Hello PAMily!
August has been a whirlwind for many of us, with campuses stirring into vibrant vitality, the last bursts of vacation time, and the wait for the results of the SLA-ASIS&T merger vote. As we wrap up the summer season, let’s take a moment to reflect and look forward with optimism!
On 21 August, we learned that the vote to merge with ASIS&T had passed both associations. While the finer points of the transition will be worked out in the coming months, PAM members have been lively and engaged at all of the town hall sessions over the summer, including the one at the annual conference and the many Zoom feedback opportunities. Based on what we have been told, the alignment of SLA communities with ASIS&T special interest groups (SIGs) is about to take place, led by the Board with feedback and input from us. During the first town hall at SLA in late spring, we had learned from other members that ASIS&T and SLA have discussed mergers before, so perhaps this was going to be as certain as a Milky Way merger with a neighboring galaxy.
We remain hopeful and optimistic that PAM can continue on as a SIG — we definitely impressed the ASIS&T leadership with how strong, engaged, and eager we are to continue our mission in the new structure. There are already some program ideas from PAM members for our post-merger future.
And even with all the merger questions swirling, we had a wonderful conference. A few of us gathered to visit the dinosaurs in the Carnegie Museum before the conference programming began on June 7th. The surprise word search on the back of the Dance Card was well-received. Sarah Siddiqui and Jenny Mueller-Alexander collaborated with Melissa Gonzalez from AIP to host a wonderful PAM Dinner. Our resourceful PAM Roundtable moderators (Alex Manchester and Jenny Hart, Jenny Mueller-Alexander, Ben Mitchell, Emma Moore, and Sandy Avila) facilitated discussions and presentations and did a wonderful job of bringing people together to talk about our work and learn from one another. AMS and SPIE were among SLA’s conference sponsors, and SIAM was our PAM Community Sponsor. Finally, we had a no-sponsor, impromptu Last Night dinner, followed by a chance encounter with 30-50 therapy dogs in the Pitt Cathedral of Learning.
At the beginning of August, we held our PAM Annual Business Meeting, just over a week before the dissolution and merger vote.
ASIS&T and once-SLA (are we allowed to say the name after dissolution? 🫢) will likely give us many updates in the weeks and months to come, so please keep the questions flowing to them.
As in any galaxy merger, there will always be traces of SLA in ASIS&T, visible in the trails and patterns of stars. Many PAM members have put decades of volunteer work and commitment into making excellent professional development opportunities happen for specialized librarians everywhere. Thank you all for everything you do to keep PAM vibrant and forward-looking, and let’s make the merger starburst bright. ✨ Our Chair-Elect, Brian Quigley, would love to hear from you about volunteering in 2026.
For PAM, Kayleigh Bohémier 2025 PAM Chair
PAM Bulletin 