MemberBlog

Throughout the course of Executive Board meetings and conference calls, the Board makes decisions and votes on various issues. These decisions and votes are referred to as “actions.”

The Executive Board actions from the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting are now available online as a pdf.

The next 36 to 48 hours is critical to get millions, maybe billions, of dollars for libraries in the stimulus package. We need every single library supporter to start sending messages and calling congressional offices so that we can keep important library provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). As you all know, libraries are a key source of free Internet access to look for jobs and so much more. Our libraries provide essential services that stimulate our local economies, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides crucial funding for libraries to continue and build upon them. This week, the Senate and House versions of the economic stimulus package will go to conference to reconcile these pieces of legislation, and your calls and e-mails will help protect this funding....

Read more, including what you can do to help, at the District Dispatch

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION MID WINTER MEETING –
Denver,Colorado. January 23-28, 2009. Notes by James B. Casey

Despite cold, snowy weather, the pleasant surroundings of downtown Denver provided an excellent setting for an eventful Mid Winter Meeting. Remnants of the Democratic National Convention back in July 2008 still lingered with signs, souvenirs and tee shirts hailing the Democratic candidates. The term “Denvercrat” was seen in some shop windows. However, most ALA Members seemed to be focused less on the election of 2008 than on the realities of 2009.

According to announcements made by Keith Fiels on January 28, 2009, the total attendance reached 10,220 by Monday, January, 26 2009. That was well behind the 13,601 for the same day at Philadelphia Mid Winter 2008, and that for the same day at Seattle in 2007 of 12,230. The lower attendance was ascribed to a combination of the sparse population in the Denver vicinity (compared to that of Philadelphia and Seattle metro areas) and the difficult economic outlook. Even before we assembled in Denver for this Mid Winter meeting, some discussion had begun about the possibility of reducing the scope of Mid Winter meetings or eliminating them altogether due to economic conditions.

Oak Lawn Public Library Trustee Marian Sullivan enjoyed a productive session involving Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA) committees and programs. However, ALTA has been merged with FOLUSA (Friends of the Library USA) to become ALTAFF (Association for Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations). My wife Diane Dates Casey began her fourth year as Division Councilor for the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS). I continued my fourth term (twelfth year) as a member at-large of ALA Council, and my second year as a member of the Presidential Task Force on Electronic Member Participation (TFOEMP) and as member of the ALA Committee on Organization (COO).

VISIT TO DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY:
I was pleased to have an opportunity to visit the large and beautiful Central Library in downtown Denver. With 450 staff and 23 locations around the city, it is said that 79% of Denver residents have library cards. Construction of a new central library had been approved in a referendum in 1990 that secured a $91.6 million bond issue and was completed in 1995. The building is still “like new” and many of the main public reading areas contain relatively secluded areas where young or adult patrons can curl up with a good book out of direct eyesight of anyone. There were relatively few instances of “face out marketing” among the stacks in the Fiction and Children’s areas. Several of the “show piece” areas including the Western History & Genealogy department and (oddly enough) the Administrative Offices were superb. The large art gallery in the Administrative Offices features excellent art work by Library employees and a fine view of the City. The “Computer Lab” for the public to browse the internet while using the Central Library is actually no larger than that in our own Computer Center at OLPL, but Senior Librarian Megan C. Kinney of the Computer Technology Center was kind enough to show me a fully equipped Computer Training Room that is used exclusively for training and remains locked when not in use. -- I also enjoyed using the Café at the entrance of the public library and had a quick coffee while waiting for the building to open at 10 AM. That café is about the same size as OLPL’s Bookends Café, but has a much more limited offering of food choices.
Like OLPL’s café, the vendor leases the space from the Library. The vendor confided to me that she had been one of several successive café proprietors to occupy the space.

