Hello PAMily!
The second half of the year has been a whirlwind, with the SLA-ASIS&T vote happening at about the same time that our campuses were stirring into vibrant vitality. As we wrap up the year, let’s look at how far we have come!
Even with all the merger questions swirling in late spring, 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.
At the beginning of August, we held our PAM Annual Business Meeting, just over a week before the dissolution and merger vote.
On 21 August, we learned that the vote to merge with ASIS&T had passed both associations. In mid-autumn, the PAM Board met to discuss our options — which include becoming our own SIG (Special Interest Group) or merging into the ASIS&T Sci-Tech group in some capacity. We held a PAM-wide meeting to discuss our options as a community.
The finer points of the transition will be worked out in the coming months, and Brian Quigley, our Chair-Elect, will be leading our PAM transition team in the coming year. We have a lot going for us, whatever our decision — PAM members have been lively and engaged throughout the entire dissolution/merger period, with members serving both within PAM and in the larger SLA organization at all levels. We have another eight months (until late summer) before we need to finalize our plan and submit any paperwork.
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 in a new form — we definitely impressed 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 the next iteration.
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 for your volunteer time and your engagement.
Thank you especially to our PAM members who have been on the SLA Board during this rocky, penultimate year, Emma Moore and Andy Shimp, and to all members who have given SLA feedback over the past few years and/or have served on central SLA committees as our organization fought to survive despite the foreboding headwinds.
Thank you all for everything you do to keep PAM vibrant and forward-looking, and let’s make the merger starburst bright. 
Chair-Elect Brian Q. would love to hear from you about volunteering in 2026.
For PAM,
Kayleigh Bohémier
2025 PAM Chair
PAM Bulletin 