THE CARL Executive Board's Member of the Year Committee is delighted to announce this year's Member of the Year Award: it goes to Lise Snyder, Reference/Instruction Librarian at UCLA College Library!

Lise's colleague Christina Woo writes:

How many CARL members can look back on not only 20 years of Membership, but have not let a year go by without actively participating in one interest group or another (including holding office on many occasions), have served on CARL conference planning committees, and have also been elected to the CARL Executive Board to serve as recently as the late 1990s? Just a few months ago I attended a program planning meeting of one of the CARL interest groups, and this year's Member of the Year awardee was there, continuing to contribute ideas, suggest panel members, try out wording for the program title, and also bring her considerable depth of CARL interest group institutional memory to remind us of similar CARL programs that have been held in the past.
When I served on the CARL Executive Board, I was always impressed by how well prepared Lise Snyder came to the quarterly meetings. She had a huge ring binder of materials from and about the interest groups (she was the CARL South Interest Group Coordinator). I could tell that she communicated with the interest groups regularly and was passionate about the quality of CARL programs and their cost and accessibility. She never failed to provide me with information about interest group activities for the CARL Newsletter. Aside from the Newsletter and the annual conference, the interest group programs are the public face of our organization--the topics we choose in response to our members' concerns, the speakers and panelists we invite, and the location and cost we determine to maximize attendance. Lise worked closely with the chairs of the interest groups to maintain the high standards of CARL interest group programs, and even after her term as southern Interest Group coordinator ended, she continues to attend CARLDIG-S and SEAL-S meetings to remain involved on the CARL front lines.
Lise has not hesitated to be the devil's advocate--or the loyal opposition--to keep interest group programs on topic and affordable. When costs have gone up, she has asked for justification. When some topics are offered, she make sure the program planners focus on "who would attend this? Who would take time away from work and pay money to come to this?" Members like Lise have kept CARL responsive not only to its membership in general but especially to newer, junior librarians who usually have modest professional development funding available, given their junior salaries and demands to earn tenure and/or career status. Thanks to Lise--and to many others--CARL programs in the south can hold their own in terms of quality, affordable programs that compete for academic librarians' time, given LACASIS, SLA, MLA, and other groups' programs
Adds another colleague, Teresa Omidsalar, "I've worked alongside Lise Snyder planning many CARLDIG programs. If Lise is on a program planning committee you can be sure that no detail will be overlooked. She is the most thorough and efficient professional I know. She is the kind of person who will constantly make you say to yourself, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Lise's impressive resume of CARL activities includes the following:

CARL Conference Planning Committee, 1997-98
CARL-South Interest Group Coordinator, 1997-99
CARL Program Planning Committee, 1984-85
SEAL-South President, 1997
SEAL-South, Chair, Program Planning Committee, 1996
SEAL-South, Secretary, 1994
SEAL-South Program Planning Committee, 1990-
SEAL-South Member, 1990-
CARLDIG-South, Program Planning Committee, 1988, 1995-
CARLDIG-South, Secretary, 1987-88
CARLDIG-South Member 1982-
CARL Member 1982-

Lise will officially be given the Member of the Year plaque at the CARL Conference at Asilomar in May.