Chapter Relations Office
Mission
The Chapter Relations Office (CRO) promotes a sense of identification between the national Association and the 57 ALA Chapters; facilitates communication between the Chapters and all ALA units (e.g., Chapter Answers, Chapter Issues, State of the Chapter Annual Report; Helping United States Libraries After Disasters), coordinates leadership development for Chapter officers (e.g., Chapter Leaders Forum), Chapter Councilors, chief paid staff members, and other Chapter leaders; strengthens membership promotion activities for ALA and the Chapters (e.g., joint membership program); coordinates the ALA Student Chapters and the ALA Student-to-Staff program and Money Smart Week; and helps raise awareness throughout the ALA of and sensitivity to Chapter advocacy and other needs (e.g., Chapter Issues, where Chapters share how they address common issues). In addition to CRO, the interests of Chapters are represented within ALA by the Chapter Relations Committee (CRC), which meets each Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference, and serves as an advisory committee to the CRO.
Icons above, left to right, Facebook, Twitter, ALA Connect, Take Action for Libraries (federal), Take Action for Libraries (state), Contact Information for Chapters, Calendar of Events at Conferences, and ALA E-lists.
Find more social networking resources for Chapters.
How to Navigate This Site
Begin by exploring this site with the links above, use the "mini-pods" above, or use the pods on the right-hand side (on this page and other CRO pages) to navigate to pages directly related to the ALA Chapter Relations Office. In addition, general questions are answered at Chapter Answers.
CRO Staff
Michael Dowling, Director
Chapter Relations Office
mdowling@ala.org, 1-800-545-2433, ext. 3200
Don Wood, Program Officer
Chapter Relations Office
dwood@ala.org, 1-800-545-2433, ext. 2429
Hot Topics
Effective November 13, New ALA E-list Addresses. ALA will be using different spam detection. As a result, effective Thursday, November 13, 2014, all ALA business e-lists will be in this form: listname@lists.ala.org. For example, alacro-l@ala.org will become alacro-l@lists.ala.org, stuchapt@ala.org will become stuchapt@lists.ala.org, chapcoun@ala.org will become chapcoun@lists.ala.org, etc. This change does not affect direct e-mail communication to ALA staff. Michael will still be reached at mdowling@ala.org; Don Wood, at dwood@ala.org.
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The Select ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference Schedule for CRO and CRC meetings, events, and programs during these annual conferences.
The Chapter Leaders Forum, hosted by the Chapter Relations Committee, is designed for Chapter leaders to discuss topics of current interest at at each ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference. The Chapter Leaders Forum is not to be missed!
Participate "Money Smart Week @ your library," a national initiative between the ALA and the Federal Reserve Bank (Chicago) to provide financial literacy programming to help members of your community better manage their personal finances.
State of the Chapter Reports (All State of the Chapter Reports) will help Chapters and ALA assess the health and vitality of state and regional library associations. It will help to highlight notable activities and achievements that can be modeled, and identify challenges and needs that may be addressed collectively.
Join your state library association (Chapter). You Need Your State Library Association!
Joint membership program. Find Out How to Join Your State Library Association and ALA for one low price! Join Online!
Meeting Schedules and Calendar
Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference Schedules
The Select ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference Schedule for CRO and CRC meetings, events, and programs during these annual conferences.
ALA Conference Planning Calendar
ALA's Affiliates Conference & Event Planning Calendar is now online as Affiliate and Chapter Planning Calendar. To include your ALA Chapter, ALA Affiliates, and Division Conferences, Institutes, or Workshops in this calendar, please contact Don Wood, Chapter Relations Office, with names, titles, URLs, dates, and locations. Report additions or errors to Don Wood. It is highly appreciated when the subject line contains the word calendar.
Communicating/Networking/Sharing
Chapter Social Networking and More
Links to ALA Connect and more can be found at Chapter social networking, including the ALA Chapters Facebook page.