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I left for ALA Thursday, a day earlier than most, primarily because Friday is the key meeting day for the Black Caucus. We began the morning with a new board members orientation. During the orientation I lead a discussion on the duties and responsibilities of an Executive Board member. The session continued with other segments devoted to parliamentary procedures, budget and finance. My duties as Immediate Past President conclude with the annual meeting on Sunday night.

There was maybe a ten minute break and then we went right into our Executive Board meeting. During the Executive Board meeting I wore my second hat and reported on the planning progress for the 7th National Conference of African American Librarians to be held in July in Birmingham, AL. Preliminary program brochures were distributed. Conference planning will continue on Saturday morning with a scheduled five hour conference team meeting.

This evening we celebrated BCALA’s 40th anniversary with a program at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Members paid tribute to deceased legendary members BCALA founder Dr. E. J. Josey and advocate of library services to children, Effie Lee Morris. Robert W. Wedgeworth, Jr. was also honored with the BCALA 2010 Trailblazer award. Wedgeworth was the first African American executive director of the American Library Association. He was also recently appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the national Museum and Library Services Board. More updates later.