Representatives from a large number of CRL member institutions attended the 54th annual meeting of CRL’s Council of Voting Members, which was held on Tuesday, April 22, 2003. The meeting took place at the Sofitel Hotel at 5500 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL, adjacent to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

This year’s keynote speaker was Kennette Benedict, senior advisor on philanthropy at the John and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Benedict discussed current development agendas in key emerging regions of the world, and suggested roles that North American research libraries might play in supporting those agendas.

Another highlight of this year’s program was a forum on the security of knowledge resources. This topic was prompted by recent pricing decisions by e-journal publishers and the resultant pressure on libraries to discontinue purchase of print titles for Elsevier’s Science Direct and other electronic resources. (The recent failure of the Faxon/Divine subscription service made this topic especially timely.) At the request of the Center’s Board of Directors, the program included presentations and discussion on archiving and fail-safe provisions for journals.

The meeting began with the annual business session at 8:00 AM. CRL Councilors (directors and designated non-library councilors from CRL Voting Member institutions) heard operational reports and registered votes for new directors and the approval of the FY04 operating budget. The program session commenced at 9:00 AM. Additional information about the format, agenda and keynote speaker will be posted on CRL’s web site within the next few weeks.