President's Perspective
S. Joe McCord
As I
writ
e my last president's column, it is just a few days
before the 1997 TLA Legislative Day and I look forward to it with both hope
and anxiety — hope that we will be able to convince enough legislators
that money appropriated for libraries is a necessary investment in the future,
anxiety that our message may be lost among the many demands on the state's
limited resources. In the overall state budget, the increased funding advocated
in TLA's legislative agenda is quite small, but it is very large relative
to anything we have requested in the past.
Although librarian and lay members of TLA know that our proposals are
cost-efficient and will ultimately improve library and information services
for all Texans, many legislators must be informed and persuaded. We must
not assume that our task ends with Legislative Day. I urge every one of you,
as soon as you finish reading this column, to ascertain the status of TLA's
legislative agenda and then to call your representative and senator. Continue
asking for their support, and thanking them when they respond, right up to
the last day of the session.
I am also looking forward to the Annual Conference in Fort Worth. You have
already seen the preliminary program and formed your own judgment of how
well the conference addresses your interest. Therefore, I will not describe
the excellent programs, illustrious speakers, and outstanding social events
that the Program and Local Arrangements committees have organized for you.
Rather, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank, on behalf
of the entire Association, the members of these committees, the office staff,
and conference volunteers who make our annual conference possible and who
maintain a standard of excellence unsurpassed in the library world. The talent,
effort, and thousands of hours devoted to the conference are, quite literally,
awesome. Please express your appreciation to our exhibitors, who fund a
significant part of the conference costs, and especially to those vendors
who also sponsor events, programs, and awards.
Finally, in looking back over the past few months, I find the year serving
as your president to have been busy and exciting, exhausting and rewarding.
I greatly enjoyed attending district conferences. It has been exciting to
work with the TLA committees concerned with such diverse matters as resource
sharing, telecommunications and the TIF board, school library standards,
the legislative program, Texas Book Festival grants. It has been rewarding
to work with the outstanding individuals you have elected to the Executive
Board. The many members who serve on the board, as unit officers, and committee
members contribute so much to the vitality, growth and worth of TLA.
I wish I could name all of the individuals whom I would like to recognize,
both for their contributions to the Association and profession, and for giving
me the pleasure of working with them. Unfortunately, that would fill the
pages of this issue, but I do want to recognize one individual who, in my
opinion, gives more to TLA than any other. Never have I seen anyone work
a more grueling schedule and yet remain constantly energetic, effective,
and cheerful. That individual is, of course, our Executive Director, Pat
Smith. Thanks, Pat, for everything you do for all of us.