2015 – Town Hall Meeting
Princeton University – Wednesday, June 16, 2015
Welcome (3:20pm)
Committee Reports/Announcements: Last year there was discussion of recommendation of candidates for honorary memberships. Membership Committee accepted three new recommendations:
David Block
Richard Phillips
Dan Hazen
Hortensia Calvo (Tulane University):
Total of 335 members
Last year 325 members
250 total person members
85 institutional members
23 sponsoring
2 new sponsoring institutions, Digitalia, and U. of Virginia
Thanks to Martha Mantilla for completing report on SALALM 58 in Miami
Teresa Chapa (U. of North Carolina Chapel Hill): ENLACE committee
Tonight at libreros is the raffle and there is a great selection of prizes. People are encouraged to buy tickets.
Luis González (Indiana University): Reminder that ENLACE is funded by the participation of all SALALM members.
Peter Johnson (Princeton Emeritus)—Finance Committee:
SALALM operates on a number of different income streams:
Membership
Conferences
Donations (to scholarships and endowments)
Other income stream—interest, dividends and capital gains managed by TIAACREF managed (overall moderately conservative investment strategy)
50% Bonds
47% Treasuries & Equities
3% in Cash
We are running in the black.
Memberships and donations are tax deductible since it’s an exempt organization
New initiative for SALALM named in honor of Dan Hazen: The Hazen Fellowships – these will be for SALALM members in good standing and awarded based for such activities as scholarly work and/or professional development.
An ad hoc comm will define details of Hazen Fellowships and procedures for awards which will begin to become available in early 2016
These scholarships will be intended for mid-career scholars to help deepen their knowledge and for specialized professional development opportunities.
More information will be on SALALM website
Luis González: Next year SALALM meets at U. of Virginia (2016)
Invitation to Paloma and Miguel to speak
Paloma Celis Carbajal (University of Wisconsin—Madison): Proposed Theme: Nuestro norte es el sur: mapping resistance and resilience in Latin American and Iberian Studies (May 9-13 Mon-Fri 2016) at University of Virginia, Charlotesville, VA.
The focus will be on the many ways institutions are facing globalizing trends
Miguel Valladares (University of Virginia—Charlottesville): We will be ready to welcome everyone to Charlottesville. Info about Charlottesville— Only campus in US that is UN Heritage Site. Many activities related to Thomas Jefferson are planned (Monticello, etc.).
Questions?
1 suggestion Miguel received is to organize a nursery for children of SALALM members.
Email Miguel with your requests
About the Charlottesville hotel—
Charlottesville has an airport, direct flights from many cities. People may also want to consider flying into DC for a vacation and afterwards there is a convenient train to Charlottesville.
Rooms will be approx. $140 a night
More emails with details will follow in the fall.
There may be some preconferences (perhaps a digital humanities theme?)
Weekends on either side will be kept free from scheduling to facilitate enjoying the sights.
Luis González: Reminder of PRI committee meeting. They are waiting for resolutions; the deadline to submit is the end of Townhall meeting. Three PRI members are at Townhall so please contact them.
An homage to Dan Hazen
Lynn Shirey Comments about Dan Hazen:
Photo of Dan’s office (absolutely covered in stacks of papers)
30 years ago this month I met Dan for the first time—at SALALM XXX, here at Princeton. So did my colleague Nancy Hallock, and several others in this room. And here we are again--but this time, without Dan.
He was President of SALALM that year, and working at UC Stanford as Latin American Bibliographer. He wore a white polo shirt, and large glasses. He made a joke about N.J. and got away with it, because he’d spent part of his childhood there, as had I.
Several job changes later, I found myself working for him at Widener. I knew him first as a leader among SALALMistas; then later as a colleague, an internationally respected expert, a boss, and as a friend. His loss is enormous in all of these categories, and is being felt far and wide.
Over the past few days I have seen dozens of messages from library directors, archivists and historians from Argentina, Peru, Nicaragua and beyond. Closer to home, a Harvard faculty member described him as: Generous but humble, brilliant without ever having to show it.
