First Draft: December 1990. First Edition: July 1991.
Revised: July 1993, July 1994, July 1995, June 2002, June 2005, November 2016
1. Mission
a. The Arts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries provides a forum for discussion, learning, and resource sharing between librarians and others working in or interested in the visual and performing arts.
b. Many specialist librarians in the arts belong to other professional organizations, such as: Art Libraries Society of North America, Music Library Association, and Theatre Library Association. Therefore, the Arts Section serves as an umbrella group for librarians primarily associated with collections and services emphasizing architecture, art, cinema, music, or theater and for other librarians who have an active interest in these and related subjects (i.e. book arts, design, dance, film/video, television) whether or not it is part of their current positions.
2. Core Organizational Values
a. The Arts Section has developed core values the section believes in and uses as a guidance in governing. The Core Values should adapt the organization to the times and be reevaluated every 5 years by the Executive Committee to keep the Arts Section relevant. The Core Values were created in 2015.
3. Strategic Directions
a. The Arts Section’s Strategic Planning Committee and the Executive Committee work together to create the strategic Directions of the organization. These represent areas the Committees and Executive Committee will use to guide their work. The Strategic Directions are reevaluated every 5 years by the Strategic Planning Committee and the Executive Committee to keep the organization relevant and moving forward with the membership. The Strategic Directions were started in 2015.
4. Arts Section Governance Procedures
a. See the latest version of the Section’s governance procedures. The governance procedures describe the responsibilities of the Section’s leaders and groups.
5. Arts Section Leadership
a. Rosters of current Section officers, committee members, and other leaders are accessible on the ACRL website.
6. Arts Section Publications
a. Arts Section Newsletter
i. Purpose The Arts Newsletter provides information about the Section and other content of interest to the membership. Issues are accessible on the Arts Section website.
ii. Public Relations Officer Responsibilities
1. The Public Relations Officer’s (PR Officer) term is not specified; however, each PR officer should expect to serve two years: one year as the Assistant PR officer, one year as PR Officer. The selection can be made by the PR Officer or the section Executive Committee, with the assistance of the Membership and Outreach Committee. The PR Officer is an ex-officio member of the Section Membership and Outreach Committee. The PR Officer should keep in contact with all of the section officers and chairs, and should try to keep abreast of the activities of other arts-related library and information associations. The PR Officer has the opportunity to meet with other ACRL PR officers and editors at the annual conference breakfast. The ACRL contact person is the editor of C&RL News.
2. The PR Officer is is responsible for creating the spring and fall newsletters, the manage posts to the listserv, the section blog, and the section’s social media platforms. Also, this position is responsible for soliciting all material to be published. Section officers should be asked to provide relevant section news such as meeting reports, program announcements, new appointments, etc. Other news items and feature articles should be requested from section members and non-members as well. The PR Officer selects which of the submitted items will be published. News concerning ALA, ACRL, and the Arts Section has the highest priority. Other items should reflect the interests of the Arts Section membership. A balanced representation of the various art forms is desirable. The PR Officer edits the material and prepares the layout. No changes affecting the cataloging of the publication are to be made without prior approval by the section Executive Committee and the ACRL Publications Committee. Masthead information must appear in accordance with ACRL policy. Two people should proofread the newsletter.
3. The PR Officer coordinates the publication deadlines for each fiscal year with the C&RL News editor at ACRL headquarters. At present, the newsletter appears in the Spring and Fall; the volume number Changes with each fiscal/academic year; Fall is number one and Spring is number two of each volume. Biannual publication is contingent on ACRL funding; in some years only one issue may be funded. The camera-ready copy (i.e., eight 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper) is sent to the C&RL News editor at ACRL headquarters so that it arrives by the prearranged deadline. It is mailed out to the membership by the printer. The PR Officer may arrange an alternative means of publication and dissemination, but must then take full responsibility for any cost, overrun, delays, errors, etc.
4. Each issue is eight standard-size 8 1/2 x 11 pages. If additional pages are needed, the section Vice-Chair must request extra funds by December 1 of the preceding fiscal year (i.e., at least ten months in advance). As an alternative, ACRL will support the publication of one 16-page issue per year. If necessary, the PR Officer could produce a single “double-issue.”
5. The presently allocated run is 10% over the section membership. Part of this 10% is distributed to the other section newsletter editors. If additional copies are needed, the section Vice-Chair must request the extra funds by December 1 of the preceding fiscal year in the section budget.
b. Arts Section Website
1. Purpose The Arts section website is an important information resource and communication tool for the Section. It lists the current Section Officers, Committee Chairs, and Committee members, affiliates, meeting minutes, and business/activities pertaining to the Arts Section.
2. Webmaster Responsibilities The website is coordinated by the Section’s Webmaster, who is also an ex officio member of the Membership and Outreach Committee.
7. ACRL Section Resources
a. ACRL Contact Information
b. Resources for Working with ACRL. Includes Forms and Guide to Policies and Procedures
8. Section History
a. Newsletter archive, compiled by Thomas Caswell
b. Minutes of meetings
c. Lists of past leaders
d. Election histories
e. Old manual
DRAFT — Revised December 9, 2016
by Kai Alexis Smith