LISTSERV 16.5 - ARLIS-L Archives

Hi Suzy, Eileen, et al:

Glad to see our distinguished retired colleagues coming “out of the woodwork”! I have been thinking for a few years now that we should ask the next conference committee for a meeting room to get together. (An excellent panel session several years ago featured Janis Ekdahl and Bill Walker among others.) I plan to be in Seattle in 2016. Would someone like to work with me on an informal gathering there? I would be willing to serve as a collector of ideas for an informal agenda.

I would like for part of the meeting to be devoted to just listening to each other’s’ stories of what we’ve been doing since retirement. In my own case, I welcomed retirement 12 years ago as an opportunity to do all the professional work (mainly writing and editing) that I never had time—or never enough time—to do when collecting a salary. But now I think I am ready to REALLY retire, i.e., focus on digging through old file boxes and drawers and “putting my things in order” before getting on with the rest of my life, which will I think, always include ARLIS on some level.

As far as the expense of going to the ARLIS conferences is concerned, I was reminded rather forcefully in Ft. Worth of the hardships of some librarians (both younger and older) who, even though still working, do not get full support for the conference from their institutions. I know that in my new home here in the Mountain West chapter region, we have a great deal of difficulty getting Mountain West chapter members to come to chapter meetings, let alone the annual conference. And this is in spite of having many more travel awards available at both the national and chapter level. I’m not sure that is a topic primarily of interest to retirees—it is definitely of interest to a broader group of members. But it could certainly be one of several topics for discussion.

I am interested currently in ideas about finding homes for one’s personal/professional papers. Other topics anyone? Maybe we could even plan a virtual meeting for those who can’t get to Seattle—though I admit I would not have time to work on a virtual meeting myself! Ah me! Talk is so cheap—and I find that I have less and less time and energy for organizing meetings—but I would be happy to help with getting a room set aside for us in Seattle. If you are sure you’ll be going, please reply to ARLIS-L. The more the merrier!

Fondly, Joan

From: ARLIS/NA List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eileen Markson
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 6:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Retired members and the future

Hi Suzy,

What a fine way of expressing some of the thoughts that I'm sure other retirees have had. I have been very lucky to remain in touch with what's going on in librarianship and contribute to ARLIS/NA by serving as the copy editor of Art Documentation, but as the MLA message below says, it is very expensive to go to conferences regularly without institutional support. But there are some people (Joan Benedetti is an example) who do go and others who might serve not only at the conferences but in the very many ways expressed in the MLA message. Perhaps at the Seattle conference a group of us retirees (i.e., those who can afford to attend!) could get together and exchange ideas about this topic. In the meantime, we could start discussing this on ARLIS-L. You've made a very welcome start. Thank you so much.

Eileen Markson

On Apr 23, 2015, at 2:22 PM, "Frechette, Mary" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi everyone –

This topic is one that has been discussed, mostly privately, for a while now, at ARLIS/NA and its chapter meetings. This message was posted on the Music Libraries Association list-serv this morning, and I’ve received permission to repeat it here. I think the authors says it so well that there’s no reason to paraphrase or try to be original.

I'd like to encourage the board to look for ways to keep retired members interested in participating in MLA's meetings and other activities. The programs at meetings understandably deal largely with the nuts and bolts of the profession, as they have in the past and should continue to do so. But retirees, who are no longer involved with such day-to-day matters, naturally become less and less interested in these topics. That's OK, but keeping in mind that retirees no longer have institutional support to subsidize attending meetings, they need reasons to attend. Yes, it's great to see old (using the term advisedly) friends and colleagues and to meet some new ones, but coming to MLA is expensive and sentimentality is not a reliable pull for coming year after year. Moreover, there is a danger of feeling "forgotten but not gone."

There is a lot of experience and expertise among retirees that could be useful to the MLA membership--from young folks starting out to librarians late in their careers approaching retirement themselves. So maybe retirees can't help other members with the latest technology but they can offer advice on management, personnel, and other career-related issues. They could serve on search committees, award committees, and maybe even (dare I suggest it!) on the board. They could be invited to participate in programs on matters about which they are knowledgeable. Yes, they can and should volunteer to do these things, but I believe it would benefit MLA for the board to reach out more to retirees, seek them out to serve on appointed committees, and encourage committee chairs to cadge retirees to join.

MLA has always been a vital organization with an important mission. Retirees are a growing class of members who are eager to help it continue growing from strength to strength.

Best,

Suzy Frechette

St. Louis Public Library

Mary Frechette
Senior Subject Specialist
Saint Louis Public Library
Central Library | Fine Arts
1301 Olive St, St Louis MO, 63103
[log in to unmask] | 314.539.0383
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Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
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