FORUM ON EDUCATION FOR LIBRARIANSHIP:
This program – one of several open discussions on Library Education presented over many years – was hosted by former ALA President Michael Gorman and featured remarks by two eminent educators and two well known practitioners. The central thrust of this session was to discuss the impending presentation before Council of a set of approved “Core Competencies” that should be acquired by any graduate of an ALA Accredited MLIS program. Unfortunately, copies of that core competency list had not yet been distributed to Council or to anyone in the room for this session. Dr. Rick Rubin, Professor at Kent State University and Dr. Ken Haycock emphasized the need for core competencies for every graduate and expressed some impatience at remarks by the practitioners and members of the audience when concerns were expressed about subjects and areas of expertise that were “never taught in library school”. Janet Swan Hill, a leading manager at the University of Colorado at Boulder, maintained that a very large proportion of recent MLIS graduates are not sufficiently conversant with cataloging and other skills necessary for the establishment of “bibliographic control” of library collections. --- This was a worthwhile discussion, but rendered less so by the fact that the actual “Core Competencies” document was not yet available for distribution to those in attendance.

AUTHOR FORUM: WOMEN OF MYSTERY:
This was an interesting panel discussion featuring mystery writers who divulged both the driving force behind their authorship and some of their secrets of the trade. Erica Spindler, author of 28 books including SEE JANE DIE, BONE COLD and COPYCAT, began her writing career in romance and suspense, but has recently moved into more complex police procedural novels where clues are revealed along the way. She urges new authors to begin with the crime and work backwards in crafting the story. Francine Matthews, the author of espionage mysteries, is also known as Stephanie Barron, the creator of mysteries set in the 19th Century and a series featuring Jane Austen as a sleuth. In developing a plot outline, she urges that the writer begin with the end and then work back. Mary Jane Clark, author of ten novels featuring news reporters such as CLOSE TO YOU and DO YOU PROMISE NOT TO TELL, indicated that her writing only enabled her to retire from CBS news in 2007. She maintains that short chapters tend to build suspense and keep readers turning the pages while longer chapters often discourage readers from taking on another 20 pages before turning off the lights for the evening. Nancy Atherton is the popular author of the AUNT DIMITY series and originally grew up on the west side of Chicago – using the Austin Branch of the Chicago Public Library. -- These authors all expressed gratitude for the Libraries and Librarians who inspired their early reading and writing.

ALAWO (ALA Washington Office) UPDATE:
The ALA Washington Office presented a review of issues facing the Library community as the 111th Congress and the new Obama Administration begin ( http://www.ala.org/washoff ). Kendall Wiggin, Chair of the ALA Committee on Legislation, ALAWO Director Emily Shekitoff and Lynne Bradley from the Office of Government Relations, described the new opportunities available to Library advocates, but also cautioned that the competition for money and influence will remain significant. Major issues such as expansion of affordable broadband and telecomm services will require Libraries to be “at the table” and to be prepared for a “marathon” of continued effort rather than a sprint.

The panel discussion for this program included warnings by Ken Wiggin that the huge stimulus dollars likely to be released for the purpose of creating jobs would probably be targeted to existing programs, states and municipal governments. Although the fund release may be rapid, there will be little sudden change at the local level. He warned again that despite the change in political climate in Washington, the battles won’t be easy for Library advocates. --- Lobbying expert Stephanie Vance emphasized the economic and political challenges we face by noting that each and every one of us owes $34,000 towards the national debt, 76% of all states have fiscal deficits and that there are 147,000 associations competing with ALA for influence within the District of Columbia. She urges that library advocates continue to stay on the “radar screen” of their legislators. --- Former Colorado State Senator Ken Gordon urged that Librarians continue to tell lawmakers what they are doing to serve their communities and to create a better economy. Senator Gordon, who served for 16 years in the Colorado State Legislature and was lately Majority Leader of the Senate before term limits forced him out, was very closely involved with many of the causes supported by most Librarians ( http://www.kengordon.com/letter.htm ). He noted that the stimulus funding will probably go through the States in an effort to shore up major programs such as medicare and rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure.

