Plato's Republic was the inspiration for the theme of the 2009 Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition: "Necessity Is the Mother of Invention". The conference, held November 4-7 in Charleston, South Carolins, included preconferences, plenary sessions, and concurrent sessions. The theme reflected the changes and innovations that are taking place in libraries, collection development, and acquisitions as we expand our services in the global marketplace amid tough economic times of budget cuts, furloughs, and cancelation of some resources. We are looking for ideas and innovation. The Charleston Conference continues to be a major event for information exchange among librarians, vendors, and publishers. Now in its twenty-ninth year, the conference continues to be one of the most popular conferences in the Southeast. Conference attendees continue to remark on the informative and thought-provoking sessions. The conference provides a collegial atmosphere where librarians, publishers, and vendors talk freely and directly about issues facing their libraries and information providers.

Katina Strauch is head of the Collection Development Department, College of Charleston Libraries, South Carolina.Beth Bernhardt is the Electronic Resources Librarian at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.Leah H. Hinds is assistant director at Constant Contact, Inc.