President’s Column
Paul Kelsey, Southeastern Louisiana University

Greetings and Happy New Year!
It is my pleasure to introduce myself as the new President of ACRL-LA. I am the Head of Acquisitions at Sims Memorial Library at Southeastern Louisiana University, and I have worked in both academic and public libraries in Louisiana over the past ten years.  I am looking forward to serving the members of ACRL-LA for the next two years for a number of important reasons.
First, I think that this is an exciting time to be an academic librarian in Louisiana. I truly believe that academic libraries in Louisiana have a bright future. It is perhaps easy to adopt a gloomy outlook toward the future due to past and current problems with funding.  In my experience, however, budgets for libraries and funding for resources can fluctuate, and the politics that determine funding can and do change. And despite the challenges facing libraries, many academic librarians in Louisiana have responded positively by continuing to provide exemplary service and pursuing innovative projects and resources for their constituents. 
At Sims Memorial Library, I have been involved in several innovative projects that have resulted in positive changes for our library and our constituents. The acquisitions department recently implemented EDI (electronic data interchange) X12 ordering and invoicing with YBP, streamlining our acquisitions process and saving substantial time for our library staff. We were also awarded a technology grant to purchase iPads for circulation, and the project has been a successful and popular service over the past year. We recently purchased our first new iPad 4 for circulation, and we plan to continue this service in the future. We have expanded our university ebook collections, and our library was one of the first in the state to purchase the UPCC Book Collections on Project Muse, and the e-Duke Books Scholarly Collection. In 2013, I was fortunate enough to have been invited to serve on the Duke University Press Library Advisory Board, exploring and providing input regarding Digital Rights Management and other issues regarding these collections. We also recently licensed and streamed our first motion picture acquisitions from Swank Digital Campus for our faculty. Other librarians at Sims Library, and other libraries throughout Louisiana, are involved in equally important services and projects, and we continue to move forward in a positive direction.
Like other academic libraries in Louisiana, we do not operate in a vacuum or without support. Sims Memorial Library is a part of LOUIS, and a great part of our success as an academic library depends upon the expertise and help from the LOUIS consultants. Many of our most important electronic resources are funded through our LOUIS membership, or made possible by deals made available through LOUIS. Other member libraries of course also benefit greatly from LOUIS, and I am optimistic about the future of academic libraries in Louisiana, due in large part to our proactive consortium. 
As President, I am excited about the opportunity to move forward with our organization. The new board will be conducting a business meeting at LLA this spring in Shreveport. My overarching vision for the next two years is to seek new engagement and the involvement of our many members of ACRL-LA. To this end, we will be conducting a survey of members to seek new ideas and to find out what types of programs and support our members would like to see from ACRL-LA. I also envision working more closely with the Louisiana Library Association, and also inviting a guest speaker from ACRL national to come and speak to our members. 
I am also excited be serving such a highly talented and intellectually curious group of academic librarians. Many ACRL-LA members are generating publications showcasing their work and research interests in a variety of high quality publications, in both journals like Codex and other important library and information science publications. Librarians in our state continue to write and edit books, and to serve on local and nationally prominent committees. Our librarians are the recipients of many past and recent awards and recognitions. We can certainly be proud of our efforts, and for continuing to work with energy and innovation to provide excellent services and information resources for our constituents. For these reasons, I am optimistic about serving as President of ACRL-LA, and about the future of academic libraries in Louisiana. 

Sincerely,
Paul Kelsey
President, ACRL-LA