Perhaps one of the most realistic of Milne's characters, and one to whom many of us can often relate, is Eeyore. The gloomy donkey whose tail always seems to need a slightly better pinning. The one who looks at all life is worth and will matter-of-factly overstate his own "insignificance." Not taking into account that all of Pooh's acquaintances are indeed friends, and very important to Pooh, Eeyore will continue to glumly carry on questioning his own self-worth.

Now, I'm not suggesting in any way that technical services librarians are pessimists, but it is easy to sometimes wonder how much we truly are appreciated. After all, don't we just do the "menial," "tedious" work? Absolutely not. Do we get frustrated, and question our value when we hear of downsizings, corporate mergers, billion dollar sell-outs and the like? If anything, we are becoming more valuable, more crucial to the efficient and effective operation of our libraries! We need to evaluate and position ourselves for the future library to be on top of changes and ready to make the most of the situations we encounter.

It is time to think about the upcoming conference in Baltimore. Take some time to consider all of the opportunities that await us when we get there, and plan to take at least an extra day to visit our nation's capital. We have a number of excellent programs in the works, not to mention meetings and the interaction that many of us crave.

Planning for Anaheim is under way; contact Rhonda Lawrence with program suggestions. The TS Education Committee (TSEC) plans to meet during the early days of the conference to finalize the Anaheim programs, so it is imperative that you get your program ideas to her. We will not have the luxury of submitting program proposals to the TSEC during the conference, so get them in soon.

Personal thanks go to Jack Montgomery for his work on nominations and coordinating the election of officers. As of this writing he is still working on this, so I cannot report who won (oh, to be able to predict like that), but I truly do appreciate his help.

On other issues, I submitted a nine page letter to the AALL Strategic Planning Committee last November, encouraging them to reinstate full funding for AALL representatives to outside organizations. It is my understanding that this was received rather positively. Sorry I can't say more at this time, but their proposal has to go to another committee that will make final recommendations to the Executive Board.

I also submitted a request to AALL that we be allowed to plan meetings during the program time slots. I know schedule conflicts have been a constant concern for our members over the past several years. Hopefully, if this goes through, we will have some more flexibility in the future.

Change is inevitable. In our own industry we have seen major moves by the various publishers, all of which are having repercussions on our libraries. If we continue to actively involve ourselves in the changes that take place, we will come away as better individuals and managers of our own resources.

Take care. I'm looking forward to seeing you in Baltimore.

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