ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 346 / C&RL News B y S h a r o n R o g ers A C R L’s 46th President A C R L ’s past year in perspective. E very once in a while, organizations, like people, need to take “tim e-out” for reassessment and re­ newal. 1984-85 has been A C R L’s year to focus on in te rn a l goals, so th a t the mission of the associ­ ation and the needs of its m e m b e rs m a y be achieved w ith enhanced efficiency and effective­ ness. This keynote em p h a­ sis began w ith the design of the ACRL President’s Program for 1985. “P ri­ orities for Academic L i­ b r a r i a n s h i p ” w as a n ­ nounced as the them e of Sharon Rogersa y e a r - lo n g a c tiv ity . A C R L m e m b e rs w ere asked to invest in the association by providing their advice on the desirability and feasibility of m oving fo rw ard w ith the m any projects and activities rec­ om m ended in the 1982 Activity Model for 1990. Six h u n d re d ACRL m em bers received a survey for their responses. They w ere also asked to provide dem ographic inform ation about themselves. Re­ sponses to the survey w ere presented as background inform ation for the final priority-setting activity during the annual program m eeting in Chicago in July. The goals of the President’s Program w ere to: 1) establish priorities for association activities; 2) collect dem ographic and a ttitu d e inform ation from a random sam ple of m em bers and from p a r ­ ticipants at an annual m eeting to com pare sim ilari­ ties an d /o r differences betw een the general m em ­ bership and the activists w ithin the association; 3) provide basic inform ation needed for the first stage of A C R L’s strategic planning activity; and 4) experim ent w ith a prototype ACRL m em ber­ ship survey, to be considered for im plem entation on a scheduled basis. T he P resident’s Program is not the only example of the ACRL emphasis on investm ent in the associ­ ation itself. O ther illustrations, hardly exhaustive, include the following: • A t the June 1984 annual m eeting the ACRL Board created a Strategic P lanning Task Force to d ra ft a five-year plan to cover 1986-1990. • T h e Planning C om m ittee is continuing its re­ view of ACRL com m ittees and sections to ensure the vitality of the existing units of the Association. •A C R L m em bers have just voted on a constitu­ tional change w hich, if approved, will allow for greater B oard representation by activity sections ACRL P r e sid e n t’s rep ort, 1 9 8 4 - 8 5 challenge not only of arran g in g a display bu t also of originating the foundation ideas for the exhibit. In such libraries the p lan n er consequently exerts as m uch if not m ore creative thinking and talen t in the initial stages of building an exhibit as in the fi­ n al stages of o rg a n iz in g an d la b e lin g th e dis­ play. ■ ■ In m any of the examples cited here the exhibit is perhaps not as sophisticated as one m ounted in a larger academ ic library. H ow ever, w ith the lim ­ ited resources of th e sm aller academ ic lib ra ry , m eaningful displays w hich fulfill the goals for a successful exhibition p ro g ram can be designed. The exhibit p lan n er in the sm aller library faces the July/August 1985 / 347 and chapter nominees. •T h e now fully-implemented program of offi­ cer and executive director travel to chapter m eet­ ings has enriched the perspectives of the leaders of the Association. •A n o rien tatio n p rogram for ACRL B oard members intends to provide increased assistance for Board members in making informed and timely decisions for the Association. •T h e references throughout this report to news about ACBL which appeared in C &R L News un­ derscores the increased visibility of the News as a communications tool for the Association, a role th at will be shared w ith association-supported sec­ tion newsletters. This emphasis on review and renewal w ithin the association has not detracted from the usual sub­ stantial list of achievements of ACBL’s mission. Fortunately, the A L A Yearbook provides a com­ prehensive statem ent of ACRL’s long list of activi­ ties th at need not be repeated here. I will only high­ light some of the initiatives th a t promise increased support for ACBL and ACBL members as they in­ crease the visibility of their respective roles in the higher education community: •T h e Professional Association Liaison C om m it­ tee was created by the Board at the June 1984 meet­ ing to bring ACBL’s m any interests before other professional associations. •Initiatives to support the research activities of ACBL members ranged from the creation of an Ad Hoc Com m ittee on Research Development which has recommended and implemented the Research Clinics described in the April 1985 C &R L News to the creation of a standing committee on Research Development and the creation of a new Research Forum column in C& RL News. •O u tre a c h to other higher education associa­ tions and relevant news m edia by the Executive D i­ rector and the President (see details in the April 1985 issue of C& RL News). • T h e Board has reaffirm ed ACRL’s com m it­ m ent to Choice as an ACRL publication and se­ lected Choice to prepare the third edition of Books fo r College Libraries. The Association’s investment in itself and inter­ pretation of itself to the com m unity of which it is a p a rt coalesces in its recognition of outstanding members. The Association and the Baker and Tay­ lor Com pany present the ACRL Academic or Re­ search L ibrarian of the Year aw ard for 1985 to Jes­ sie C arney S m ith, university lib ra ria n at Fisk University. Smith is cited for her attention to the im provem ent of academ ic lib ra ry services, re ­ sources and opportunities for Blacks, as well as her work as university librarian at Fisk and her contri­ butions to the professional literature in librarian- ship. One of the pleasures th at each President of the Association experiences is the personal enrichm ent g ain ed th ro u g h th e expansion of professional friendships in ACRL. I thank all of you who have contributed im agination, time, and com m itm ent to ACRL’s work during this year. All of us are w arm ly and strongly supported by the effective staff at ACRL headquarters, where it has been my privilege to observe the skillful leadership of Dr. Jo An Segal. ACRL’s year of investm ent in ACRL will, I trust, ensure the future vitality of the Association and create an even more powerful tool represent­ ing the concerns of academic librarianship and en­ hancing the resources available to individual m em ­ bers. ■ ■ Oberly Award announced James E. Simon, Alena F. Chadwick, and Lyle E. Craker have been selected to receive the 1985 Eunice Rockwell Oberly Award for Bibliography in the Agricultural Sciences. The aw ard recognizes their jointly w ritten m onograph, Herbs, an I n ­ dexed Bibliography, 1971-1980: The Scientific Literature on Selected Herbs, and Arom atic and M edicinal Plants o f the Tem perate Zone, p u b ­ lished in 1984 by Archon Books. Simon is a professor in the D epartm ent of H orti­ culture at Purdue University; Chadwick is branch reference librarian at the Science Libraries, Uni­ versity of Massachusetts, Amherst; and Craker is professor in the D epartm ent of Plant and Soil Sci­ ences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. T he O berly M em orial A w ard, in stitu te d in 1925, is presented in odd-num bered years to Amer­ ican citizens who compile the best bibliographies in agriculture or related sciences in the preceding two-year period. The aw ard is administered by ACRL’s Science and Technology Section, and is m ade possible by a fund established by colleagues in memory of Eunice Rockwood Oberly. The au­ thors were presented w ith the aw ard at the Pro­ gram Meeting of the ACRL Science and Technol­ ogy Section in Chicago on July 9. Herbs, an Indexed Bibliography is available from the publisher for $69.50. This year, because of the large num ber of entries subm itted, the Awards Com m ittee has given an honorable mention to two other publications: N .L . Evenhuis. A n Indexed Bibliography of Bombyliidae (Insecta, Diptera). Theses Zoologi- cae, vol. 4. Braunschweig, W .G er.: J. C ram er, 1983. Stephen T. Hopkins and Douglas E. Jones. Re­ search Guide to the A rid Lands o f the W orld. Phoe­ nix: Oryx, 1983. ■ ■