ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


Guidelines for ACRL C hapters

Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, 
January 23, 1975.

Background
The following statement appeared in the 

1956 ACRL Organization Manual:
The ACRL chapter is an important means 
of connecting a local or regional group of 
college . . . librarians with the national or­
ganization and its headquarters. The chap­
ter charts its own course. The only require­
ment is that it hold annual or biennial 
meetings and report annually. Members 
of chapters are not even required to be 
members of the national association (of­
ficers are expected to b e ).
Although the Constitution has always 
made provision for chapters, none was es­
tablished until a group in the Philadelphia 
area organized and obtained approval from 
the Board of Directors late in 1951. . . . 
Chapters have already proved to be far 
more useful than was originally anticipat­
ed. It was expected that some chapters 
would wither on the vine, but so far all 
seem to have had healthy growth. They 
provide a device for all members who so 
wish to participate in the ACRL program 
locally if not nationally. The chapter is a 
handy framework within which librarians 
can meet for social purposes and consider 
professional problems of local importance.
In some cases, chapters undertake studies 
or perform cooperative services. The chap­
ters help to draw people into ACRL mem­
bership and participation in the national 
organization.

Organization
Article VI, Section 4 (c ), of the ALA Bylaws 

states: “A division may affiliate with itself re­
gional, state, or local groups interested in the 
same field of library service or librarianship. 
Such groups may admit members who are not 
members of the division or of the Association.”

The ACRL Bylaws provide for chapters as 
follows:

Article IV. Chapters
Sec. 1. Establishment. The Board of Direc­

tors may establish a chapter of the Association 
in any state, province, territory, or region on 
the petition of twenty-five members of the As­
sociation residing or employed within the area.

Sec. 2. Bylaws. A chapter may adopt its own 
bylaws provided there is no conflict between 
them and the Constitution and Bylaws of the 
Association.

Sec. 3. Members. A chapter may admit

members who are not members of the Associa­
tion.

Sec. 4. Meetings. Each chapter shall hold at 
least one meeting a year unless it is affiliated 
with an organization that normally meets bien­
nially.

Sec. 5. Reporting. Each chapter shall send 
a report of its meetings to the executive secre­
tary of the Association within one month fol­
lowing the meeting.

Sec. 6. Dissolution. A chapter may be dis­
solved at its request by the Board of Directors 
of the Association and shall be so dissolved if 
it becomes inactive or fails to comply with the 
provisions of this article.

Petition
The petition for chapter status should read 

as follows: “The following persons hereby peti­
tion for chapter status in the Association of Col­
lege and Research Libraries, under the name 
[name of proposed chapter] and covering the 
geographic area [location and/or geographic 
coverage]. The purpose and objectives of the 
chapter will be as follows: [state briefly].” List 
the name, address, and telephone number of 
the individual acting as chairperson. Include 
the signatures of at least twenty-five ACRL 
members and a typed alphabetical list, with 
complete addresses, of those signing the peti­
tion.

Approval
Forward the petition to the Executive Sec­

retary, Association of College and Research Li­
braries, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. 
The petition for chapter status will be consid­
ered at the next meeting of the ACRL Board 
of Directors, if received one month prior to that 
meeting. Notification of the board’s action will 
be sent to the acting chairperson as soon as pos­
sible after the board meeting.

Status and Obligations
ACRL chapters are completely autonomous 

except as provided by the ACRL Constitution 
and Bylaws. They may (1 ) adopt bylaws gov­
erning officers, membership meetings, commit­
tees, and other matters; (2 ) develop and im­
plement their own programs, requesting assist­
ance from the ACRL Executive Secretary; (3) 
establish criteria for dues and membership; or 
(4 ) develop a newsletter or engage in other 
activity in order to improve communication 
within the membership.

ACRL chapters must ( I ) hold at least one 
meeting a year, unless affiliated with an organi­
zation that normally meets biennially; (2 ) send

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to the ACRL executive secretary, within one 
month following a meeting of the chapter, a 
written report including a summary of the 
meeting and a list of the chapter’s officers, 
with addresses and telephone numbers; and 
(3 ) provide funds to support the activities of 
the chapter.

Assistance

The ACRL executive secretary is available 
to assist chapters in developing programs and 
planning activities, as well as to provide other 
advice as needed.

The ACRL Chapters Committee, constituted

from the ACRL membership in active chapters, 
is responsible for providing assistance in the 
formation of chapters; improving the relation­
ship between the chapters and ACRL and thus 
between academic librarians and the national 
organization; conducting an annual survey of 
chapters and compiling information for the 
benefit of all chapters in order to promote the 
exchange of information; and developing pro­
grams for encouraging membership in ACRL.

■ ■
Reprints of these guidelines are available 

from the ACRL office, 50 E. Huron St., Chica­
go, IL  60611.

People
PROFILE

Richard W. Boss, director of libraries of the 
University of Tennessee, will succeed William
S. Dix on July 1 as the Princeton University li­

brarian. Princeton’s
President William G. 
Bowen announced
that the appointment 
of Mr. Boss conclud­
ed a wide search over 
the past seven months 
for the person best 
qualified to direct one 
of the nation’s fore­
most teaching and re­
search libraries. Mr. 
Dix will retire as li­
brarian and member 

Richard W. Boss of the faculty, Mr. 
Bowen said, “After

more than two decades of building the re­
sources of the Princeton library system and 
serving the larger library and scholarly commu­
nity in countless ways, including a recent term 
as president of the American Library Associa­
tion.

At Princeton Mr. Boss will direct one of the 
largest open-stack libraries, with more than 
2,200,000 volumes in the main Harvey S. Fire­
stone Memorial Library and with sixteen spe­
cial subject libraries and two residential hall li­
braries within the university system. The library 
staff numbers about 300.

Mr. Boss, a 37-year-old native of Arnhem, 
Netherlands, and a U.S. citizen, received a B.A. 
degree from the University of Utah. He earned 
an M.A. in library science at the University of 
Washington and completed his Ph.D. course 
work at Utah.

He served in various capacities in the Uni­
versity of Utah Library, becoming its associate 
director and later acting director, before mov­
ing to the University of Tennessee in 1970 as 
director of libraries. He has also taught at the 
Universities of Utah, Iowa, and Tennessee and 
Western Michigan University and provided 
consultative services for a number of other in­
stitutions.

His service at the University of Tennessee 
has included membership on the Cultural Af­
fairs Board, the Research Council, the Faculty 
Senate Executive Committee, the Faculty Sen­
ate Transition and By-Laws Committee, the 
Undergraduate Council, and Board of Deans. 
He also served on the Tennessee Higher Educa­
tion Commission’s Library Advisory Committee 
and the Advisory Council on Libraries of the 
Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Mr. Boss, a former president of the board of 
the Bibliographical Center for Research, Den­
ver, is a member of the American Library As­
sociation, the Southeastern Library Association, 
the Tennessee Library Association, Phi Beta 
Kappa, Tau Kappa Alpha, the American Asso­
ciation of University Professors, the American 
Society for Information Science, and the Asso­
ciation of Research Libraries Commission on 
Access. He is president of Phi Beta Kappa at 
the University of Tennessee and regional sec­
retary of Phi Beta Kappa.

Articles and publications by Mr. Boss in­
clude: ACRL Seminar on “The Changing Role 
of Directors of University Libraries,” Association 
of College and Research Libraries audiocassette, 
1973; “View from the Middle: Selling Ideas 
Down the Organization,” American Library As­
sociation audiocassette, 1974; “Cataloging Cost 
Studies,” Utah Academy of Sciences Proceed­
ings; “Cost Studies and Performance Standards,”

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