President’s Letter

Dear CALL members,

This is my last letter to you as President of CALL.  At the May business meeting, I handed the gavel to Julie Pabarja, who will do an amazing job this next year as President.

It has been an exciting and productive year!  I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who volunteered their time, as committee chairs and committee members.  Together, we’ve accomplished a lot.  Just to name a few things:

  • The CALL Bulletin Committee migrated the Bulletin to its new format and received a richly deserved Award for Excellence in Marketing – Best Newsletter from AALL.
  • Scott Vanderlin of last year’s Public Relations Committee received an AALL Award for Excellence in Marketing for CALL-er ID, the table display at CALL’s table at AALL in 2014.
  • This year’s Continuing Education Committee hosted an excellent CALL Institute Day. Steve Hughes of Hit Your Stride, LLC advised the attendees on creating riveting presentations, followed by a panel of law library directors on the skills needed to move into management.
  • Julie Pabarja convened a task force to review, update and rationalize the structure of the CALL website.
  • Maribel Nash and Megan Butman are working hard on Local Arrangements for the AALL Annual Meeting in Chicago in 2016.
  • The Membership Committee, with the Executive Board, has decided to modernize the method of membership renewal, beginning with the 2016 membership renewal cycle – look for more information on this in the fall.

The Board has also been working hard.  At the June meeting, we concluded the process of revising the CALL Handbook.  Each committee was asked to review and update their charge.  The exhibits were reviewed to ensure they describe current practices.  This year’s committee chairs will surely benefit from this work!

This edition of the Bulletin includes stories about experiences members Jona Whipple and Kara Young have had thanks to CALL grants for conference attendance, Kara Dunn’s article on best practices for library research guides, Lindsey Carpino’s article on legal research apps, and Sheri Lewis’s article about the Wright Fellowship for new law librarians.  Clare Willis provides her roundup of the May business meeting including AALL President Holly Riccio’s wonderful presentation on the benefits of professional associations.

Finally, thank you all for a wonderful year as CALL President!  I urge all of you to consider volunteering for a CALL committee – it’s a great personal and professional experience. I hope to see many of you in Philadelphia in July at the AALL Annual Meeting.  Stop by the Local Arrangements booth, or, better yet, volunteer to take a shift to tell the AALL membership about CALL, and AALL in Chicago in 2016!

Regards,

Margaret Schilt

CALL President, 2014-2015