Lone Star Docs

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Vol. 8, #2 Spring 2003

Letter from the Chair

Several years ago, at a Southwestern Association of Law Libraries business meeting in Oklahoma, Glenn-Peter Ahlers, from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law Library, began the meeting standing behind a podium on which he had lined up three baseball hats. He explained that over the course of the year he had served as Chair of the By-Laws Committee, Vice President/President-Elect, and finally (due to the incoming President's departure from the SWALL region) President. (And as Chair of the By-Laws Committee he was able to write the by-laws that helped him "take over," but that's another story). As the meeting progressed and he needed to report on various happenings he would flip hats off and on, depending on what role he was "playing" at the time. Needless to say, Glenn-Peter's hat-flipping entertained the members at the meeting that day.

Why does Glenn-Peter and his hats come to mind at this time? Maybe it's because of the hat-flipping my colleagues at Angelo State and I have been doing lately. Or maybe it's because librarians are masters when it comes to wearing different hats over the course of our work day. And, depending on the size of our libraries, some of us may wear more hats than others. We may be catalogers, teachers, newsletter editors, web page designers, database managers, library online system administrators, and display coordinators. We are excellent reference librarians in non-governmental sources, but mostly government documents librarians are masters at locating government information, in whatever source or format it may be found. And, whether they know it or not, we are advocates for our patrons' - indeed all citizens' - right to public access to that very same government information, so in danger of disappearing in today's climate of secrecy and national security concerns.

No matter what hat, or hats, you may be wearing, you should find something of interest at the TLA Annual Conference in Houston. GODORT has some wonderful programs planned:

• CHARTing Health Data (co-sponsored by the Special Libraries Division) (a preconference session on Tuesday, April 1)
• The Library of Texas: 21st Century Services (co-sponsor with College and University Libraries Division, Public Libraries Division, and Texas State Library and Archives Commission) (Wednesday, April 2, at 2:00)
• Government Information: Access Denied? (Thursday, April 3, at 2:00)

More information on each of these programs follow in this issue.

Thank you to those who participated in the 2003 TLA Legislative Day. With this being a legislative year in the state, and the budget news out of Austin so dire, I hope many of you were able to attend and speak with your state senators and representatives about your concerns on library issues.

In closing, Lorraine Bingham's "Letter from the Chair" in the Spring 2001 issue contains a statement that is still appropriate today:

"In these days of changing demands on librarianship ... one aspect has remained constant and consistently excellent - the librarian. Year after change-filled year, the members of GODORT set high standards of commitment and service."

I look forward to seeing you in Houston, each wearing one of our many hats, and each continuing to meet those high standards of commitment and service.

Janetta Paschal, Chair
Angelo State University
janetta.paschal@angelo.edu

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