ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 608 / C &R L News ACRL executive summary The month after conference is always one where one expects a respite in the routine before the fall flurry of activity. But at ACRL Headquarters, that respite seems to elude us. Having been unable to fit in one’s vacation before the conference, staffers have until August 31 to use all but 5 vacation days or lose them, so we operate somewhat short of staff. W ith the fiscal year closing on August 31, we needed to be sure all our financial reports were in order: budgets, revised at conference, had to be re­ done and re-submitted to Fiscal Services (and dis­ tributed to division officers), and reimbursement requests, due August 15 from all committees, task forces, chapters, and sections, must be logged, compared against budgets, and forwarded to Fis- cal Services. Projects initiated at conference require commit­ tee appointment letters and the record-keeping as­ sociated with them, and staff liaison people begin their work with members on getting new projects off the ground. Committee reports from confer­ ence need to be read so staff can be alert to what the members are thinking and doing and can notify member leaders of interesting items. Minutes of Board meetings need to be written and staff opera­ tions in response to Board actions must be planned and delegated. In preparation for fall activities, staff has begun its planning work for: •The division leadership conference in Septem­ ber, which involves the president-elect of each di­ vision in an orientation experience that grew out of an ACRL/ALA Goal Award project; •The fall joint meeting of division executive committees, a first-ever cooperative venture; •The fall meeting between CO PES and division representatives to forge a new “Operating Agree­ m ent.” As part of the annual ALA planning process, all senior ALA staff, including top division people, participated in the ALA Planning C om m ittee meeting. This year the committee concentrated on evaluation of programmatic activity. So, our “respite” is illusory, but we start the year off with our track shoes on and a head start on the crowd, we hope! Arranged in order of A C R L ’s Strategic Plan, here are some specific activities of the month: Professional d ev elo p m ent Planning has begun for the accreditation pre­ conference for Historically Black College and Uni­ versity libraries, with Beverly Lynch as chair. Preparations are underway for a second C JC L S CD-ROM teleconference and transmission of an ACRL continuing education course via satellite. Information about local presentations of ACRL continuing education courses was mailed to all uni­ versities that are institutional members of ACRL and to the ACRL Personnel Administrators and Staff Development Officers Discussion Group. Work has commenced on the fall ACRL/PLA NEH Humanities Programming Workshop, the last in the current series. C incinnati Conference activity heated up as multitudes of ACRL members unexpectedly sub­ mitted program ideas, leaving the committee as­ tounded and embarrassed with riches. 135 papers have been submitted! Enhancing service capability ACRL has received funding from NEH for a hu­ manities programming workshop for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It will be held in February, and announcements will be coming soon from Sandy Donnelly. Prelim inary work com m enced for statistics- gathering for non-ARL university libraries and for Historically Black College and University libraries. Work was begun on a proposal for a new project on Sources of Revenue in Academic and Research Libraries. A dvocacy and liaison Evan Färber has begun to seek funding for his Retired Librarians Service Corps idea. R esearch and publications B ooks f o r C olleg e L ib r a r ie s , 3d edition, was shipped to those who had ordered it. The computer tape version is also available. Strategic m anagem ent directions Cheryl Robinson-Smith joined the staff as assis­ tant editor, C &R L News. Elaine Opalka has been promoted to a position in the ALA Executive Office as Roger Parent’s administrative assistant, effective in mid-September.—JoA n S . Segal. ACRL Florida Chapter The Florida Chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries will meet No­ vember 4 at the H arley Hotel in O rlando. Duane W ebster, executive director of A RL, and Charles Churchwell, faculty member in the Department of Library Science at Wayne State University, will speak on the theme, “The Academic Library Is M ore Than an Inform a­ tion C enter.” For m ore information, contact: Betty D. Johnson, duPont-Ball Library, Cam ­ pus Box 8418, Stetson University, DeLand, F L 32720-3769; (904) 734-4121, x218.