We are continuing to prepare for the ARL (Association of Research Libraries) team evaluation visit October 3-5, 2001. Melissa Laning and her team, as well as many other staff, have been working hard to get the Libraries ready for this important event. Work on our many web sites has been especially important because this is what the evaluation team and other ARL members will see when they want to get information about the U of L libraries. We are finalizing our report for ARL. Thanks to everyone’s hard work and help this report shows how much progress we have made in recent years toward becoming a metropolitan university research library. Our achievements have been phenomenal thanks to a productive faculty and staff.

The Metroversity Library Council has had two retreats recently to update the Council’s purpose and agendas. One of the major goals of the Council is a faculty development series with the focus on teaching and technology and on libraries and technology. Meetings of the Metroversity Academic Council have already begun to plan this faculty development series. On July 10 the Metroversity Library Council held a retirement luncheon for Ron Deering who is retiring from the Baptist Seminary Library after a long and productive career.

On July 6 the Kentucky Virtual Library Steering Committee met, and I began my chairmanship of this group. We are updating the bylaws, discussing contributions to databases and courier service for 2002, and finalizing database contracts for next year. The financial situation for KYVL will be somewhat difficult because of some budget reductions for the CPE (Council on Postsecondary Education), which funds KYVL. However, specific data are not yet available.

I will be away from campus most of August. August 6-10 I will be teaching at Tillburg University in the Netherlands. August 11-15 I will be an invited speaker and group leader at the Second US-China Conference on Libraries 2001 in New York. I was also a participant in the first US-China Conference in 1996 in Beijing.

August 17-25 I will be participating in the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in Boston as a speaker and workshop leader. I will be hosting a workshop on partnerships at Northeastern University for 50 delegates from around the world. August 27-28, I will be the keynote speaker on faculty development for information literacy at Ohio State University libraries. On August 29 the Deans will be on a retreat.

Have a good summer and I hope to see you all August 30.

--Hannelore Rader, University Librarian