Submitted by Stephen Z. Nonack, President
Head of Reference
The Boston Athenaeum
10 1/2 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108-3777
(617) 227-0270 x250
617 227 5266 FAX
nonack@bostonathenaeum.org

A little over four years ago sitting at my desk at the Boston Athenaeum I took a call from someone on the board of ARLIS/NE (Arleen Arzigian, I think) asking whether I could be persuaded to run for chapter office, specifically either for Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, or for Secretary. I asked what the duties of the Secretary were, and after assurances that I would be one of two candidates for the office, I agreed to run. I thought, Well, good, nobody knows who I am. I must confess that at the time my membership had lapsed and I wasn't receiving any chapter mail, so I did not even have the opportunity to vote for the other candidate. You might well imagine my dismay when I received the call to inform me that I had been chosen, confirming the adage that No good deed goes unpunished. This accidental elevation to chapter office was mirrored two years later, when Caron Carnahan resigned as President and I suddenly found myself in her place after the briefest of apprenticeships as Vice President. Somehow, the Athenaeum got moved, I unpacked my office (mostly) and two Fall meetings got planned; life went on. In contrast, this year has been a cakewalk. I was so pleased with the good response to the membership survey last winter; your suggestions for meeting venues and program content will be of real value to the Chapter for years to come. So, as I enter active retirement as your Past President, my thanks to all those who served with me on the board, and to those chapter members who make ARLIS/New England the successful professional organization it is by contributing your time, energy, and ideas. Seriously, it has been a real pleasure working with you all.

Speaking of elections, the chapter just concluded one, peacefully, with no manual recounts, dimpled chads, or bitter lawsuits. Not yet, at least. We had two fine candidates for the office of Vice-President/President-Elect -Richard McElroy (Wellesley College) and Kathy Ritter (Currier Gallery of Art) - and two for the office of Secretary - Jill Cirasella (Boston Architectural Center) and Helaine Davis (Museum of Our National Heritage). When the fifty-seven ballots received were tallied, you chose Richard and Jill to help lead the Chapter beginning in 2001. Congratulations to them, and thanks to all four of our colleagues for participating in the process. I am especially grateful to Andrea Manzi Frank, our outgoing (and friendly) Secretary/Membership Officer, who has done wonderful service, getting mailings out, keeping the membership records up to date, producing the directory, hosting the listserv, and making sure that the mechanics of the organization are in smooth running order. Many thanks also to incoming President, Adeane Bregman, Treasurer Anne Haas, Web-manager Katy Poole, and newsletter editor Linda Zieper for their unstinting support of the Chapter. Thanks too to Deborah Kempe of the Frick Art Reference Library, our Regional Representative, for her welcome advice and counsel.

Keeping with tradition, the Chapter had one Spring meeting and two Fall meetings in 2000. The Spring meeting, on June 16, consisted of a lecture and tour of the Northeast Document Conservation Center in the morning, lunch at the Andover Inn, and an afternoon session at the Addison Gallery of American Art that featured a guided tour of an exhibition documenting Phillips Academy's buildings and landscape. The first Fall meeting, September 15, was a day at the Fruitlands Museums, Harvard, Massachusetts. The second Fall meeting, at Boston University, was held on November 3. In the morning, chapter members gathered at the B.U. School of Theology Library for presentations by Ruth Thomas and Adeane Bregman on searching images on the Internet. Following lunch in the Faculty Dining Room, we reconvened in Copley Square for an art and architecture tour of the Boston Public Library's newly renovated McKim Building.

Of course, on the horizon, but very much a present reality, is the upcoming joint meeting of ARLIS/NE and the Art Section of IFLA, scheduled for August 16-17. Coordinated by Hugh Wilburn, along with Sarah Dickinson, Merrill Smith, Carol Terry, and the members of the board, the pre-conference will provide a great opportunity to meet international colleagues.

Finally, the Secretary reports that the Chapter has, at the end of the year, 128 members, in the following categories: 111 individual, 10 institutional, 5 student; we have, as well, two distinguished Life Members, Wolfgang Freitag and Elmar Seibel.