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Colleagues: I hope you are all having a pleasant summer. Whether we are working in an academic, art & design, museum, public or special library, many of us are getting ready for the fall and wrapping up summer projects. The summer seems to go more quickly each year. This summer I was honored to be invited to the 50th Anniversary Conference of ARLIS UK & Ireland. The program was inspiring. The work that our affiliate organization is doing in the realm of diversity and decolonization is impressive. The city of Glasgow and the University of Glasgow are rich with history, architecture, art and design. It was great to see several ARLIS/NA colleagues in attendance, presenting papers, and lightning talks. Every time I go to an ARLIS conference in another country, I am reminded how important it is to network with our colleagues around the world. We have so much to learn from each other. Before the conference in Glasgow, the St. Louis conference co-chairs Jenny Akins, Andrea Degener, Skye Lacerte, and Rina Vecchiola hosted the Conference Advisory Planning Committee (CPAC) meeting July 11-July 12 to prepare for the 48th Annual Conference to be held Monday April 20-Friday April 24. Please note that the conference dates have been shifted up one day. The conference co-chairs and all of CPAC are doing a terrific job planning the conference. The program is going to be thought-provoking and balanced and the special events are going to be exceptional. The hotel is perfectly situated in the Central West End. Restaurants, shops, and Forest Park are all within walking distance. The Conference Advisory Planning Committee (CPAC) is looking forward to welcoming you to St. Louis. The conference website will be unveiled very soon. And speaking of conferences, the planning for the 49th Annual Conference in Montreal is coming along nicely. We should have a conference hotel and dates to announce to you next month. I'd like to provide an update on the work of the executive board and some of our committees, divisions, sections, and SIGs during the spring and summer. * The International Relations Committee organized a very successful Venice Study Tour and symposium entitled "Building Bridges." I would like to recognize both Isotta Poggi and Spyros Koulouris for their hard work and dedication to make this a study tour to remember. Several participants have shared that the tour and symposium was well-organized, educational, and stimulating. * The ARLIS/NA membership database is migrating to a new platform and will be ready to launch before membership renewals begin in October. The update was necessary to accomplish two major goals of the society. First, our implementation of the Humanities Commons requires a more up-to-date, interactive database software. And second, now that all chapters have voted to bundle membership, we needed to implement the changes in our membership database so that we can collect chapter dues and society dues in one transaction. There will be a brief period in the coming weeks when the membership directory and membership database will not be accessible. We will let you know when that occurs. * The Art & Design Libraries Division is working on a report similar to those prepared by the Museum Libraries Division<https://www.arlisna.org/publications/arlis-na-research-reports/1144-state-of-art-museum-libraries-2016-white-paper> and the Academic Libraries Division<https://www.arlisna.org/publications/arlis-na-research-reports/1659-state-of-academic-art-libraries-2019>. This report will be made available before the 2020 annual conference. * The Membership Committee has convened a task force to review the possibilities of a membership category for paraprofessional and support staff. Their report is forthcoming. * The Summer Educational Institute committee organized another very successful workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico in June and the committee is currently looking for host sites for 2020 and 2021. * The executive board is establishing an Affiliate Organization and Affiliate Liaisons Task Force to look at the role, mission, and organization of ARLIS/NA affiliates and affiliate liaisons. We want to ensure that we are doing our best to liaise with our affiliate organizations and giving our liaisons the support and resources that they need. * The executive board has been discussing transparent and equitable hiring and employment practices for interns and professionals and we are engaging the appropriate ARLIS/NA groups on how to move forward on these issues. We know that many of our members are concerned about this topic. The executive board will hold its midyear meeting in La Jolla, California on Thursday, September 12 and Friday, September 13. We will be discussing the business of the society and issues important to the membership. If you are interested in the content of the executive board meetings, please take a look at our minutes<https://arlisna.org/index.php?Itemid=187>. Finally, on behalf of the executive board, I want to thank all of the committees, divisions, sections, and SIGs that have been communicating their work and projects to the membership on ARLIS-L this spring and summer. We all do so much for the society, and the goals and plans you have shared are truly inspiring. Best, Laura Laura Schwartz Arts & Humanities Collection Strategist Visual Arts Librarian Subject Librarian for Film Studies UC San Diego 858-534-1267 President Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~