For me, and maybe for some of this blog’s readers, this time of year is professional association membership renewal season! It’s also a great time of year to be completing my professional association volunteer forms. For ALSC, you can find that form here: https://www.ala.org/alsc/aboutalsc/coms/alscforms.
Today I’d like to encourage you to consider volunteering for the ALSC Budget Committee, which is among the Process Committees appointed in the spring. The ALSC Budget Committee is charged with advising the ALSC Executive Director in preparation of the annual budget and submitting that budget to the ALSC board for approval. Additionally, the Budget Committee advises the ALSC board on other fiscal matters, including the division’s finances and dues structure.
As with all ALSC committees, investment of your time, energy, and smarts will pay dividends in professional growth. During my time as a member of the Budget committee, I have gained a stronger understanding of where ALSC fits in the big ALA organization, and I feel more confident that I can explain to colleagues and stakeholders how my membership in ALSC benefits my library and the community where I serve.
Service on the Budget committee also gives members an opportunity to regularly meet with ALSC leadership including the Vice President, the President, and the Fiscal Officer of ALSC, as well as the ALSC Executive Director. Our meetings are about budget and financial matters, but the budget and disposition of ALSC’s funds are affected by and can affect so many initiatives that ALA and ALSC undertake. Budget committee members not only have the opportunity to learn more about ALSC’s strategic initiatives, but we also have the privilege of advising ALSC leadership on how best to use its funds to maximize those initiatives’ impacts. Joining the ALSC Budget committee is a great way to learn more about your professional organization, help your colleagues in the association learn more about its work, and help the association make forward progress toward our shared goals.
Sally Miculek is the Director of the Georgetown Public Library in Georgetown, Texas, and has been an ALSC member since 2006. She is in the second year of her term as a member of the ALSC Budget Committee.