"Looking Back & Planning Ahead"

As a busy year winds down into the holiday season, I am already looking forward to a vibrant new year filled with activities and enjoyable events. But before I turn the page on the calendar, let me briefly fill you in on what your Board and Chapter have been doing since last Spring's newsletter update.

In May, the Board met via teleconference as we greeted new Board members Jan Hartley, Vice-President/ President-elect, Mark O'English, Secretary/Treasurer, and Genevieve Williams, Member-at-Large. We also said good-bye and 'job well done' to Beth Lindsay and Linda Frederickson. Outgoing President, Corey Johnson reported an $888 'profit' from the Pack Forest conference. We also discussed the membership drive, the scholarship program, the 2009 ACRL National conference, and the legislative/advocacy program.

After the 2007 visit to our Pack Forest conference from then ACRL President, Julie Todaro, I was reminded how important it is for our Chapter to participate with other Chapters. So at last summer's ALA Annual, Jan Hartley and I attended the Chapters Council meeting. The Chapters Council meets twice a year and "provides a forum for the exchange of information, to promote the development of chapters, to provide support for chapter officers and to communicate concerns and needs of chapters to the ACRL board. The Chapters Council also fosters relationships between the chapters and national ACRL". In order to get our chapter more involved, I ran for and was elected secretary for the Chapters Council. We will meet at Mid-Winter and I will be sharing the news and activities of other chapters in the near future.

In October, the Board met just prior to the ACRL OR/WA conference at Menucha. We continued our planning for increasing our membership, the upcoming conference, and advocacy activities. Many thanks go to Members-at-Large, Alyssa Deutschler and Genevieve Williams who ran the scholarship competition for this year's conference. They advertised, reviewed the essays, and selected our winners who received full conference registration costs, $25 for transportation, and a one-year membership in the Washington State Chapter of ACRL. Congratulations to the scholarship winners: First time attendee, Destinee Sutton, University of Washington, Engineering Librarian and Student Maura Walsh, Emporia State University - Portland Cohort. Please look for their reports in this newsletter.

Lorena O'English also expressed interest in continuing with the Legislative Coordinator activities. We will work together to investigate ways to advocate for Libraries. If anyone would like to join our brainstorming, please email Lorena at oenglish@wsu.edu.

Approximately 30 Washington Chapter members attended the ACRL OR/WA conference themed "The Once and Future Catalog". Presenters from North Carolina State University, Georgia State Library, Oregon State University, and the University of Washington shared their experiences and expertise of developing and working with catalogs. In addition, two discussion groups met to talk about information literacy and to explore the creation of a Northwest Research Network.

Be sure the dates March 12 -15, 2009 are highlighted on your calendars and plan on attending the ACRL National Conference in Seattle. Register by January 16 for $70+ savings. If you are planning to attend, please also take the opportunity to be a volunteer! Beth Lindsay and I are co-chairing the Volunteer Committee and would love to have you join the team! Please email me at anna3@u.washington.edu.

Jan Hartley has started coordinating the 2009 Pack Forest conference. If you have ideas for themes, presentations, or wish to volunteer, please email her at HARTLEYJ@seattleu.edu.

Finally, are you interested in participating in our Chapter in broader ways? Please contact Corey Johnson at coreyj@wsu.edu by December 31, 2008 to run for and/or nominate someone for Vice-President/President-elect, and/or Member-at-large. Please see the Board Position Descriptions on the website for more information @ http://www.lib.washington.edu/acrl-wa/board/board_position_descriptions.htm

In closing, I hope you all look back on 2008 with appreciation for your accomplishments and look forward to new adventures in 2009. May your holidays be restful, renewing, and memorable!

Anna