ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 156 ACRL executive summary Since June 1986, when the ACRL Board adopted the Strategic Plan developed by the Strategic Plan­ ning Task Force, the goals and objectives in the Plan have given us a way of looking at what we ac­ tually do in relation to what our members have said they wanted the Association to do. The Plan has become, not just a paper docu­ ment, but a lively guide reminding us of the direc­ tions ACRL members have given us. The major goals (professional developm ent, c a p a c ity ­ building, advocacy, and research and publication) will probably not be accomplished w ithin the plan’s 5-year time frame. But specific objectives like “holding a national conference in 1989,” will be. Each m onth in this column I report to you ACRL’s accomplishments, particularly in the goal areas of the Plan. As we move through the second year of the Plan, the Planning Committee will be formally soliciting from you the members, ideas for future directions. But even before you receive a for­ mal invitation, please get in touch with them, to let them know where you w ant ACRL to move ahead in 1992, 1993, and after. We have seen that a Plan can make a difference in how we place our emphasis and deploy our re­ sources. Making the Plan is only half the fun. C ar­ rying it out is really exciting. For instance, in January at the Midwinter Meet­ ing ACRL passed some important milestones. Goal I: Professional development Planning for the 5th ACRL National Conference in Cincinnati moved in exciting new directions: •T here will be programs as well as papers. The call for papers and programs is out; the deadline is Seats available on flights to Italy In conjunction w ith the WESS Florence Conference, ACRL has available group fare seating on regularly scheduled flights to Rome or Milan on April 2-3, 1988, from Los Angeles or New York. Return flights are on April 11, April 18, or later. Travelers need not be registered for the WESS Conference in order to take advantage of the special fare. The special fare from Los Angeles is $655 and from New York it is $555, for all those returning j on April 11 or April 18. A $50 surcharge applies for those returning after April 18. Anyone inter­ ested in an Italian trip next month may contact JoAn Segal at ACRL, (312) 944-6780. July 31,1988. See C&RL News, January 1988, p.4. • There will be a 100th Birthday Party for aca­ demic library representation in ALA at the exhibits opening on Wednesday, April 5, 1989. • A conference-wide event at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, on Friday night, April 7, will be included in the registration fee. • A ticketed luncheon will highlight ACRL’s contributions to academic librarianship over its 50- year history. Guests will include past presidents and executive directors of ACRL. Goal II: Enhancing library service capability The Board agreed to contract with Nancy Van House to prepare a Manual for Output Measures. The ACRL staff was instructed to seek additional outside funding and to modify the 1989 budget to accommodate the expense. Expenditures in Fiscal Year 1988 have reduced ACRL’s fund balance. Further discussions were held with the National Endowment for the Humanities on possible fund­ ing for a proposal to involve Historically Black Col­ leges & Universities (HBCU’s) and their commu­ nity public libraries in a project to provide good humanities programming for the public. Goal III: Advocacy and liaison The Board passed a resolution supporting the reauthorization of the Library Services and Con­ struction Act. Strategic Management Directions Finances. The Board had previously decided to place in reserve an amount equal to half a year’s av­ erage operating expenses. At the Midwinter Meet­ ing they allocated $20,000 in F Y 1989 for a compet­ itive Special Grants Fund and approved guidelines for applications and criteria for awards. This is spe­ cifically designed to put back into program activi­ ties funds the Board had been holding in reserve for various contingencies. Even after accruals and de­ ferrals have been removed from fund balances, ACRL has a balance that exceeds the mandated re­ serve. The Board also voted to give $5,000 to the H ugh Atkinson M em orial A w ard and to use $22,000 toward the Output Measures Manual in the current fiscal year. These three decisions will reduce the fund balance, but the mandated reserve is still intact. At the end of the first quarter, preliminary re­ ports indicate th at ACRL has received 22% of budgeted revenues and has spent 22 % of budgeted expenses. Staffing. Joe Boissé and JoAn