History
The Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) originated as part of a movement for Caribbean cooperation at the university level, initiated in the late l960’s by the Association of Caribbean Universities (UNICA). At that moment Sir Philip Sherlock, of the University of the West Indies, at Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, was its Secretary General.
UNICA recognized the need for close cooperation among university and research libraries in the region. It sponsored, along with the University of Puerto Rico and its Institute of Caribbean Studies, the first conference of librarians in university and research libraries of the region in Puerto Rico in 1969. This event was coordinated by Dr. Alma Theodora Jordan (University of the West Indies, Trinidad Campus), Dr. Albertina Perez de Rosa (University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus) and Luisa Vigo-Cepeda (Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus). At that conference, an independent Association of Caribbean University and Research Libraries (ACURIL) was voted into existence. Dr. Jordan was elected the first President, Dr. Pérez de Rosa the first Vice-President of the Association, and Ms. Vigo-Cepeda, first Secretary-Treasurer.
While adhering to the original proposal of collaboration among university and research libraries within the framework of UNICA, the Association recognized that it should embrace all kinds of libraries that traditionally functioned as research libraries. Public libraries, in particular, were effectively basic providers of information in many of the small Caribbean countries. There was also a growing number of special libraries in government and other institutions that should be included in the Association. The delimiting word ‘institute’ was therefore removed from the title of the Association, but the acronym remained unchanged. In 1976 the organization was renamed Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries, providing ample space for all information units in the Caribbean.
ACURIL Membership
It is our pleasure to invite you to join ACURIL as Members. We have several categories of members and you can find out about them from the following link: www.acuril.org/membership. After you fill in the attached form you receive your Membership confirmation which is valid for one year and is renewed after your renewal application.
As an ACURIL MEMBER you will:
- Meet, connect, and network with professionals from all areas of library work, in the different countries in the Caribbean and other interested information and Knowledge specialists
- - Sustain your professional network and field in the Caribbean
- - Build and share your knowledge
- - Engage in the latest trends and issues
- - Discover new technologies and innovations
- - Develop leadership skills
- - Enhance your library, archive and museums’ effectiveness
- - Vote on general assemblies; be a proactive delegate contributing to the future of the association and the field; serve in Special Interest Groups and Content Area Groups; be a candidate to the Executive Council to lead the organization
- Be part of the Caribbean transformation of libraries, archives and museums for the betterment of our societies.
For more information about ACURIL, please visit www.acuril.org. As an ACURIL member you have various advantages, including a special rate for the ACURIL 2025 Curaçao Conference. For more information about the ACURIL membership, please send an email to treasurer@acuril.org.
TARGET GROUP
The target group and the audience are library professionals in a more general sense: professors, researchers, students, administrators, stakeholders, technologists, museum scientists, archivists, information scientists, librarians, subject and reference librarians, retired librarian, et al.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
The Alma Jordan Scholarship help to finance the attendance of one person, from each of the following language areas: English, Spanish, French and Dutch, with the registration fee to attend the ACURIL annual conference. The application for the scholarship is made from: www.acuril.org/the-alma-jordan-sholarschip/
ACURIL recognizes excellence in the services of the information units that are members of the organization through an award to the Institution. This award seeks to stimulate and highlight the continuous interaction and exchange of experiences of archives, libraries, documentation centers and other information units.
ACURIL grants the Information Professional award to stimulate and highlight the highest performance of information professionals in the Caribbean, members of the organization.
ACURIL awards the Information Professional Award in the Caribbean to recognize and honor individual commitment, excellence in performance, and outstanding professional achievements of an information specialist (librarian, archivist, documentarian, etc.) in the Caribbean, members of ACURIL (in any of the linguistic areas: English, French or Dutch and Spanish). This award seeks to stimulate and highlight the highest performance of the information professionals of the Caribbean, members of the organization.
Nominations for these awards are submitted from: www.acuril.org/nominations
