-----Original Message-----
From: R Ellen Greenblatt
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 1999 3:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Call for Program Proposals


Dear Listowners,
Would you please forward the following call for proposals to
your list if
deemed appropriate?  Many thanks, Ellen Greenblatt

**PLEASE FORGIVE DUPLICATIONS, THIS CALL IS BEING
DISTRIBUTED WIDELY**

Diversity Now:  People, Collections, and Services in
Academic Libraries

Call for Program Proposals

The Big 12 Plus Libraries Consortium invites programs,
papers, and poster
session proposals for its 1st Diversity Conference hosted by
the
University of Texas, Austin, April 3-4, 2000, at the
Marriott Austin.
Modeled on Penn State's October 1998 Challenge to Change
Conference, the
Big Twelve Plus Diversity Conference will focus on diversity
issues with
particular attention to academic librarianship.

Though hardly a new topic in higher education, diversity
issues play on
shifting and contested political terrain. Challenges to
affirmative action
have altered the face of higher education in some states,
eroding support
for diverse access to excellent education. Achieving
libraries which
shape, reflect, and support diversity in recruitment and
retention
practices, collection building, access, and service remains
an ambitious,
unmet, and too often an undermined goal.

This BTP conference invites librarians and library staff to
offer
presentations which address any compelling issue regarding
diversity in
academic libraries, including but not limited to:
employment, collections,
access, services, library education, intellectual freedom,
recruitment and
retention in conjunction with race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, and
people with disabilities. Other topics include:  demographic
change, new
immigrants and language barriers, conflict management,
anti-diversity
backlash, and advocating for underserved individuals and
populations.

Proposals must be postmarked by October 15, 1999. Submit 3
copies of each
presentation proposal, along with a separate cover sheet
attached,
including the proposal title, preferred track (see below),
presenter(s)
name(s), mailing addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses,
and
institutional affiliation of each presenter. For more
information, see:
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/public/library/BTPdc/ or contact
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]

Mail proposals to:

Teresa Neely & Polly Thistlethwaite  Co-Chairs, Diversity
Now Programming
Committee  Colorado State University  Morgan Library  Fort
Collins, CO
80523-1019

Proposals will be accepted in four tracks:

1.Contributed Papers/Presentations.  20-minute sessions
offered
individually or as part of a panel grouped by conference
organizers.
Submit a 250-word abstract.

2.Panel Presentations. 90-minute sessions addressing a
particular theme or
topic. Submit a  100-word summary of the panel topic with
250-word
abstracts of each individual presentation. No more than 3
presentations
per panel are recommended, leaving time for discussion and
response.

3.Poster Sessions. 1/2-hour sessions with
handouts/documentation
addressing a particular issue or  project, e.g. "best
practices" involving
diversity in libraries. Submit a 250-word abstract.

4.Table Talks. 1-hour facilitated sessions for discussion
about particular
issues. Submit a proposal describing the topic with a list
of questions or
issues for discussion. Also include the facilitator's name
and any
particular relationship to or interest in the discussion
topic.

Review Process:  Depending on the number of proposals
received, each Big
Twelve Plus institution will be invited to nominate
reviewers for the
proposals. Program committee members will distribute
presentations for
blind review to these representatives.