The Next 100 Years: Implementing the ALISE Strategic Plan

ALISE is 101 years old. That's old by any measure. We have been celebrating the first hundred years, happily rejoicing in our longevity and congratulating ourselves on still being a vibrant and relevant association. We are more than halfway to our goal for the ALISE Centennial Fund and it is not too late to contribute. We are grateful to the all the donors to Centennial Leadership Gifts of over $3200i, the Leadership Gifts of $500-$3200ii, and for the Supporting Gifts". It is very affirming to know that our association is loved and supported.In the January 2015 issue of JELIS, Diane Sonnenwald wrote a great piece on "Looking Back, Moving Forward" that included current commentaries on some of our seminal and classic articles, reflecting on accomplishments and challenges to library and information science education. She summarized that social challenges are more complex now, that information access to scientific data requires digital curation and we have new ways of interacting with cultural information. In addition, higher education continues to change to meet the demands of increasingly diverse stakeholders. All of which leaves us with challenges and opportunities for the future of education in library and information science.The ALISE mission states that we "promote innovation and excellence in research, teaching and service for education and scholars in Library and Information Science and cognate disciplines internationally through leadership, collaboration, advocacy, and knowledge creation" (ALISE, 2014, emphasis mine). Our vision emphasizing that we are a global leader brings to our attention that although we state we are international in scope, the reality is that we have a long way to go. I encourage you to look back at Diane's words in JELIS Vol. 56, No.1, January 2015 as she makes such a cogent argument for why thinking globally is good for all of us. What better way to start the next 100 years than with a renewed focus on expanding our association to include our international colleagues.Past-president Clara Chu has served this mission well. She has been instrumental in securing our place in IFLA and making sure that the United Nations included literacy and access to information as one of the rights of individuals worldwide. She served as ALISE's 2015 IFLA representative, attended the IFLA conference in Cape Town and the 2016 IFLA National Committee Conference meeting to help plan the Ohio meeting in 2016. She represented ALISE at the US Caucus meeting, voted at the IFLA General Assembly and attended the Closing Ceremony. She also organized the ALISE members dinner get-together. This year Clara did that work jointly with the Chinese American Librarians Association, and tweeted about the event.Also, at the IFLA Section on Education and Section on Library Theory and Research meetings there was discussion about an IFLA 2016 satellite meeting (i.e., IFLA pre-conference) focused on Quality of LIS Education (i.e., accreditation). Seamus Ross and Patty Overall-Montiel, serve on the Standing Committees of these Sections, respectively. The planning committee has contacted Clara Chu and Lynn Connaway to assist and once the committee is set, they will be approaching ALISE about co-sponsoring the conference.An IFLA pre-conference focused on accreditation will fit perfectly with the work accomplished by a joint committee of ALA's Executive Committee and ALISE's CARE (Committee on Accreditation Reform in Education). To date there have been several important actions from these groups. First, the ALA Executive Board approved the change in the process of appointment of members to the ALA Committee on Accreditation, as described below:The Task Force made three additional recommendations related to the process of appointment and the composition of the committee:1.That the composition of COA includes a designation for one position to be held by a Dean/Director/Chair of a library or information science program. …