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Statement from the presidentIt was a great honour to have served as the Australian Library and Information Association's president during 1995. The enterprising and enthusiastic synergy shared by our General Council, National Office and Branches led to significant developments in ALIA's ongoing ability to service the diverse needs of its membership. Our Association is indebted to the goodwill extended by an active membership which volunteers time and intellect to ALIA activity. I extend unreserved thanks and acknowledgment to these 'vital links' for their integral role in ALIA's growth in the past year. A Board of Education initiative came to fruition with the launching of the ALIA framework for continuing professional development. Of equal significance was the launch of the Lobby for libraries kit which was designed to empower our industry at the grassroots level with the skills to market and promote the value of our libraries and our work. The on-going development of ALIAnet and our Internet presence began to pay significant dividends during the year as we increasingly used it to keep members informed of Association activities, to publish our submissions and other information of interest to members, and to communicate across a diverse cross-section of our membership and interested 'net-surfers' throughout the country and overseas.Traditionally known as the 'off-conference year' because it is the alternate year to the Biennial Conference, 1995 was in fact a hive of activity for section and divisional conferences and I was privileged to attend many of them. Without fail, they were inspirational and energising in terms of demonstrating what a vibrant profession we have and what interesting challenges we have ahead of us in this so-called 'information age'. We were honoured to have the Governor-General officially launch our ALIAnet service in March and later in the year we were pleased to welcome the IFLA president, Bob Wedgeworth and IFLA general secretary, Leo Voogt to ALIA House during their scheduled trip to the National Library of Australia. These distinguished guests are a measure of the prestige ALIA commands in the wider community. People are what makes our profession excel and further in this report you will read of the Fellowships and Librarian of the Year awards that were made this year to acknowledge those among us who have achieved excellence in their careers. I was supported by a splendid General Council and I thank them collectively for their support, enthusiasm, ideas and generosity during my term of office. The Association's major asset is its hard-working, responsive National Office team under the direction of Virginia Walsh, and I take this opportunity to publicly extend my congratulations to them for a most successful year of achievements. It has been a year of many laurels... but I'm equally sure that the best is yet to come. Onward to 1996!
Jan Gaebler
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