<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><span id="m_-3717833651399598692gmail-docs-internal-guid-dacc5f47-7fff-2d38-d6a8-97d88d688fdc"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear Pacific Northwest Academic Library Community (apologies for cross-posting!!):</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">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. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">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. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In the meantime, one way some of us have been crowdsourcing help is through this </span><a href="https://academiclibra-3iu9810.slack.com/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Slack channel</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">; 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! </span><a href="https://academiclibra-3iu9810.slack.com/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://academiclibra-3iu9810.slack.com/</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">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.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">--</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Candise Branum</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">ACRL-Oregon President</span></p></span></div></div>