By Mary Kamela, University at Buffalo
Get to Know ALA
As a new academic year gets underway, students across the country are learning their ABCs. At ALA, many new members may also need a refresher on the various acronyms that make up our organization. For anyone feeling like they’re stuck in a pot of alphabet soup, here’s a review of ALA’s overarching structure and acronyms you may encounter:
- ALA – American Library Association, the oldest and largest library association in the world!
- Divisions—Due to ALA’s size, the organization is broken down into divisions that focus on specific roles and library environments. These eight divisions include:
- AASL—American Association of School Librarians
- ALSC—Association for Library Service to Children
- ACRL—Association of College and Research Libraries
- Core—Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures
- PLA—Public Library Association
- RUSA—Reference and User Services
- United for Libraries—Trustees, Friends, Foundations
- YALSA—Young Adult Library Services
- Round Tables—Round Tables are groups created to address aspects of librarianship that don’t fall within the scope of any single division. Current round tables include:
- CSKBART—Coretta Scott King Book Awards Round Table
- EMIERT—Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table
- FMRT—Film and Media Round Table
- GAMERT—Games and Gaming Round Table
- GODORT—Government Documents Round Table
- GNCRT—Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table
- IFRT—Intellectual Freedom Round Table
- IRRT—International Relations Round Table
- LearnRT—Learning Round Table
- LHRT—Library History Round Table
- LIRT—Library Instruction Round Table
- LRRT—Library Research Round Table
- LSSRT—Library Support Staff Round Table
- MAGIRT—Map and Geospatial Information Round Table
- NMRT—New Members Round Table
- RRT—Rainbow Round Table
- RMRT—Retired Members Round Table
- SRRT—Social Responsibilities Round Table
- SustainRT—Sustainability Round Table
Members of ALA can opt to add Division and Round Table memberships of their choosing to their ALA membership; pro-rated dues apply.
So, I’m a member of New Members Round Table. Now what?
If you’re reading this blog post, you’re likely a member of New Members Round Table, or at least new to the profession or organization. Here are just a few of the opportunities available with your NMRT Membership.
- Get Involved—NMRT members can get involved by joining one of our committees! These committees help our Round Table run efficiently and from conference planning to mentoring, there are committees for every interest! Go to https://www.ala.org/rt/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm to learn more about our committees.
- Stay Connected—As a member of NMRT, you have access to our space on ALA Connect. Make sure you stay connected by turning on email notifications for the NMRT (New Members Round Table) group (found under Settings on ALA Connect). You can also follow NMRT on Twitter @alanmrt and stay up to date with our NMRT Notes blog.
- Take Advantage of Professional Development Opportunities—NMRT offers many services to help new members navigate the profession. One is our Resume Review Service, which helps newer information professionals perfect their application materials. To help new members navigate ALA Annual, NMRT also hosts an annual conference orientation. Look for more information in 2024!
Want to get started right away? The Resume Review Service is also looking for volunteers to review resumes–volunteer now!
Still unsure about what to do with NMRT or whether or not to join? Check out this document from ALA.
Readers, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to sound off in the comments.
- How has NMRT helped you?
- What questions do you have about NMRT or Round Tables in general?
- Is there any specific content you’d like to see highlighted on the blog this year?