Austin, Texas
May 18-20, 1994

The Research Library the Day After Tomorrow

President's Report

John Black
ARL President
University of Guelph

MR. BLACK: To begin this afternoon, I would like to ask you to please join me in a moment of silence in recognition of three of the leaders of this profession who have died since our last meeting, John McDonald, Fredrick (Fred) Wagman, and Robert Vosper. If you would, stand and have a moment of silence in their memory. Thank you very much.

I would like to start the business meeting with a brief review of some of your Board actions at the meeting on Tuesday, and also preview the meeting coming up in Washington in the fall.

In January, the Board's annual review of programming priorities was expanded to include a review of ARL's mission and strategic objectives. The Board concluded at that time, and again in further discussion this week, that the current strategic objectives continue to be the proper focus for the Association. Perhaps the language of both the mission statement and the objectives could stand some upgrading.

At the fall meeting we will report to you on any recommended changes to the ARL Strategic Plan. I might suggest, as background reading that you read the discussions of the strategic plan in the Minutes of the January Board Meeting. It will give you a good summary of some of the Association's strategic directions as seen by the Board. In particular the Board wants to look closely at the mission statement and a subgroup has been charged to look at it. We will consider it further at the Board meeting in mid-July, and then we will come back to the full membership at the fall meeting in Washington with any revisions to that mission statement.

A second item from the Tuesday Board discussion that I wanted to alert you to is the plans for the fall membership meeting. We anticipate a discussion format where several of the Committees of the Association will develop themes that they are particularly concerned about or want to have membership discussion, involvement, and engagement.

One action item that I wanted to report is a decision that we register ARL under the Lobbying By Public Charities Act under the terms of the provisions of the Internal Revenue Service code. Duane Webster, as Executive Director, will issue a written statement on the status of this at a later date.

Given the Association's expanding activity in relation to specific pieces of legislation on behalf of the members and on behalf of the Association, the Board feels it is wise to register with the IRS in this particular form. It does not involve a fee or a levy, but it is deemed as a prudent action for an association such as ARL. There are also some changes pending in legislation regarding lobbying activities, and particularly those by public charities, that could affect us.

That is all I have to report in terms of specific material from Board discussions.

I would like as well, as part of my report this afternoon, to recognize and salute four directors in the group who are retiring and for whom this is their last ARL meeting. I would like to acknowledge their significant contributions to ARL at this time. First of all, Norman Stevens (University of Connecticut) who is not able to be with us this afternoon and unfortunately will, as a result, miss his last ARL meeting. I believe we should formally recognize Norman's great contributions to the Association and to the profession. More than anything else, perhaps, I will miss Norman's sense of humor on the listserv and elsewhere.

Next I would like to ask Elaine Sloan to recognize and salute Millicent (Penny) Abell, (Yale University).

MS. SLOAN (Columbia University): As I am sure you all know, Penny has had an extraordinary career. She's made contributions to each of the four ARL institutions in which she has served and to the many professional associations in which she's been very active. She served as chair of the Center for Research libraries (CRL) Board, president of the Association of College and Research Libraries, and of course president of ARL.

But Penny's contributions cannot be captured even in so distinguished a résumé. First, I would like to note Penny's extraordinary role as a developer of people. This reaches far beyond those of you who are fortunate enough to have worked for her. Penny has been very active in research committees for professional associations and has probably served on or consulted for more research committees than almost anyone I know--a tribute to her keen interest in the nurturing of the profession. Secondly, Penny has an extraordinary ability to synthesize, analyze, and integrate information and to be a thoughtful discussion leader. It is a fitting contribution that at the last session of her last ARL meeting she is the Convener. Finally, and most importantly, are Penny's personal qualities: her quick wit and her smile. Penny, as you enter the next chapter of your life, please take with you our deep affection and our appreciation for all of your contributions.

MR. BLACK: Next I would like to ask Don Riggs to come forward to recognize Peter Spyers-Duran (Wayne State University).

MR. RIGGS (University of Michigan): It is my pleasure to have worked with Peter for the last three years in Michigan, and he is really a dynamo. Peter was born in Budapest and came to the United States in 1956. He has held several library directorships, including directorships in Florida and California before coming to Michigan. He assumed his current position at Wayne State University in 1983. He is Dean of Libraries, Dean of Library Sciences, Director of the University Press, and Director of the Media Services--he is doing the work of four people and probably getting paid for the work of one!

In 1983, when Peter assumed the directorship or deanship of Wayne State University, the library ranked 79th among ARL libraries; it currently ranks 42nd. He has transformed the library school into one of the nation's largest, and I believe it is in the top three. He is a true professional all the way around.

Peter has authored and edited at least a dozen books. He is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Library Administration, is a past President of Chicago's Alumni Association of the library school, and has been on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Library. He has been president of the Michigan Center for the Book with Hiram Davis, and he played an important role in reforming the Michigan Laboratories Research Triangle. Some of you may have visited the Detroit area library network, which was showcased this afternoon. Peter was the moving force behind that. In sum, he has had an eventful, fulfilling, and I believe, very interesting career not only as a library leader but also as a library educator.

Join me in wishing Peter the very best in retirement. We are going to miss him. He tells me that he and his wife Jane have a home down in St. Petersburg. I know Peter is going to be spending a little bit of time in his rocking chair, probably no more than three minutes relaxing, then he's going to start rocking. Peter most certainly has a high energy level. He is not going to disappear from the profession, and you will see his name around. Won't you join me in wishing him the very best in retirement.

MR. BLACK: Thank you very much, Don. I'm going to claim presidential prerogative, for lack of a better word, to salute the fourth of our retiring directors (retiring from ARL, not retiring from academic life), Malcolm Getz, from Vanderbilt University. I would like to use this opportunity to recognize Malcolm as vice provost for libraries at Vanderbilt University. As you know, Malcolm has decided to go back to full-time teaching in the University's economics department, having maintained an active role, while vice provost, in teaching, and a very active research role at the same time.

Malcolm and I joined the ranks of ARL directors in the distinguished class of 1984, and we both arrived in the role of an ARL director perhaps from the somewhat nonconventional or nontraditional background of economics. Malcolm has contributed his interest, his expertise, and his ideas to a number of ARL projects during the decade in which he has been involved with the Association, including the Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format, the Interlibrary Loan Cost Study, and most recently the interlibrary loan/document delivery work of the Access Committee.

Malcolm, while there may be some members of the group who have not always totally agreed with or embraced your idea about using marketplace forces to replace library services, for example, we have heard you. I believe everyone has recognized that your views challenged our thinking and enriched our discussions and our understanding of the issues. As you return to full-time teaching, we hope that you will not lose all contact with ARL and with what we are trying to do collectively and that there will be lots of opportunities to continue a collaboration on the important questions that face research libraries and universities in general. I personally am looking forward to continuing some of our collaboration since we both have roles as members of a board of another organization related to this field--the Public Affairs Information Service--so at least we'll have a chance to meet a couple of times a year. I ask all of you to join me in thanking Malcolm for his contribution to ARL.