TASK FORCE ON ELECTRONIC MEMBER PARTICIPATION (TFOEMP):
The objective of this task force (appointed in Summer 2007) was explore ways and means by which ALA could incorporate more of the new technology in providing better service to the Membership. After months of intense work, a thorough and wide ranging study was finally prepared for this Mid Winter Meeting. On January 24, Janet Swan Hill, Chair of the TFOEMP, met with about half of the members of the Task Force to assemble thoughts on the challenges she might face at Council II (Tuesday) when the long (65 page) report and its sixteen recommendations were to be presented to the Council for approval. Concerns expressed to TFOEMP members during this Mid Winter involved the awkwardness of opening up the deliberations of governing bodies to electronic observation, the costs involved with creating an environment where full electronic participation can take place and the technical difficulties (and competencies needed) to bring this project about. The TFOEMP was prudent in sending out the long report as early as October to some bodies and to the Council itself by December 15. This effort to bring key bodies such as BARC (Budget Anaylsis and Review Committee) as well as the Executive Board and Executive Director into the discussion several months ago should have (we hoped) enabled most of the recommendations to be passed and for the continuing exploration of options to proceed. The TFOEMP produced a large body of exceptional work in a timely manner under the deft direction of Janet Swan Hill. Members of the TFOEMP include Vibiana Bowman, Courtney L. Young, Dawn Vaughn, Gina Persichini, Judy Nelson, Joe Sanchez, Keri Cascio, Karen Schneider, Charles Kratz, Michael J. Miller, Peter Hepburn, Stephanie Sarnoff, Sue McTavish and James B. Casey. -- This was to be the final meeting of this original TFOEMP. http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/council/councilcommittees/tfoemp.cfm

SPECIAL ALA MEMBERSHIP TOWN HALL MEETING:
This extraordinary Membership Meeting, opened to all ALA Members and with a free access microphone, was hosted by ALA President Jim Rettig and the COL Chair Kendall Wiggin. The objective was to gather as many cogent ideas as possible to present before the new Obama Administration for improvement of service to patrons and to advance the cause of lifetime learning. Ken reminded us that most of the stimulus money will probably go to the states and to existing programs. He urged that we drive a connection in our own local media efforts between jobs and the work of libraries. ----- I was not surprised to find that the dozens of members who came forward to speak out had many excellent contributions to bring forward based upon what, for many, was a lifetime of labor in the field of serving our public. And there was remarkably little duplication in the remarks. (My own essay was on the need to move the e-rate program for public libraries from a competitive rebate program to an actual discount program – where public libraries would not have to submit labor intensive paperwork every year in order demonstrate worthiness to receive a rebate one year after the funds had been expended, but an “up front” discount based upon Census data verifying need.)

COUNCIL I:
James G. Neal, new Chair of BARC (Budget Analysis and Review Committee), gave a succinct and highly effective report to Council on the budgetary status of ALA. Despite dropping revenues, highly effective management by ALA Executives and Budget Officers have reduced expenses to the point where the net assets of the Association remain stable and even somewhat higher than during 2007. The one year investment picture prepared by Daniel J. Bradbury on for the ALA Endowment Fund was very grim. The Fund fell from $31.6 million one year ago to $22.6 million. On the bright side, the Fund’s portfolio fell by 27.7% while the overall market drop was an even more egregious 38.5%. The Trustees are taking a cautiously optimistic position on the market at this time. [It wasn’t mentioned that less that ten years ago, the Endowment Fund stood at only $11 million and the Trustees prior to that were content to maintain conservative positions through the huge market rises of the late 1990s. The Endowment Trustees who succeeded them in the early 2000s took on a more aggressive position and drove the Endowment Fund up to $31.6 million. Even with the collapse to $22.6 million, the Endowment Fund is still far ahead of where it was at the beginning of this decade, due to the deft management of the Endowment Trustees of the 2000s.]

The very brief report by the ALA-APA spokesperson Nancy Bolt noted that National Library Worker’s Day will be held on April 14, 2009 and revealed the major progress anticipated for the LIBRARY SUPPORT STAFF CERTIFICATION PROGRAM http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/supportstaff.html . Nancy indicated that demand for ALA-APA certified training for Support Staff is very strong. The first enrollments will be accepted in January 2010. The cost for the ALA-APA certification (beyond the tuition and school fees) would be $350.

