Message from the President

Happy 2013!

I can hardly believe it’s January already (not to mention that it’s nearly February). I hope that everyone had a joyous holiday season. Despite the holidays, VALL members have been busy!

Vice-President/President-Elect Amy Wharton has been making plans for the spring meeting, to be held at the Wolf Law Library at the College of William and Mary on  April 12.  Please stay tuned for more details on the upcoming meetings, as well as a call for 2013-14 committee volunteers before the chapter meeting. 

When considering your registration and travel arrangements for AALL Annual Meeting in Seattle or the SEAALL meeting in Decatur, Georgia, don’t forget about the Grants Committee!  Funding is available for these conferences, and funding can also be acquired for other professional development opportunities.  Check out the Grants page at http://vall.pbworks.com/w/page/23509251/VALL%20Grants for more information. 

My thanks to the Nominating Committee, Anthony Ikwueme (chair), Evelyn Campbell, and Victoria Kahn for preparing a soon-to-be-announced slate of candidates for our 2013-14 officers. My thanks to all who are running for office.  Offering your time and talents is a valuable contribution to the chapter, and we all greatly appreciate your efforts.

It’s also time to consider nominations for a chapter VIP to the Annual Meeting.  If you have any ideas, please contact the Public Relations Committee chair, Joyce Janto.  (And if you’ll be in Seattle, don’t forget about the VALL lunch on Monday during the conference!) 

The Collaborative Communications Committee is undertaking an effort for regular contributions to VALLTalk; if any of you have ideas for regular features or have items to contribute, please let us know!  There is also now a VALL LinkedIn group, thanks to the efforts of Amy Wharton.  To add the group to your profile, please go to http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4672478. 

Several members will be attending the Chapter Government Relations Virtual Training in late January.  Stay tuned for tips on more effective advocacy with our state and federal legislators.  The Bylaws committee will also be working to ensure that our Bylaws are compliant with all AALL guidelines. 

Chris Vassey has continued to streamline the membership process with the assistance of the Membership Committee; please let her know if you have any suggestions for further improvement (or suggestions for further recruitment!)  We currently have 143 members… but there’s always room for more committee volunteers.  The Placement Committee has done an exceptional job of posting job announcements on the Wiki – on behalf of all those institutions who have benefited from these efforts, thank you!

Thanks to all of you who have stepped up to help VALL conduct its efforts so far this year.  Now, let me know what VALL can do for YOU!

Suzanne