A happy autumn to all
I am sure your libraries have been abuzz with activity over the past few weeks with the opening of the academic year. The kinetic energy is palpable. To begin the year, I would like to share some good budget news. After a multi-year hiatus the State has supported Instructional Equipment and Library Materials (IELM) funding. Many library’s depended on this funding to underwrite a majorly of their collection budgets. After a few years in the wilderness, it is great to have this support return. District allocations can be viewed on the Chancellor’s Office website at
The Council of Chief Librarians (CCL) Board met in Ontario to continue our action plan implementation, http://www.cclccc.org/CCL-2013-2015-ActionPlan.pdf. We moved forward by building upon our July meeting in San Francisco. The action plan focusing on the major goals of:
- Strengthen the capacity of California community college libraries to support student success through the attainment of information literacy
- Leverage access to information and technology tools to support student learning
- Promote libraries as dynamic spaces where students congregate to creatively engage with their peers, information, and instruction
A tangible benchmark for this Fall is the upcoming workshop on Planning, Assessing, and Communicating Library Impact: Putting the Standards for Libraries in Higher Education into Action. The workshop is free and will be held in the South on Wednesday Nov. 6th and in the North on Thursday November 7th. Continuing professional development opportunities is a priority for the organization.
Furthermore, on professional development theme, I have been appointed to the State Library’s InfoPeople Advisory Board representing California Community Colleges. There will be several areas to strengthen our capacity to work collaboratively expanding community college participation in professional development prospects. InfoPeople delivers workshop and courses to target to the library community. Most workshops are delivered online. https://infopeople.org/
Finally, please mark your calendars for the annual Deans and Directors meeting in Sacramento on March 6-7, 2014. We are planning this free 2-day session to provide an exciting, valuable, and interesting program. We are here for you and want to support our collection of libraries in the best manner possible. Please contact me or one of the executive board members if you have ideas, questions, or solutions for the needs of community college libraries.
All the best,
Tim, CCL President