Association for Rural and Small Libraries

History

The oldest document on record for the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) indicates that the association was established in 1982. Its founder was Dr. Bernard Vavrek, director of the Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. ARSL was “home” there until 2007, when it moved away from the university. The Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship was placed on hiatus when Dr. Vavrek retired from the university in 2008. Research continues on the development of resources and methods for rural libraries to provide for their communities.

ARSL board members held a meeting in January 2007 at Clarion to determine the new “shape” of ARSL. This included its enlarged board and committee structure and looked at guiding documents as a foundation for future services. As an outgrowth of that strategic planning meeting, a course was set and, since then, the strategic plan is updated annually to reflect member needs and remain relevant to the ARSL Mission and Objectives.

Conferences are an annual tradition for ARSL. Prior to ARSL’s formation, the Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship sponsored conferences that were held throughout the US between 1990 and 1999. From 2001 to 2007, an annual conference was held in Columbus, Ohio, which depended heavily on the center for financial and logistical support. In 2003, the association officially became the Association of Rural and Small Libraries; its name changed to the Association for Rural and Small Libraries in 2007.

For three years (2004-2006), meetings were held in conjunction with the Association for Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS). In response to member requests and to provide greater access by more rural library participants, the decision was made in 2007 to hold the annual meeting and conference in different states and geographic regions. Its first conference partner in 2008 was the California State Libraryin Sacramento, CA. The fall 2009 conference was in Gatlinburg, TN in partnership with the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The 2010 conference was in Denver, CO in partnership with the Colorado State Library, the Colorado Library Consortium, the Bibliographical Center for Research and the Association for Bookmobile And Outreach Services. The 2011 conference was in Frisco, TX in partnership with the University of North Texas . The 2012 conference was in Raleigh, North Carolina with the State Library of North Carolina and in 2013, the conference was scheduled to be held on Omaha, Nebraska. Partners from both Iowa and Nebraska are assisting in planning for the conference.

Membership

Membership in ARSL is open to anyone person or organization, but most of its members are libraries or librarians. Additionally, members are library staff, library board members, professional consultants, volunteers and library related organizations. Members are primarily from the United States, but there are some international members.

Governing structure

The Association for Rural & Small Libraries is a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity, governed by a set of bylaws which are administered by a duly elected board of directors. These 15 men and women serve terms of up to three years with the ability to be re-elected once. The Executive Committee of the Board, composed of the Immediate Past President, President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, is empowered to administrate certain responsibilities. Policies and programs are managed by various committees.

Committees

ARSL is an all-volunteer organization. Utilizing the services of AMR for its financial operations, it completes all its work to support libraries, library staff and auxiliary library support organizations via a network of committee volunteers.

Conference Planning Committee

This committee is charged with ensuring a timely planning of a dynamic annual conference that attracts increased registration. The committee's work includes recruitment of keynote speakers, presenters and responsibility for oversight of the entire conference operation.

Finance Committee

Composed of the Committee Chairs and the Treasurer, this committee creates an annual organization budget, which is reviewed by the Board of Directors. It is also charged with forecasting revenues and expenditures based on organizational strategic goals.

Governance Committee

This committee is responsible for seeing that the policies, procedures and other operational documents of ARSL are current and relevant. They review the bylaws annually and make recommendations to the board on policy or procedure changes they feel necessary or recommend new policies or procedures for review by the board.

Membership Development Committee

The responsibility of this committee is member recruitment and retention. Charged with maintaining a list of key contacts in each state, this committee shares ARSL information and explores ways for members to promote ARSL at state and local conferences.

Member Services Committee

This committee's charge includes building connections between members, ensuring that information relevant to the work of rural libraries is shared to the membership and developing content and programming in response to member needs. It sustains ARSL's online presence through the internet and social media sites.

Nominating Committee

Composed of the Immediate Past President, the current President and the Vice-President, this committee prepares a slate of candidates for the annual elections. This slate includes both potential officers as well as new or returning board members.

Partnership Committee

This committee works on formalizing and maintaining board-approved partnerships that provide opportunities for ARSL members. Assuring that each partnership received regular updates and is of mutual benefit to both organizations.

Conferences

ARSL holds an annual conference. With a focus on practical, "out of the box" workshops, presentations are geared toward the small and rural library audience. Practical, hands-on, and how-to formats are preferred.

The Association for Rural and Small Libraries currently offers three annual conference scholarships to promote the organization and the conference. They are the Dr. Bernard Vavrek Scholarship, the Founders Scholarship and the Ken Davenport Scholarship. The Dr. Bernard Vavrek Scholarship will go to a current LIS/MLS student. It includes conference registration, hotel, $500 stipend and a free one-year membership in ARSL. The Founders Scholarship and the Ken Davenport scholarship will go to a current library professional. They include conference registration, hotel, a $500 stipend and a free one-year membership in ARSL. The definition of a “Library Professional” is a library staff member working in a small and/or rural library. A degree or certification is not required. Candidates do not need to be members of ARSL; however membership is encouraged.

The Conference Scholarship Committee selects winners based on a demonstration of need, demonstration of not only a desire to serve the small and rural community but an already established pattern of working within the community, willingness to network, share and aid in developing new networks to aid small and/or rural libraries and a willingness to share what they learn at the conference with those in their networking areas.