 
Typically, th e ACRL p resid en t an d  executive 
d ire c to r a tte n d  th e  ALA B oard m eetin g  to  
p re s e n t th e  req u est for site approval.

h. O n ce a site has b e e n  selected, ACRL 
m em bers in that region will b e  inform ed and 
e n c o u ra g e d  to  s u p p o rt th e  h o ld in g  o f th e  
ACRL N ational C onference there.

3 ) W h y  h a s n ’t ACRL h e ld  a N a tio n a l 
C o n fe r e n c e  in  th e  W est in  r e c e n t years?

As d e s c rib e d  in th e  p ro c e d u r e s  ab o v e, 
ACRL m u st b e  w elco m e d  in an  area b efo re a 
con feren ce can b e  sch ed u led . Many o f the 
la rg e r w e s te rn  sta te s h a v e  stro n g  c h a p te r 
m eetings a n d /o r host ALA m eetings a n d  p re ­
fer not to  have an additional national confer­
e n c e  sc h e d u le d  in their area. Also, since data 
sh o w  that m u ch  o f th e  atte n d a n c e  at an ACRL 
N ational C onference com es from  th e  im m e­
diate region, th e selected site m u st hav e a 
density o f p o p u la tio n  in th e  su rro u n d in g  area 
to  su p p o rt a national conference.

4 )  W hat s h o u ld  I d o  i f  I t h in k  h a v in g  
a n  ACRL c o n f e r e n c e  in  m y  r e g io n  is  a 
g o o d  idea?

C ontact y o u r local ALA an d  ACRL c h a p ­
ters a n d  en co u rag e th em  to  invite ACRL to 
ex p lo re th e  possibility o f having a conferen ce 
there.

5 ) W h y is n ’t th e  c o n fe r e n c e  h e ld  in  m a ­
jo r  m e tr o p o lita n  areas lik e  N ew  Y ork, San 
F ra n cisco , o r  Atlanta?

ALA  practice d o e s not allow  a division to 
h o ld  a national conferen ce in a city th at is 
suitable for hosting th e  larger ALA A nnual 
C onference.