A very warm Aloha to all!
Thank you for believing that I can take the AALLC helm this year and continue to steer the Caucus towards our shared goals and aspirations. It is indeed an honor and also a challenge for me to make this year a productive one. I emphasize again that I cannot do it alone – I need all your help, especially the committee members, to embark on something exciting and different this year! We don’t have much time to do it, so let’s make the most of the time left before next July.
Committees: First I would like to thank all those members who volunteered to serve on the various committees. Your willingness to contribute to the Caucus reflects the continuing growth and dynamism of our group. I believe you all bring great enthusiasm, commitment, dedication and fresh ideas for moving our Caucus forward in the right direction.
Member Participation: Committee members are not the only ones with ideas and vision for the Caucus – I urge all members to get involved by presenting ideas and suggestions. Good things don’t happen unless we are all actively pursuing and reaching for the same goals.
Newsletter/Listserv: Let’s all try to contribute something to the newsletter and/or listserv –views and opinions, brief news items, interesting articles you would like to share, a favorite website, humor in your everyday library work, ideas to make our work easier, work-related problems and solutions that work, and anything else that would interest our fellow librarians or lead to lively discussions.
2005-2006 Goals: Every year we reevaluate our achievements to see if we have succeeded in fulfilling our goals. Based on the Caucus’ mission, I would like to continue the past president’s focus on communication and promotion because I think these are crucial if we are to grow as an organization. However, I would also like to suggest more concrete ways that we can achieve our mission, obtain the recognition we deserve, and make the Caucus more relevant and meaningful to its members.
1. Get to know one another, include a short bio in the online member directory, attach a favorite photo of yourself and your family. State why you joined the Caucus and state what you have gained from it
2. Develop and foster relationships with vendors, and other organizations and groups that relate to or share our group’s goals and wish to contribute to our mission and activities.
3. Strengthen and stabilize our financial base.
4. Preserve our history as an organization, keep an archive and recognize our founding members.
5. Encourage and support our members who hold offices in other AALL groups and support programs in which our members participate.
Finance: Organizations cannot exist and run programs without the financial support and generosity of its members. Currently, collection of dues is voluntary and intermittent, usually done at the annual meeting or at the time of membership registration. We urge you, if you haven’t already done so, to make a suggested contribution of $10 to the Caucus. It gives us great flexibility in planning our programs and functions if we have sufficient funds. Again, we emphasize that we do not have mandatory membership dues but we rely upon our members’ generosity and commitment to donate a suggested amount to the Caucus to pay for Caucus-related expenses.
Business Meeting: I would like to thank those who attended the Business meeting in San Antonio. I encourage you to make it a priority to attend the meeting. It is about the only time we can meet face-to-face to exchange ideas and discuss the direction of our Caucus. We also need you to be present to vote on specific agenda items.
Annual Dinner: I know some of you may not be able to attend the business meeting because of conflicts with other functions. However, I urge you to join us at the traditional dinner gathering where we can socialize, exchange ideas, and discuss work or non-work related issues. This is our chance to put faces to names and look for potential leaders in our organization. Over cups of steaming green tea or scallop soup and plates of sumptuous roast duck, we can relate to one another and discover common interests and aspirations.
New Members: I extend a warm welcome to our newer members and look forward to more new faces in the future. If we can recruit more members, we will be enriched by the infusion of fresh ideas and increased energy.
Caucus Table: Once again, we will have an exhibit hall table for our Caucus – please consider contributing ideas or items to publicize our Caucus.
AALL and AALLC: Several questions we should ask are: what do we expect from AALL and how can we contribute to our parent organization while at the same time furthering the goals of our own group? How can we market ourselves as a group? What resources of our parent group can we use to the betterment of our own group and the realization of our own goals?
The Future of AALLC: I urge you again to actively participate in any way you can, via the newsletter, listserv, etc. and submit your ideas for discussion. Our organization is only as dynamic as its members. Think about the future of our organization – what do you like/dislike about it, what would you like it to do, what is the best way it can serve its members, what should be the future direction of our Caucus?
