Looking back over the events of the past year, it is easy to become discouraged over recent developments in the library field. Reduced funding for books, technology, and travel; continuing concerns over patron confidentiality in light of the Patriot Act; staff shortages; the possible break-up of the State Library - these are just a few of the issues that we have faced this year. Yet, I see many reasons to remain optimistic as I look at the amazingly talented and creative librarians that are employed throughout the State of Florida. Many of you are coming up with novel ideas for expanding information literacy as evidenced by the presentations that we heard at the FACRL Fall Workshop. CCLA and the Tampa Bay Library Consortium have received a grant for a pilot project that will provide online reference services to the residents of Florida. The response to the State Library concerns has been overwhelming. These are just a few examples of the innovative dedication that I see demonstrated by librarians every day.

We were very pleased with the turnout at our Fall Workshop, "New Realities, New Opportunities," which took place on Friday, October 18, 2002 at the Holiday Inn Select Orlando International Airport. Nationally recognized consultant Jack Smith provided us with tips on grant writing. We also heard some fresh ideas relating to information literacy, joint-use libraries and faculty/librarian collaboration.

This year's FLA Annual Conference will be held at Lake Buena Vista from April 22 to 25, 2003. The Academic Section will be co-presenting a program with the Public Library Section on Joint-Use Libraries on Wednesday, April 23 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Join us for an interesting panel discussion on creative uses of technology and human resources in joint-use environments. The College Center for Library Automation LINCC User Forum and the State University System Discussion Group will take place at 4:00 that same day. A detailed description of the conference, with a complete listing of all of the programs, is available at http://www.flalib.org/conf/2003/

In other news, members of FACRL have been busy working on a possible mentoring program for academic librarians throughout Florida. A task force was appointed last fall to develop guidelines and procedures for a program. Look for additional details at the FLA Conference Academic Section program.

Finally, don't forget about the 2003 ACRL National Conference, "Learning to Make a Difference," which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, from April 10-13, 2003. The conference promises to offer lots of interesting new ideas. Programming and registration information is available at: http://www.ala.org/acrl/charlotte/

Thanks to the FACRL Board of Directors and to all of you for making our Florida chapter of ACRL a success -- I look forward to seeing you at Lake Buena Vista in April!