First Presidential Message

• By: Christine Hernández
• On: 10/19/2023 11:56:51
• In: Presidential Messages

I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer break and are getting on with your fall 2023 tasks, whether that be welcoming students and faculty back to campus for a new academic year; planning to attend a new round of book fairs and library visits; or whatever these final months of the year may bring, I wish you well in all of these endeavors. 
I would like to take this moment to express thanks one final time to our past President, Anne Barnhart, her conference taskforce team, and the members of the Washington D.C. local arrangements and their support team, and the Tulane Secretariat for the excellent job that everyone did to make SALALM 68 a successful conference.  You all did a great job!!  All my past SALALM conferences have been rewarding experiences, and SALALM 68 was no exception.  I hope to continue that trend with our next conference here in New Orleans in 2024.
 
Before I say more about SALALM 69, we are now one month into our membership renewal period.  Now is the time to renew!  If you have not already, please do so through the SALALM website, and encourage colleagues and new professionals to consider joining our organization.  Links on the SALALM homepage (https://salalm.org) will help you through the process.
 
In addition to your membership, this is also the renewal period for committee membership.  Committee work is essential to our organization and its ability to carry out its work and mission.  Committee participation is open to all SALALM members in good standing.  When you login to the SALALM website, click on “Committees & Groups” link to see the list of committee opportunities that you can join.  We have several leadership positions open that need to be filled as well.  If you are new to SALALM and are unfamiliar with the work of the various committees and working groups, the name of each is a hyperlink that will take you to a homepage with a description and other pertinent information.  Committee chairpersons, please take a moment this week to review your committee or working group homepage to add or update the information displayed.
 
News about our upcoming SALALM 69 conference has just gone out and my Call for Papers will follow later this month.  I hope you will all find the theme for our conference titled, 5 K'atuns/100 Years Completed:  Celebrations and Commemorations in Latin America, the Caribbean, Iberia, and Their Diasporas, to be interesting and thought-provoking.  The annual conference will take place on June 8 – 11, 2024.  It is going to be a four-day conference packed with meetings, panel sessions, physical exhibitions, and more!  For those who do not have to rush off to Bogotá, Colombia for the LASA conference, there will be an opportunity to attend post-conference activities on the Wednesday morning of June 12.  SALALM 69 will take place at the New Orleans Marriott in the New Orleans French Quarter.  It is a stunning venue within walking distance to all that the historic city of New Orleans has to offer.
 
I am looking forward to continue preparations for the 2024 meeting with our local arrangements team at Tulane and our new Secretariat in New York.  Hasta pronto!