The Library Advocacy Committee announced the development of “tool kits” to assist Library advocates with talking points and convincing arguments. “Advocating in a Tough Economy” (featuring ALA President Jim Rettig)
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/advocacyuniversity/toolkit/index.cfm and “Add it Up: Libraries Make the Difference in Youth Development and Education” provide excellent guides in formulating strategies to tell our story. http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/advocacyuniversity/additup/about/index.cfm

Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels announced that he and his team are working on the development of a cost matrix to determine the affordability of making Council deliberations more widely and readily accessible to the ALA Membership. [This step is already addressing one of the recommendations of the TFOEMP.]

ALA-APA COUNCIL:
ALA ED Keith Fiels announced that bringing ALA-APA to fiscal viability was an immediate priority. Consequently 40% of ALA-APA Director Jennifer Grady’s time and salary are to be devoted to ALA activites. ALA-APA will operate with a staff of .60 FTE for Director and .50 FTE support staff and a reduced overall operating budget. ALA-APA ended 2008 with a net loss of $19,098 and overall net assets for 2008 fell to a negative $248,427 from the negative $229,329 in 2007. Contributions to ALA-APA were $10,475 below that of 2007. --- In response to a question, the ALA Executive Director indicated that the number of contributors to ALA-APA from among the ALA Membership was only about 1 or 2%.

The enrollment in the Certified Public Library Administrator Program has been relatively modest in number, but testimonials from recent graduates were read and noted as a source of optimism for the future of this program.

The ALA-APA Standing Committee on Salaries and Status of Library Workers reported that six programs will be on the agenda for Annual Meeting in Chicago and two resolutions are also being prepared for presentation at that Conference.

ALA COO (Committee on Organization):
Most of COO discussions centered on more firmly establishing the rules governing Member Initiative Groups (MIG) and distinguishing them from another smaller, informal organization type within ALA called Discussion Groups. MIGs include Libraries Fostering Civic Engagement, Games & Gaming, Information Commons, Library Assessment and Virtual Communities & Libraries.

COUNCIL II:
The Treasurer’s Report provided a good overview of the cost/benefit advantages of the work of ALA Washington Office. The ALAWO has been leveraging very big advantages to libraries via the exercise of influence and promotion of library issues among the national political leadership. Treasurer Rodney Herseberger noted that three of the larger revenue producers – publishing, meetings and conferences, and dues – had not been increasing at a significant enough rate. New approaches and business models may need to be examined. ALA will have to reduce expenditures if revenues decline as a result of the floundering economy and dropping attendance.

Council was also pleased to hear of the outstanding work being done by the Freedom to Read Foundation http://www.ftrf.org (1-800-545-2433, ext. 4226) and to learn about its efforts to support litigation in defense of our liberties. FTRF President Judith Platt presented reports on recent victories in the battle to preserve intellectual freedom and privacy rights. (Freedom to Read Foundation memberships are only $35 for personal members and $100 for organizations.)

Michael Gorman sought Council approval for the establishment of “ALA’s Core Competencies of Librarianship”. These had been presented at the Forum on Library Education on Friday, January 23, to an audience of Library faculty and practitioners. An abbreviated list consists of the following: “A person graduating from an ALA-Accredited masters program in library and information science should know and, where appropriate, be able to employ: Foundations of the Profession, Information Resources, Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information, Technological Knowledge and Skills, Reference and User Services, Research, Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, and Administration & Management.” -- After lengthy discussion and some amendments, this worthy document finally passed.

TASK FORCE ON E-MEMBER PARTICIPATION REPORT (TFOEMP):
This 16 recommendation report was presented with much skill before Council II by Chair, Janet Swan Hill. Four of the sixteen recommendations were approved at this session. The rest were planned for Council III.

COO Meeting:
The merger of FOLUSA and ALTA – combining all of the assets of those divisions – was approved at this Mid Winter Meeting. The new organization is called ALTAFF (Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations). It will be headquartered in Philadelphia under Director Sally Reed and with a total 3.8 staff. The vote by ALTA to approve this amalgamation was 293 to 20. Although there were some protests against this merger, the overwhelming majority was agreeable to the transition. Consequently, COO voted to accept the merger. --- The Committee on Legislation (COL) obtained approval by COO to expand its membership from 10 to 15. COL needs more members to do the work of intensified lobbying in the new 111th Congress and the demand for membership on COL is very heavy. This will open the doors to more effective lobbying. ---- ALA CONNECT ONLINE was demonstrated by Jenny Levine to COO. The communications capability available to ALA Members, committees, divisions, and other bodies can be enhanced dramatically. The “soft launch” of this site will be in late February 2009 and may well begin with COO as one of the beta organizations involved.

