History of the Alberta Association of College Librarians

In May of 1973, at the Library Association of Alberta Conference, the College Librarians Committee met to investigate the feasibility of shared procedures such as acquisitions, cataloguing and a union list of films and serials. A second, more formal, meeting took place in November of that year at Red Deer College where the first constitution and bylaws were adopted. The group decided upon the name Alberta Council of College Librarians and voting members were determined to be "personnel of public and private college libraries and/or AV departments in Alberta." The Council did not have an executive until the November 1977 meeting. In 1978, the semiannual newsletter began, an institutional membership fee of $10.00 was established, as well as the first bank account. In December 1982, a formalized agreement between the Council and the Alberta Government Libraries Council was signed, which set up a joint Union List of Serials. The Union List ceased operation in 2001 when electronic access to serials made the List redundant. The name of the group was changed to Alberta Association of College Librarians in 1984. This change was required as part of the registration process under Alberta's Society Act. Over the years, AACL has evolved to be an association of librarians that acts as a forum for the discussion of issues such as copyright, resource sharing, faculty status, collection evaluation, security systems, electronic databases, automation and disaster planning. There has been long-time participation in the annual statistics survey. As of spring 2002 there are 31 member libraries and 89 librarians on the membership list.

Business Plan

The 2001 - 2005 Business Plan, a revision of the original 1998-2001 Plan, examines the history of the Alberta Association of College Librarians, and outlines the vision, mission, values, and goals. Vision Promote excellence in college and technical institute libraries in Alberta.

Mission

Facilitate communication, planning and cooperation among college and technical institute libraries. AACL also promotes continuing education opportunities and assists in professional development endeavors.

Values

Promotes the following values:

• Lifelong learning.
• Professional development
• Cooperation/collaboration networking
• Diversity of duties and responsibilities associated with college and technical librarianship
• Communication

Goals

1. Provide a forum where Alberta college and technical institute library personnel can meet to discuss common issues, share ideas and network. Strategies:

• Organize meetings
• Communicate through the AACL web site, listserv and newsletter.

2. Provide opportunities to share resources. Strategies:

• Participate in electronic interlibrary loan initiatives.
• Support an interlibrary loan agreement that include providing loans free of charge amongst member libraries.
• Investigate joint database licensing agreements.
• Investigate collaborative funding.
• Develop, distribute, and collate results from an annual statistical survey.
• Promote participation in The Alberta Library.
• Maintain an electronic archives of Association business (newsletters, surveys, etc.).

3. Provide a voice from college and technical libraries and librarians to others. Strategies:

• Prepare submissions for relevant newsletters/magazines (e.g. "Letter of the LAA", CTCLs "Communiqué"). Encourage membership involvement in other library associations/ organizations (e.g. The Alberta Library, CTCL, LAA, etc.).
• Maintain the AACL website.
• Promote the use of the Association's listserv.

4. Advocate the role of college and technical libraries and librarians at a local and larger library community level. Strategy:

• Participate in The Alberta Library and the Library Association of Alberta.

5. Have as many librarians attend the bi-annual meetings as possible. Strategies:

• Hold meetings in conjunction with other major events and/or meetings in major centers (eg. The Alberta Library directors' meetings). Investigate alternate ways to hold meetings to include as many libraries librarians as possible.

6. Organize, promote and support professional development activities. Strategies:

• Hold workshops in conjunction with business meetings.
• Sponsor other relevant activities.

Bylaws

The bylaws for the Alberta Association of College Librarians outline the following: * Name * Membership * Objectives * Meetings * Voting * Officers * Duties of officers * Auditing * Renumeration * Borrowing powers * Custody of the seal * Amendment of bylaws A complete copy of the bylaws can be viewed, using Adobe Acrobat at Alberta Association of College Librarians Bylaws

Bylaw ammendments are available at Bylaw ammendments (see section 12 of the bylaws), responsibilities of new officers and meeting guidelines.

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