Highlights from ASERL’s 2025 Annual Meeting / Spring Membership Meeting

On May 19-21, ASERL member representatives gathered in Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Association’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Spring Membership Meeting. Despite some challenging weather, 35 out of ASERL’s 39 member libraries were represented.  Ahead of the ASERL sessions, library deans from SEC-affiliated universities also met at U-Ark, marking their first in-person gathering in several years.  The University of Arkansas Libraries graciously hosted the groups in the wonderfully beautiful, newly-renovated Mullins Library.  ASERL extends heartfelt thanks for their warm hospitality!

Meeting Highlights

• ASERL members offered thanks and farewell to four library deans who will soon be retiring / stepping down from their posts:  John Unsworth (University of Virginia), Tim Pyatt (Wake Forest University), Gale Etschmaier (Florida State University), and Judy Russell (University of Florida).
• The University of Arkansas’ Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Margaret Sova McCabe, J.D., delivered an engaging presentation on how her office partners with the university’s libraries and others across campus to advance the university’s research agenda.
• ASERL President Jeff Steely moderated a panel of ASERL library deans to discuss how they are re-organizing the teams in their libraries to strengthen engagement with researchers across their institutions.
• Jason Battles, Dean of Libraries at U-Ark, moderated a panel session with donors from his library, other units at U-Ark, and from Williams & Mary to discuss how they creatively engage with library donors to grow support for library programming.
• ASERL also convened its 2025 Annual Meeting to offer a financial update to members, elect new Board members, and provide a platform for members to ask questions about the organization’s business needs.

Board Elections:  ASERL members unanimously supported the election of Doug Way (University of Kentucky) as President-Elect.  Elisabeth Long (Johns Hopkins University) and Greg Raschke (North Carolina State University) were elected as Members At-Large.

• • ASERL thanked outgoing Board members for their years of service to the community: Gale Etschmaier (Florida State University), Jason Battles (University of Arkansas), and Irene Herold (Virginia Commonwealth University.)
  • At the conclusion of the meeting, Leslie Sharp (Georgia Tech) became ASERL’s Board President for 2025-26.  Jeff Steely (Georgia State University) rotated into the Past-President role.
• On the morning of May 20, members reps were treated to walking tours of the Library Annex, a unique offsite facility not far from campus.  In the afternoon, attendees were offered tours of the impressive renovations to Mullins Library, completed just weeks before the meeting convened.
• Downtime:  Cultivating relationships among ASERL leaders is an important part of these gatherings.  In between meetings, ASERL members enjoyed an excursion to the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, snacked on wine and cheese at the Inn at Carnall Hall, and explored Fayetteville’s interesting culinary scene. An unexpected bonding moment occurred when severe weather prompted an evacuation of hotel guests into an interior meeting room — providing some impromptu face-to-face time for attendees.

And lastly:  The ASERL Board surprised Executive Director John Burger with a large (very large!) handcrafted cake to commemorate his recent work anniversary — 25 years leading ASERL.