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I am writing this editorial only a month after the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Although I had no desire to write on such a horrifying topic, I could not forego this opportunity to share my pride in our library profession and in our role in American democracy, as so ably articulated by ALA Past President Nancy Kranich with her theme "Libraries: the Cornerstone of American Democracy."

My purpose in writing this column is to share why I chose the presidential theme of "ACRL: The Learning Community for Excellence in Academic Libraries" and to explain why I think the learning community concept is such a powerful one. I also hope to set the stage for the coming year's columns, which will share this common theme.

C&RL News offered ACRL candidates for vice-president/president-elect, Ray English and Mary Reichel, this opportunity to share their views with the membership. Although many of the issues facing ACRL are discussed informally at meetings, we want to use this venue to provide a national forum to all members. We hope this will assist you in making an informed choice when you receive your ballot this spring.

A study investigated the influence of scholarly requirements on the ability of librarians to earn tenure or continuous employment. A total of 690 academic libraries at research, doctoral, and master's-level institutions participated. It was found that 374 of these institutions employed tenure-track librarians. In the case of 373 institutions where librarians were tenure-track, 60.9 percent required some evidence of scholarship, 34.6 percent encouraged scholarship, and 4.6 percent placed little or no emphasis on scholarship. Results suggest that even though most librarians tend not to publish regularly, librarians as a group do not have significant difficulty achieving tenure. Discussion of the results is provided.

More than 100 delegates from national and international associations of library and information studies, educators, and professionals convened in Washington, D.C. for a two-day Congress on Professional Education, April 30-May 1, 1999, sponsored by ALA. The Congress aimed to reach consensus among stakeholder groups on the values and core competencies of the profession and on strategies for action to address common issues and concerns. The impetus for the Congress arose from changes in name of some programs of graduate education, the seeming lack of attention to core competencies, and the national shortage of professionals to work with young people and diverse and underserved populations. Following are reports from two ACRL members who attended the Congress.

Effective library instruction is a necessary component of information literacy and intellectual freedom. Instructors should incorporate censorship issues and illustrate the complexities of combating censorship in library instruction presentations.

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The article is based on a 1979 survey of 530 tenured librarians in thirty-three large academic libraries. The professional productivity of the librarians pre- and post-tenure is examined as well as the tenure criteria and evaluation process applied at the time the surveyed librarians received tenure. Comparisons to the situation in 1979 are drawn. The mobility pattern of tenured librarians is also explored.