Dan will be remembered and celebrated at Princeton over the next few days. We will miss him here always.
I would like to invite others to share their memories of Dan.
Message from Debra Jacob (read by Lynn Shirey):
Dan Hazen was a great and innovative thinker and leader, and made innumerable contributions to the world of libraries. I admired him very much, appreciated his energy and his wisdom. We are all grateful for his intellectual legacy. Think how different and how much poorer our field would be if there had been no Dan Hazen. And think how much we have lost with his passing.
Dan was my closest collaborator and one of my very best friends. We had almost identical career paths, both Latin American historians who became librarians and found it to be a very rewarding and practical way to remain engaged with Latin America while building collections, assisting students and scholars with research, and developing cooperative programs for libraries in the US and beyond, such as the Program for Latin American Libraries and Archives (PLALA), which Dan created and which has done so much good in the region. We both worked on ARL’s Global Resources Program, and organized conferences and collaborative library ventures. We would run drafts of papers by one another, and we co-authored publications. I counted on him for his advice, and he was a wise and astute critic. We shared a dedication to global collaboration among libraries in support of scholarship.
As a friend, there was no one better than Dan. He was generous, interested in my life and my family. He knew my two sons and my husband and they remember him fondly. Again, I could always rely on him for solid, thoughtful advice and empathy. I tried to be that kind of friend to Dan too, and we shared the minutiae of our lives in near-daily emails in a way that you do with a good friend who is caring, never judgmental, and always willing to lend an ear. Of course he could also be very funny and irreverent and he often lightened my work day with that wit.
In fall 2014 he complained via email from time to time of “this stomach thing I can’t seem to shake.” Before long he received the diagnosis of duodenal cancer, which had begun to spread to his liver. He endured chemo, which at first seemed to be shrinking the tumors, but soon that proved ineffective and, after a stronger round, which left him weak and weary and worse off, he chose palliative care. Even through this terrible ordeal, his emails were upbeat. He and his wife Ruth took a trip to southern California to visit his father, and had planned also to visit Maine with family. But, once in California, Dan declined rapidly. He died late on the night of June 1. I am grateful to his family for making it possible for me to talk to him on the telephone on May 30 and 31. He couldn’t speak but he knew who it was and they told me he responded with a smile and a nod as I told him all the things I most appreciated about him, as I told him goodbye.
Now that Dan is gone I have lost my collaborator and friend, and I am trying to adjust to the empty place, the silence.
Deborah Jakubs
Duke University
(Powerpoint slideshow) A memorial for Dan Hazen created last week at Harvard. Pictures of the many projects in which Dan was involved over the years.
Request for Dan’s friends to contribute their memories of Dan.
Paula Covington (Vanderbilt University): I first knew Dan when I was president and he was local arrangements coordinator. 30 years ago at Princeton I wanted to create a guide to LA collections throughout US. At the time there wasn’t email or databases, everything was in paper, thus, no way of readily identifying who had what. About 25 SALALM members agreed to work on project. Dan agreed to be associate editor along with Peter Stern, David Block, and Barbara Valk. Dan gave enormous time to read through manuscripts, recruit new volunteers, and contribute to collaborative effort.
I find myself looking for Dan and missing his smiling face. I see his collarborative spirit, humor and spirit is still with us.
Denis Hibay (NYPL): I have very vivid photos of Dan. I thought I had many photos of Dan but they were memories. My first SALALM was 1988 and Dan was heading local arrangements. Dan and Debra have been mentors through all of these years. As I moved into collection development, Dan was there for me and especially helpful because he could ‘think big,’ holding my hand as I navigated this new system and role.
One of my memories is when we had SALALM in Puerto Rico. We did a field trip where I went with Eduardo Sano and who should show up but Dan and David, and Dora Loh. Dan noticed as we were walking the trails that Eduardo was tired. Dan was so gentle and helpful in getting Eduardo back to the car.
