Charles Lord, ALUW President, 1998-1999; Deborah Jacobs, City Librarian, Seattle Public Library; Diane Grover, ALUW President, 1997-98.
The Association of Librarians of the University of Washington (ALUW) welcomed Deborah Jacobs, City Librarian, Seattle Public Library, as the keynote speaker at its 1998 annual meeting held on May 13, 1998.
Jacobs, who had recently arrived in Seattle from the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library in Corvallis, Oregon, described her experiences "as the new kid on the block" in Seattle. As soon as she arrived in Seattle, she was immediately swept into the controversy of where to build the new downtown library as well as the development of the "Proposed 1998 Capital Plan for Seattle Public Library" which was submitted in March 1998. She convinced the mayor to build the new library on the site of the old one and is now heavily promoting the "Libraries for All" plan which will appear on the ballot in November 1998.
She stressed that her vision for SPL includes strengthening the book collection, responding to neighborhood needs by enlarging and renovating present libraries, building new ones where needed, reaching out more to the community regarding library issues, and passing the bond issue for over $196 million, which will cost the average taxpayer $55 a year. The Library Foundation is committed to raising additional funds needed to complete the plan.
During the ALUW Annual Business meeting, Charles Lord, Engineering Library, took over the position of President from Diane Grover, Serial Services. Other new officers include Anne Zald, Vice President/President-Elect, Reference and Research Services; Richard Jost, Secretary, Law Library; Alex Wade, Treasurer, Systems; and Robert Estes, Junior Trustee, Bothell Campus Library.