Segal attended a seminar for chief elected and chief staff officers in 157 San F ra n c isc o , J a n u a r y 2 1 -2 2 . T h e se m in a r stressed the nature of associations, roles and re­ sponsibilities of officers and staff, association infra­ structure, and competencies for association m an­ agement. M em bership. ACRL membership as of Novem­ ber 30, 1987, was 10,385 (down 1.5% from last year at the same tim e). Leadership assistance. A leadership training ses­ sion designed by ACRL President Joanne Euster in­ volved the ACRL Board, key committee chairs, and staff for half a day on January 8. Hosted by Richard Werking, director of the Trinity Univer­ sity Library and chair of ACRL’s College Libraries Section, the session provided excellent m aterial for orientation as well as for Board work. The facilita­ tors w ere Board m em bers them selves, and the results were obvious in the creative and coopera­ tive problem-solving th at Board members carried out during the M idwinter Meeting. Board members and staff visited committees and section executive meetings to fam iliarize th em ­ selves with the work of many ACRL units. A L A cooperation. Before and during the Mid­ w inter M eeting, the ACRL Executive D irector participated heavily in preparing ALA planning materials and the Financial Seminar on January 8. At the meeting the ACRL Board spent 90 m in­ utes reviewing the ALA planning materials; Presi­ dent Euster will send a report of th a t review to Bill de John, chair of the ALA Planning Committee. You will be pleased to learn th a t Sharon Hogan has been elected to the ALA Executive Board for a four-year term beginning this July. T hat makes 2 ACRL Past Presidents on the ALA governing body (Carla Stoffle is the other) and gives academic li­ brarians as well as those interested in divisions in general another Board representative.—JoAn S. Segal, A C R L Executive Director. ■ ■ Guidelines/criteria for special grant funds The following guidelines/criteria were passed by the ACRL Board at the January 1988 M idwinter Meeting in San Antonio. G rant proposals may be submitted by any sec­ tion, chapter, or committee of ACRL. However, each ACRL unit can participate in submitting only one (1) proposal in each funding period. G rant proposals shall: 1. Be consistent w ith the ACRL Strategic Plan and Priorities identified by the ACRL Board for any given year. 2. Be used to fund only one-time projects. Funds cannot be used for ongoing projects. 3. Not be used to fund ongoing or routine operat­ ing costs, e.g., newsletters, annual directories, etc. 4. Promote ACRL visibility. 5. Stimulate ACRL membership. 6. Not be used for re-grant purposes or for redis­ tribution to other recipients; e.g., Chapters Coun­ cil cannot get a grant to enlarge a pool of money available for chapters competition. Preferences for ranking: 1. Projects which demonstrate wide im pact on membership. 2. Unique and innovative projects. 3. Complete, concise, well-developed proposals. Bear in mind, the Review/Rating Committee (not in priority order): 1. Will consider im pact of proposal on ACRL H eadquarters staff. 2. Is not obligated, nor is the ACRL Board, to fund proposals in their entirety. 3. Neither encourages nor discourages joint pro­ posals. 4. Encourages proposal writers to be complete, yet concise, in explaining their projects. 5. Requires four (4) copies of each proposal to be at ACRL H eadquarters by the deadline (N.B.: FY1989 proposals m ust be received at ACRL Headquarters by June 1, 1988). 6. Requires all proposals to have a fiscal adminis­ trator. 7. Insists that all funds be expended according to existing ACRL policies and procedures. ■ ■ Document delivery papers needed The International Federation of Library As­ sociations and Institutions’ Office for Interna­ tional Lending, in cooperation with the journal Interlending and Document Supply, is plan­ ning an international conference on all aspects of docum ent delivery to be held November 14-16, 1988, in the Connaught Rooms in the London city center. Many different aspects of document delivery will be covered, including electronic document delivery, union catalogs, conservation, access to materials causing particular problems, copy­ right, and the support of document delivery by reference services. Anyone interested in making a presentation to the 150 or so delegates expected may contact: G raham P. Cornish, Assistant to the Director, IFLA Office for In tern atio n al Lending, c/o The British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston Spa, W etherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, United Kingdom.