Greetings from your Presidents, Maureen and Marilyn.

Registration is open!  This is our personal invitation for VRA & ARLIS/NA members to join us for the 2nd Joint Conference in Minneapolis, March 24th - 28th.  This will be a unique experience and we invite you to come and meet your friends and also make new ones.  The program theme is "Collaboration: Building Bridges in the 21st Century."  This theme will be carried out through numerous workshops, sessions, programs, meetings and special events.  This conference will provide you the opportunity to network with your colleagues, learn the latest in what is happening in libraries and visual resources collections, plus have fun at the social events.

We would like to highlight a few of these events for you.  There will be the Founder's Fete to honor our organization's founders and to serve as a fundraiser for us.  This event will be the evening of March 24th at the Gale Mansion and will be $40 a ticket.   We anticipate this event will sell out due to limited space in this historic structure, so sign up early.  The Minneapolis Institute of Art will also be open this evening for us to view their exhibits.  The MIA is only a few blocks from the Gale Mansion and buses will be available to take you to both places.

The Joint Convocation will be at the Hilton Hotel on March 25th.  This is to be followed by the "Ice Breaker" Welcome Party at the Walker Art Center.  Buses will be available to take you from the hotel to the Walker.  Their galleries and book shop will be open until 10 p.m.  Come and help us break the ice at the Walker.

Of course, numerous sessions, meetings, and exhibits will be held at the Joint Conference. The exhibits will be open on March 25th - 26th.  Please visit our exhibitors booths as they are a vital part of our conference and organizations.  On March 26th, the Shhh...Silent Auction will have their closing event begin at 6 p.m. enticing us to purchase all the grand items that VRA & ARLIS/NA members have donated.

Other joint events are the First Time Attendees and New Members Breakfast on March 25th and the Leadership Breakfast on March 27th.  VRA & ARLIS/NA will have separate Membership Meetings to conduct their organizations business on March 26th.  There will be a joint buffet lunch served between the two business meetings.  The conference officially ends on March 28th.  See the Conference Schedule web site at http://www.vra-arlis2011.org/

to register and to see details of the entire Joint VRA & ARLIS/NA Conference.  Not only will you get more bang for your travel bucks, but we hope you will find this to be one of those memorable conferences.  See you on March 24th to 28th in Minneapolis. 

Marilyn Russell, Ph.D.

Library Director

President ARLIS/NA

Haskell Indian Nations University

155 Indian Avenue

Lawrence, KS 66046

Phone: 785-832-6661

Link to website: http://russell.marilyn.googlepages.com