ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 342 / C&RL News all 20 correct, so th e selection of th e w in n er was not difficult. T he experience was definitely w o rth w h ile and will be rep eated earlier in th e semester d u rin g the next academ ic year. In addition to presenting li­ b r a r y r e f e r e n c e so u rc e s in a s o m e w h a t n o n - tra d itio n al w ay, one could also use this technique to publicize lib rary services and user education ac­ tivities. ■ ■ ACRL P r e sid e n t’s rep o rt, 1 9 8 3 - 8 4 By Joyce B all A C R L ’s 45th President A C R E ’S past year in perspective. D u r i n g th e year 1983-84 librarians in academ ic an d research libraries m ore clearly realized th a t li­ braries are a m ajor com ponent of th e inform ation econom y. T he use of in- form ation has becom e a s u rv iv a l skill fo r e a c h an d every individual in our society. As a strong a n d w e ll- f u n c tio n in g professional association, A CRL has continued its long tra d itio n of p ro v id ­ ing a m eans of en h an c­ ing lib rary service to th e academ ic research com ­ m u n ities. M any A C RL m em bers p a rtic ip a te d in Joyce Ballreg u lar, on-going activi­ ties: p la n n in g , b u d g e t­ in g , p ro g ra m m in g , c o n tin u in g e d u c a tio n , a n d publications. 1983-84, how ever, was a special year an d th e highlights of this year are presented below. A sum m ary of th e w ide range of activities of th e as­ sociation an d th e details of an n u al operation a p ­ p e a r in th e ALA Yearbook. In S eptem ber 1984, E xecutive D ire c to r Julie Virgo an d I w ere invited to represent ACRL on the Advisory C om m ittee for L ibraries an d th e L e a rn ­ ing Society. This project is being sponsored by the U.S. D e p a rtm e n t of E d u catio n to determ ine how libraries can effectively support th e findings and recom m endations of th e N ational Com m ission on Excellence in E du catio n . O n th e recom m endation of th e Advisory C om m ittee, R ichard D ougherty p rep ared a position p a p e r for an invitational sem i­ n a r w hich w ould fram e a response for th e aca­ dem ic lib ra ry sector. T h e reco m m en d atio n s of tw enty-five academ ic librarians w ere coordinated w ith those m a d e by lib ra ria n s fro m p u b lic li­ b ra rie s , school lib ra rie s a n d fro m pro fessio n al schools. A rep o rt is to be published this sum m er. T he ACRL P resident’s P rogram scheduled for the D allas conference will highlight activities w ithin th e O ffice of E d u c a tio n an d th e C e n te r for L i­ braries an d E d u catio n Im provem ent, D ougherty’s p ap er, and a special rep o rt p re p ared by Executive D irector Julie Virgo. In April 1984, ACRL held its T h ird N ational C onference in S eattle. T he C onference th em e, Myths an d Realities, w as introduced by D . Kaye G apen, dean, University of A labam a L ibrary. Ga- p e n ’s p ap er was one of alm ost fifty papers p re ­ sented to th e 1,220 lib rarians atten d in g th e confer­ e n c e . I f t h e v a r i e ty of to p ic s , th e le v e l of atten d an ce, th e active p articip atio n of conference attendees, an d th e exhibition of new products by July/August 1984 / 343 vendors are indicative of the quality of the Confer­ ence, then ACRL has served the profession well. Providing am ple opportunity for exam ination and discussion of the issues facing members of the Asso­ ciation is of prim e im portance in the ACRL pro­ gram of national conferences. Planning for the F ourth Conference to be held in Baltimore (1986) has already begun. The J. Morris Jones Leadership W orkshop was presented in W ashington, D .C ., prior to the M id­ w in ter m eeting in Jan u ary 1984 u nder A C RL’s leadership and staff support. According to the results of the program evaluation, this program successfully attained its goals and pleased partici­ pants. There were 98 attendees from the eleven di­ visions and the Executive Board who m et to explore leadership w ithin ALA and its divisions. The sum ­ m ary paper by E d Holley, “P utting it all in Per­ spective,” is available from B arbara Macikas in the ACRL office. Macikas is now preparing training packets to be used for future workshops w ith spe­ cial emphasis on the needs assessment conducted and questions about ALA financial m anagem ent which were not answered during the “Financial Forum ” portion of the workshop. Changes in key ACRL staff positions required the attention of the Association officers and deserve a full rep o rt to th e m em bership. In Novem ber 1983, Julie Virgo announced her intention to resign effective