COUNCIL FORUM:
About 100 Councilors appeared for this discussion and reviewed a number of possible resolutions. As is customary for these forums, most resolutions were battered with criticism by Councilor colleagues. To my chagrin, several of the recommendations that had been presented by our TFOEMP were assaulted in this way. While several of us on the TFOEMP tried to affirm the notion of full fledged electronic member participation, the audience remained sharply divided at this forum.

COUNCIL III:
J. Douglas Archer reported on behalf of the Intellectual Freedom Committee and submitted three new interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights – Challenged Materials, Restricted Access to Library Materials, and Service to Persons with Disabilities. All were passed by a near unanimous vote. --- COL Chair Ken Wiggin presented two Resolutions to Council: “Resolution Commending President Barack Obama on his Commitment to Openness and Transparency in Government” and “Resolution in Support of the Reauthorization of the Library Services and Technology Act.” Both passed by a near unanimous vote. --- Beverly Lynch, Chair of the International Relations Committee, presented a “Resolution on the Connection between the Recent Gaza Conflict and Libraries.” After about 45 minutes of debate, the resolution passed by a wide margin. --- COO Chair Steve Matthews reported the work of his Committee. Among the items acted upon was the final combination of ALCTS and FOLUSA into ALTAFF. Council vote was nearly unanimous.

Discussion continued on the 16 TFOEMP recommendations. In this instance, Chair Janet Swan Hill proceeded with advice from the Parliamentarian (Eli Mina) in order to move more efficiency on completing the 16 recommendations. After the approval of recommendations 4 and 5, the remaining recommendations were discussed in a bundle and approved. The entire set of recommendations has been referred to the Executive Board and BARC for further investigation and formal report to Annual Meeting in Chicago. [This passage of the TFOEMP recommendations represents a significant step for ALA into broader use of technology in conducting business.]

“Resolution on Understanding Gaza – One Conference, One Book, One Read”
presented by Councilor Elaine Harger was defeated. “Resolution on Access for Physical Mobility Impaired Conference Attendees” presented by June Pinnell-Stephens, passed overwhelmingly. “Resolution on Accessible Computer Workstations at ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meetings” by Melora Ranney Norman passed. “High Speed Internet Wireless Access at Conference Hotels” by Ria Newhouse was defeated.

My notes do not, of course, highlight all of the actions taken by Council during this eventful Mid Winter Meeting. Copies of the final wording of all resolutions an action items from Council Sessions will be posted and available on the ALA Web Site http://www.ala.org in a few weeks.

CONCLUSION:
This proved to be a highly productive, but less than efficient Mid Winter Meeting. Despite the good efforts of President Jim Rettig, Council sessions became bogged down in disputes and “word smithing” as complex issues such as the TFOEMP and Core Competencies required hours of meandering discussion. More airing of resolutions by e-mail weeks or months before the Mid Winters and Conferences could help immensely.

The City of Denver was pleasant (albeit, snowy), but the low attendance for this particular Mid Winter proved to be discouraging. Discussion before Council pertaining to the elimination of Mid Winter did not re-emerge. However, starting in 2010, both Mid Winter and Annual will be shortened by one day (in terms of Council sessions). Instead of finishing on Wednesday, work will conclude on Tuesday afternoon. This is a welcome change.

My sincerest thanks go to the Oak Lawn Public Library, the Board and Taxpayers for supporting my participation in ALA.

