President’s Letter

Dear CALL Colleagues,

Summer is transitioning to fall, and the business of CALL’s 2018-19 year is ramping up. However, before we look ahead, let’s take a quick look back and acknowledge some of the work that’s been taking place during the summer months.

First, thanks to all of our members who presented over the summer at CALIcon18 in D.C. or at the AALL Annual Meeting in Baltimore. It’s great to see so many of you making yourselves visible, sharing what you know, and representing CALL in a positive way. If you’ve been thinking about giving a presentation at a conference but you don’t know how to make that happen, read on – CALL has a way to help you get started with that.

Also, thanks to the members of CALL’s Strategic Planning Committee for their work gathering input from our members (and thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out their survey). With that information collected, the Committee will begin to create our new strategic plan that will carry us into the future.

Now for the “looking ahead” part. Many CALL committees have already commenced their work for 2018-19. The Continuing Education Committee is already setting up their programming schedule. In addition to planning our business meetings, the Meetings Committee is now going to be hosting our after-work meet-ups. These meet-ups are a great way to network with fellow CALL members in a relaxed setting while you’re off the clock. Look for the announcements of locations, dates, and times for our meet-ups on CALL’s listserv and Web site. The Mentorship and Leadership Development Committee will continue its mission of connecting newer and more experienced members for mentorship opportunities while officially adding a new component to its charge: helping CALL members with writing and submitting program proposals for conferences and with seeking out professional writing opportunities. And of course, the staff and editors of the CALL Bulletin have already been at work (but you knew that, because you’re reading this).

I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to all of you who are volunteering for CALL this year, whether it’s by serving on the Executive Board, chairing a committee, or becoming a committee member. There are only so many hours in a day, and we appreciate that you are willing to give some of your valuable time to help make CALL a source of professional development and support for all of its members. And if you still have a hankering to do some volunteering, let me know. It’s not too late to join in.

Here’s to a great 2018-19!

Best,

Joe Mitzenmacher