June 1984. D r. Virgo has served as Execu­ tive D irector since 1976; ACRL, the organization, the officers, and all the members both past and fu­ tu re have the benefit of Julie’s wise, assertive, and judicious adm inistration. At the end of D r. Virgo’s tenure, ACRL enjoys a stable position as ALA’s largest division, offers its members a full program of continuing education, has an established record of successful national conferences, offers timely and useful program s at the ALA annual confer­ ence, and m aintains a healthy publishing program in support of the Association’s mission. Addition­ ally the netw ork of local chapters has spread and th e responsiveness of th e Association has been strengthened. A sincere effort has brought pro- gram m ing to librarians unable to travel to distant locations. D r. Virgo has been instrum ental in help­ ing ACRL members build a strong organization w ithin ALA to the m utual benefit of both associa­ tions. In consultation w ith ALA Executive Director R o b ert W ed g ew o rth , a search com m ittee was form ed w ith S haron Rogers, ACRL President- Elect, as chair. On the recom m endation of this com m ittee, JoAn Segal was offered and accepted the position. She will assume the office of ACRL Executive D irector in September 1984. D r. Segal is currrently Executive D irector of the Bibliographi­ cal C enter for Research in Denver. A second search com m ittee was appointed to fill the position of Choice Editor/Publisher. Joanne E u ster, C h a ir of th e P ublications C o m m ittee, chaired this committee. The current editor, Rebec­ ca Dixon, who served for tw o years tendered her resignation effective August 1, 1984. After a n a­ tionw ide search, the com m ittee (Joanne Euster, A C R L P u b lic a tio n s C o m m itte e ; D w ig h t Burlingame, Choice Editorial Board; ACRL Presi­ dent Joyce Ball; Julie Virgo; and C lare Hoover, Choice Production Manager) recom mended ap­ poin tm en t of P atricia Sabosik. Ms. Sabosik ac­ cepted ACRL’s offer and will begin at the end of July. She has had extensive publishing and editorial experience w ith both the Baker and Taylor Com ­ pany and the H. W. Wilson Com pany. In addition to E ditor Dixon’s resignation, Asso­ ciate E ditor Louise F. Lockwood has announced her retirem ent at the end of 1984 after tw enty years of service. Filling this m ajor position will be one of the first challenges of the new Editor/Publisher and the new Executive Director. In October the ACRL Executive Com m ittee, acting for the Board of Directors, voted to appoint Charles M artell as editor of College and Research Libraries effective July 1984. E d ito r C. James Schmidt served a full three year term and one addi­ tional year; the last issue under his editorship was the May 1984 issue. M artell has announced plans for reorganization of the journal. New positions will include 1) a Book Review E ditor and 2) a Re­ search Notes Editor. M artell has nam ed W illiam Jones (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Gary Law rence (University of California) to these posi­ tions respectively. M artell also plans to increase the num ber of m anuscripts subm itted, to undertake m ore editing of m anuscripts, and to encourage the Book Review E ditor and the Research Notes Editor to take an active role in soliciting m anuscripts and in defining the direction of the journal. New m em ­ bers of the Editorial Board will be announced in July 1984. W hile ACRL honors m any of its outstanding members, the ACRL Academic and Research Li­ brarian of the Year is clearly the most prestigious. The Association and the Baker and Taylor Com ­ pany will present the 1984 aw ard to Richard D. Johnson. Johnson was cited for his professional contributions to three institutions, his service as ed­ itor of College and Research Libraries and Califor­ nia L ib ra r ia n , his service as a c tin g e d ito r of Choice, his efforts as chair of ACRL’s First N a­ tional C onference, his authorship of the “Aca­ demic Libraries” chapter of the À L A Yearbook, and his activities in other divisions of ALA. Upon com pleting my year as President, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ACRL headquarters staff whose daily activities and dedi­ cation provide continuity and strength which are so very necessary in a volunteer organization. I would also like to thank all the members who vol­ unteered and agreed to serve in m ajor positions at my request. I believe th a t this rich com bination serves our profession and each of us as individual members of the profession very well as we strive to deal w ith the m omentous issues of the day. ■ ■