Editor of this issue:

Gail Hendler, Ehrman Medical Library, New York University Medical School, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, S-10, Phone: 212-263-8925, Fax: 212-263-8196, E-mail: hendler@library.med.nyu.edu.

Dear Colleagues,

As I paused to contemplate on my upcoming term as Chapter Chair, it occurred to me that a good way to begin would be to introduce myself, with all due respects, to the membership.

I currently live in Brooklyn where, with my partner of many years, we are gradually restoring and renovating our house that is also a home to our rambunctious Welsh Terrier, Dino, and is guarded by a pair of cockatiels named Angel and Ariel.

While a student working toward a Master Degree in Information Science at Pratt Institute, I joined the Chapter in 1985. In 1988 I was a member of the Continuing Education Committee and then chaired that committee from 1989 to 1990. I served on the Executive Board from 1991 to 1992. During those years I was employed in the libraries of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Medical Library Center of New York, and New York University School of Medicine, where I am today. My positions have all been in various forms of public service.

By the early 1990's, like so many of us, my energies were drawn away from professional librarian activities. My skills, I ventured to believe, were well employed in AIDS activism and research. From the mid-1990s on I became involved with MLA and other professional librarian and medical associations nationally by presenting at annual meetings, participating on committees, the BMLA editorial board, publishing, and became an certified MLA CE instructor and an AHIP.

What about the Chapter? One day during her term as Chair, Patricia Tomasulo called me. Casting her spell, no doubt, she recruited me as the Chapter Liaison for Credentialing (AHIP). Since then I have taken a renewed interest in our local community, The New York/New Jersey Chapter of MLA. Presently, I am the Conference Co-Chair for the five-chapter meeting to be held in October 2003 in Philadelphia.

Our Chapter is our resource. We can continue to support our professional development by becoming involved in chapter activities. We can coordinate programs that enrich and educate our membership through Continuing Education classes and high quality meetings and programs. Certainly we have done so in the past and with your continued involvement and the involvement of those untapped and talented members (I know you are out there!) we can do even more. Because we are New York and New Jersey the accent of our experiences is unique. Through our social activities and communications via this newsletter, our website, listserv and mail we can learn, share, commiserate, relate and enjoy each other. Yet we are still part of the greater organization and I earnestly solicit your involvement, ideas, thoughts, and comments.