Dear Arclibbers
I am writing to give advance notice of next year's conference, which would be quite different to our usual:
Those of you at this or last year's AGM will know that we have been invited to hold the Arclib 2019 conference with our Italian sister organisation, CNBA (Coordinamento Nazionale delle Biblioteche di Architettura), 8-11 May, in Venice.
It is likely that we would have one day at CNBA's conference, and invite them to spend one day with us. We also plan to arrange visits to exciting Venetian libraries and other venues.
At this year's AGM, we agreed that we would like to go ahead with this proposal, but that members want to check with employers about travelling overseas, and attending conference in term-time.
We also agreed that we would move the Spring visit to summer.
Costs: costs would be accommodation, food and travel. As always, we would aim to charge members at cost, and given that travel may be more expensive (but not necessarily) we are considering subsidising to keep the total costs as near
usual as possible.
Accommodation for three nights is approximately a total of £235 per person. Cost of flights is uncertain as prices as released later in the year for some cheaper airlines. The logistics of travel mean that we would ask delegates to
organise their own flights, but these could be similar to some train ticket costs. We are investigating cost of daytime catering, and approximate costs of evening meals are around €30 per person per meal.
We have provisionally reserved accommodation, 14 singles and 8 twin rooms, allowing for 30 delegates to attend (16 people sharing). This is in a convent - Casa Caburlotto - a short walk from Venice University where the conference
is held.
N.B. The Venice Biennale opens on 11 May. Due to pressures on accommodation in the city, we will need to confirm the accommodation and pay a deposit by mid-December.
The Arclib commitee are meeting in the next two weeks to discuss the conference, identify themes and consider what funds could be available for subsidy.
I will be in touch again soon after that with more information, and to gauge how many of you are likely to attend. We will need to firm up numbers by mid-December as mentioned above.
In the meantime, do check with employers re attendance, we are planning that costs will be very reasonable, as always, and good value for money. It is a very exciting prospect!
All the best
Richenda
Richenda Gwilt
Arclib Chair
