Rob Withers (Miami)

The end of June marked a number of transitions for ALAO. At our Annual Board Retreat thanked and acknowledged the service of members who completed their terms on the board, including Pat Antonelli (DLIG Co-Chair); Jo Ann Calzonetti (Treasurer); Brian C. Gray (Board Member at Large); Steve Kennealy (IIG Co-Chair); Douglas Morrison (Past President) Ann Raney (CMCIG Co-Chair); Chris Rigda (Board Members at Large); and Judy Thompson-Verdi (SSIG Chair).

At the same time, we welcomed a new generation of ALAO’s leadership, including Don Appleby (Board Member at Large); Christina Bonner (DLIG Co-Chair); Kathy Brown (SSIG Chair) Greg Martin (Board Member at Large); Gaynelle Predmore (Treasurer); Nicole Robinson (Board Member at Large); Rocki Strader (Vice President/President Elect); Chris Thornton (TEDSIG Co-Chair); Kathryn Venditti (IIG Co-Chair); and Kathy Yoder (CMCIG Co-Chair).

It’s been a privilege working with both of these groups through the retreat – I can’t think of a finer group of people to work with as we planned for the coming year, which has many challenges and opportunities.

One challenge will be changes coming to the Ohio College Association (OCA), which will be re-organizing this summer. A dedicated task force headed by Past President Karen Wilhoit will be examining options for next steps and present a recommendation to the Board this summer (see the Past President’s Report for more details).

Another challenge has been funding for libraries of all types. In conjunction with OELMA and the Ohio Library Council, the ALAO Executive Board has endorsed a statement “Ohio’s Libraries: Serving All Ohio Libraries,” which calls for elected officials “to ensure that the critical services and resources provided by Ohio’s library systems continue to be available to Ohioans.”

Thankfully, with enough times, challenges can lead to improved solutions to a previous status quo. ALAO is excited to have obtained access to new software for managing our membership database that will greatly benefit all members (see the Membership Database Update for more information).

Don’t forget our upcoming conference “At the Crossroads: Re-Charging, Re-Aligning, and Re-Defining the Libraries” in Wilmington, Ohio this October.

I thank everyone who has served ALAO through membership on the Board, Conference Planning Committee, and committees as we finish one year and move into another, and hope that many more will seek out opportunities to do so in the future. These are exciting times, and ALAO’s past, continuing, and incoming leadership is poised to help us as we move forwards from here!