There was one thing Dan couldn’t do, dance. At a SALALM I coaxed him onto the dance floor and he was game for 5 minutes of dancing. A memory I’ll cherish
Gail Williams (Florida International): I’ve been going to SALALM since 1979. I’m not sure which one I met Dan at but it just seems like I’ve always known Dan. We became better acquainted in 2000 when I became affiliated with LARRP on the first TICFIA grant. Once that was done and I thought I was through I was asked back by Dora Loh to serve on second board and found out that Dan had insisted on my participation. That was a point at which I felt I’d made a mark, that recognition in Dan’s eyes. In 2009 I had an idea for a paper to give at the Title VI 50th anniversary conference and Dan was the person I emailed for advice and he encouraged me to pursue it. As admin of LALA-L I’m collecting the messages about Dan to send to his widow.
A little over a year ago I lost my partner of 14 years, Don Perry, and I received so many kind and loving words from friends at SALALM. Dan’s message was particularly thoughtful and caring. I saw him last year at the LARRP advisory board committee meeting and I had the chance to tell him privately how much his message meant to me—again, all of the messages were wonderful, his just had a particular presence that was comforting. I’m so glad I got to do that since it was the last time I saw him.
Alfredo Montalvo (Libros Andinos): Several years back, my son got caught up in drugs when he was about 20 years old. I blamed myself and it seemed like the end of the world. I wrote and called Dan and he called everyone, including my son, and including the judge. I don’t know if that letter was the cause, but the judge offered my son probation. My son is older now, married and he has made me a proud grandfather of a lovely grand daughter. She came to me last week in tears because she’s didn’t make straight A’s. That was the spirit of Dan and I keep him in my heart.
Jana Krentz (Yale University): My first SALALM was in Costa Rica. In those days there weren’t ribbons, mentoring programs, etc. I didn’t know anyone but Dan came up to me and engaged me in conversation said, “let me take you out for lunch.” Every person I’ve told this story to says, that’s just the kind of guy he was.
I was working on a workshop at Indiana U. last week and I discovered that all over the materials cited in the syllabus was the name Dan Hazen. He was so instrumental in bringing us together. His absence is going to be a huge hole in our professions and in our lives.
Luis González: As Indiana University we have been doing interdisciplinary studies with colleagues in different areas of study. I’d like to recognize one of those colleagues in attendance at this SALALM, Akram Khabibullaev. He is the librarian for Middle Eastern and Central Asian studies. Please take the opportunity to welcome him.
Request for issues to be brought before the Townhall group—
Luis González: I know one of the ideas that we implemented this year was for conference buddies. How is that going?
Melissa Gasparatto (Rutgers University): Of 15 generous SALALM buddy volunteers 8 or 9 were taken up on their offer. Thank you to them.
Jesus Alonso-Regalado (University of Albany): I’m a SALALM buddy and it turns out that my mentee is from Chile. I have a sabbatical in Chile and I’ve been learning so much from her. It’s a two-way process of learning and I highly encourage others to participate in this opportunity.
Luis González: Any other issues or ideas to be brought up for consideration?
Paula Covington (Vanderbilt University): The last time we had a conference in VA a lot of people from LA didn’t show up because of confusion about Charlotte and Charlottesville. This is something we’ll want to be sure to clarify for the upcoming meeting.
Jennifer Osorio (UCLA): Last year’s SALALM was over Mothers’ Day and this years was the day after Mothers’ Day. We may want to consider having activities after the conference rather than consistently schedule so close to Mothers’ Day.
Luis González: Invitation to Fernando for more info on libreros reception
Fernando Acosta-Rodriguez (Princeton University): On the back of the Libreros Reception invitation there’s a map. It will be held inside of Whitman because of chance of rain (shows location on map with projector). “I just don’t want you to get lost.”
Thank you to Libreros who will be hosting
Finance comm is in East Pyne 111.
Luis González:
Meeting is officially ended (4:16pm)