From the President
by
Hello RUSA Members!
I’m so happy to be representing you all as your President this year. I look forward to building on the great work of Chris Le Beau. I was really impressed by all the programming we offered at ALA Annual in New Orleans. Our turn out was amazing! It was standing room only for the President’s Program with Dr. Carla Hayden and former ALA President Courtney Young. Literary Tastes was full as well and what a wonderful set of panelists! I was so inspired by their talks and the way they all flowed together. At the Carnegie Awards, I was lucky to hear even more authors. Finding out how Jennifer Egan was inspired by archival research through war time letters between newlyweds and eventually meeting the husband still makes me chuckle!
On one of the last days of the conference, I attended the open Joint Board Meeting of ALCTS/LITA/LLAMA where they had a facilitated discussion about moving forward in their work to create a new division. I’m really impressed about the strides they’ve made in the last 18 months and can see some possibilities for our division. I know questions have been raised regarding our participation, however, RUSA was not at the same place as the other three divisions when the conversation was started. But know that I am tuned in to these discussions as they move forward and any possible collaborations.
This spring I led a small group to explore RUSA’s budget and finances. The group’s work is nearly completed, but as a broader division made up of sections our work is just beginning. As we begin the process of next steps, always assume good intentions and please remember to treat everyone with respect, kindness, and understanding.
Please feel free reach out to me at agbrown@gwu.edu.
Ann Brown
RUSA President 2018-2019