ALAO Conference Early Birds

It's time to register for the 32nd Annual ALAO Conference! Notices have been arriving via email reminding all that early bird registrations must be postmarked September 20, 2006.

What is ALAO? ALAO is an acronym for the Academic Library Association of Ohio. An active professional state level organization for librarians:

"We are over 600 members, representing more than 100 libraries, organizations, and businesses. We provide support, encouragement, and continuing education opportunities for academic library staff from all over Ohio through our workshops, annual conference and other programs. ALAO is the Ohio chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and is a section of the Ohio College Association (OCA). " - ALAO web site 9/07/06

If you are not familiar with ALAO, attending the fall conference is a great way to learn about this organization. In addition to presentations and poster sessions, IG and committee tables will be present allowing conference attendees the chance to explore. Additionally, each interest group supports at least one presentation/session at the conference and presents a workshop in the spring. ALAO supports six interest groups and several committees that represent the "concerns and issues related to academic librarianship in Ohio." Current interest groups include:

• CMIG - Collection Management Interest Group
• CMCIG - Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group
• DLIG - Distance Learning Interest Group
• IIG - Instruction Interest Group
• SSIG - Support Staff Interest Group
• TSIG - Technical Service Interest Group

My first year working at Ashland University, ALAO held their annual conference at the John C. Myers Convocation Center here on campus. Our library director, Bill Weiss, offered anyone interested the opportunity to participate. As a result I attended my first professional library conference. I found the CMCIG table and was invited to their annual business meeting, attended the sponsored session, and signed up to be a coordinating committee member. This IG was essential to me as a new librarian as it provided me with opportunities to work with my peers and a network for support. After a year on the CMCIG coordinating committee I became IG chair and served for three years (one as co-chair). This led to the opportunity to serve on the conference planning committee for 2004 and 2005 and my current appointed positions on the ALAO Board as Liaison To Ohio ALA Councilor and OLF Representative.

ALAO is a great opportunity for Ohio academic librarians. All you have to do is attend that first conference and get involved!

Tags: ALAO, Academic Library Association of Ohio, ALAO Conference, Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group, CMCIG