Katharine Calhoun, Editor
calhoun@gatech.edu
Hello everyone! As I close out the year as chair of STARS, I want to take a moment to thank all of you who have become involved to make this section a wonderful one! As a section, we have been committed to providing timely, relevant professional development and continuing education opportunities for our members. We are also committed to providing a network of colleagues, and you have proven over and over how reliable and helpful that network can be. So, thank you for all of your efforts to make this section a vibrant professional community! I have been honored to work with such a fantastic group of people.
For those of you who have not yet fully taken advantage of the opportunities to get involved in STARS, I would like you to reconsider. As with any organization, it only becomes vibrant and meaningful for those that fully participate. Won’t you consider becoming more fully engaged and offer a fresh perspective? I have to say that STARS is one of the friendliest groups I’ve been involved in, so you’ll get the opportunity to meet lots of folks and your input will be welcomed! We have more than 700 STARS members, but only 5% serve on committees. Won’t you become one of the few, the proud, the STARS involved?
I know that in these tight budget times, travel may be difficult. That being said, STARS has many opportunities to get involved that do not require travel to ALA. We have two award committees that do all of their work virtually. You could suggest ideas for programming on STARS-L as we are always looking for ideas. You could lead a discussion forum on STARS-L as well just by posting a thought-provoking question. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the thoughtful responses.
For those members who do attend ALA but have not yet volunteered for a committee, please consider attending our all-committee meeting on Saturday, June 25th, at the Loews Hotel Feliciana Room from 8:00 – 10:00 am. Almost all of our committees meet at this time in the same room, so you can sit in on any committee to find out more about it and then rotate to another. Our committees work on some great projects to advance our understanding of resource sharing, and there are plenty of ways to become involved. We also understand that you may not be able to attend every ALA meeting.
I was hesitant to become involved in STARS at my current level, but it really has been one of my most rewarding professional experiences. The time commitment as Chair has not been overwhelming as I feared, and I find myself invigorated by working on issues that are meaningful and by providing relevant programming for our members. I hope you’ll join me in trying to make STARS all that it can be by filling out the RUSA Online Volunteer Form.
Sherri Michaels, Chair
shmichae@indiana.edu