ALABI 2007

I am at ALABI 2007 today. Thankfully, it was near to home this year. Last year was Richmond, and me and my buddy Andrew had to make that long haul through KY, WV, and VA in order to go. This year it’s at Campbellsville University.

The meeting will take place in the chapel here at Campbellsville. This year, their will be four sessions. The first session will address disaster preparedness, and there is a panel discussion following it. This afternoon, Charles Deweese, the director of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, will talk about the mission statement of the Baptist History and Heritage Society.

Tomorrow, there will be a section entitled, “ALABI — Who We Are, What We Do, Where We Are Going.” I think these are all important questions for an organization that is in a transitional stage. Finally, will have the business session tomorrow, and after that we will have a tour of Campbellsville’s archives.

This is my second year being involved with the organization. It was encouraging to see the camaraderie that existed within the association last year. Of course, many of the members have known each other for a number of years through their participation in the now defunct Southern Baptist Library Association. I am thankful that the new association has a different name for several reasons. First, as an archivist, I am glad that the name includes us. A tip-o-the-hat is always appreciated. Second, I think that the association has a name that is able to bring together Baptists of various stripes. As a Baptist archivist, I am not only concerned about the records of Southern Baptists, even though those are the records with which I primarily work; I am also concerned about the preservation of and access to the records of American Baptists, National Baptists, and various Baptists from other nations besides the United States. And that’s another positive about the name of the organization: it’s not regional. Now the members of the organization are mostly located in the South and mostly have ties to institutions that are presently or were formerly related to the Southern Baptist Convention. But with a name like ALABI, the organization can serve many Baptists from many regions, and that’s a good thing.

I need to go register. I probably won’t live blog because I probably won’t have access, but I will try to type up some notes later.