AALL's Ad Hoc Chapter Relations Advisory Group, established in 1996, worked to learn about AALL chapters and find ways our national and local/regional organizations could work more effectively together. Using input from many chapter leaders, the Group identified a number of areas where AALL and chapters could share expertise and resources, and cooperate to benefit members. With their collective creativity and commitment to the effort, the Group developed a Vision and Objectives for an AALL-Chapter Alliance, based on the fundamental beliefs that both organizations share about the law library profession.
At its February 28, 1997 meeting, the AALL Executive Board demonstrated Its support of these objectives by authorizing funding for several communication and training efforts to benefit chapter leaders. The quarterly Chapter Leadership Bulletin, which ran from 1997 through 2002, was one step in improving communication. The bulletin was replaced in 2004 by the Chapter Council Chat, an electronic newsletter. Both were designed to make the jobs of chapter leaders easier by providing useful information about chapters and AALL resources. A series of roundtable sessions at the AALL Annual Meetings offer chapter leaders a chance to share information with one another, as well as hear from AALL staff with specific expertise in areas such as finance, public relations, newsletters, and program planning. |
