[Libs-Or] Update to the ACRL-OR / WA Joint Conference at Menucha

[Candise Branum]

Dear Pacific Northwest Academic Library Community (apologies for
cross-posting!!):

The ACRL-Oregon Board has made the unanimous decision to cancel the Joint
ACRL-Oregon / Washington Conference this year. This decision was not as
difficult as I originally thought it would be; with the death toll from
COVID-19 related illness surpassing 100,000, the one thing we can all agree
upon is that we have no idea what Fall term will actually look like for our
respective institutions. Although the thought of being outdoors at
Menucha’s beautiful facilities sounds really wonderful in the abstract, the
reality of advocating for an in-person conference felt negligent.

We have decided to refocus our energy in a new direction -- one that shifts
us away from the “sage on a stage” model and towards a more decentralized
one that will allow academic library workers to connect and share our
experiences and ideas. We are just starting to explore some ideas for what
this could look like in an online environment, so stay tuned for more
information on this soon.

In the meantime, one way some of us have been crowdsourcing help is through
this Slack channel <https://academiclibra-3iu9810.slack.com/>; we have an
active community of academic library staff members who are posting
questions and sharing ideas for how we can tackle some of the one billion
issues that have come up recently. If you are looking for a community
outside of your own institution, I encourage you to join us!
https://academiclibra-3iu9810.slack.com/

Thank you all for being compassionate individuals during this time. As we
all consider our own roles in advocating for our students and for our
staff, in confronting White Supremacy and fighting for social and racial
justice, please feel free to email me directly if you have any suggestions
for how ACRL-Oregon can be more than a mouthpiece, but an organization that
works to facilitate change.

--

Candise Branum

ACRL-Oregon President
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