James B. Casey, January 28, 2009

From Jonathan Betz-Zall, Washington Chapter Councilor, Concerning the ALA Midwinter 2009 Meeting

---

Washington Library Association
ALA Chapter Councilor's Report
Midwinter Meeting, January 2009, Denver, Colorado
Jonathan Betz-Zall with some text from Councilor James Casey of Illinois

The American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting, focusing primarily on business, produced some noticeable changes in organizational practices even as the old guard struggled to maintain the organization's basic values. Newer librarians, particularly members of the organization's governing Council, advocated for more electronic participation and free internet access, while more experienced members tweaked various organizational structures and worried about slow-growing revenue streams and potential program reductions. Meanwhile, ALA worked to advocate for library interests in legal, financial and intellectual arenas.

Specific Areas of Concern-

Intellectual Freedom:

The Freedom to Read Foundation reported some notable victories: The Child Online Protection Act was overturned after 10 years of effort, a National Security Letters case on gag orders without judicial review put burden of proof on government before enforcing them, and a Harmful to Minors literature sellers registration requirement in Indiana was struck down as too vague, not narrowly tailored to achieve its goal

Another harmful to minors case--Powell's books in Oregon—is still underway. FTRF says that the state law makes no provision for judging value of content, as federal law does. FTRF has joined the Valerie Plame Wilson case challenging redaction, saying that the government must demonstrate harm of information that is already in the public domain

FTRF is monitoring two other important cases: the Miami_Dade School Board case on removing a book from classrooms and the North Central Regional Library District case on mandatory, non removable filtering. The last is an ACLU case; the Freedom to Read Foundation and ALA are not participating.
Intellectual Freedom Committee has published a festschrift for Gordon Conable and added a casebookon privacy and copyright issues to its annual series. They are planning to publish a new edition of the IF manual in 2010. They are also publicizing a national conversation on privacy called "Privacy Revolution" with door hangers and a website: www.privacyrevolution.org
Banned Books Week 2009 will be held Sept 27-October 4. Information: www.ala.org/bbooks.

Council adopted three revisions to the Intellectual Freedom Manual on “Challenged Material”, “Restricted Access to Library Materials” and “Services to Persons with Disabilities”.

National Legislation:
The Committee on Legislation encourages librarian participation in the legislative process through links on ALA’s website and through attending Library Legislative Day May 11-12. ALA’s Legislative Assembly is a good place for ALA units to be represented (for example, the Government Documents Round Table). Most importantly for WLA, they encourage chapters to involve themselves more deeply in legislation.

Council agreed to increase the committee membership to handle its expanded workload, encouraged ALA members to distribute listserve messages to other listserves, commended President Obama for his prompt action on Open Government, and supported reauthorization of the Library Services and Technology Act.
Meanwhile the Washington Office coordinated a massive effort to convince the Consumer Product Safety Commission to exempt libraries from having to examine all of their children’s materials for lead and other toxic substances. By the end of conference it was clear that both of the commissioners had heard from large numbers of concerned people and that favorable action could be expected soon. The WO also reported that the new stimulus programs will likely produce little sudden change at the local level. It’s very important for libraries to stay on the “radar screens” of their legislators—tell them what we are doing to serve their communities and create a better economy. Stimulus funding will probably go through the States in an effort to shore up major programs such as medicare and rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure.

ALA also held a special members meeting to allow librarians to make statements that they wanted President Obama to hear and consider. The following notes by Councilor Jim Casey describe it well: “This extraordinary Membership Meeting, opened to all ALA Members and with a free access microphone, was hosted by ALA President Jim Rettig and the COL Chair Kendall Wiggin. The objective was to gather as many cogent ideas as possible to present before the new Obama Administration for improvement of service to patrons and to advance the cause of lifetime learning. Ken reminded us that most of the stimulus money will probably go to the states and to existing programs. He urged that we drive a connection in our own local media efforts between jobs and the work of libraries. ----- I was not surprised to find that the dozens of members who came forward to speak out had many excellent contributions to bring forward based upon what, for many, was a lifetime of labor in the field of serving our public. And there was remarkably little duplication in the remarks. (My own essay was on the need to move the e-rate program for public libraries from a competitive rebate program to an actual discount program – where public libraries would not have to submit labor intensive paperwork every year in order demonstrate worthiness to receive a rebate one year after the funds had been expended, but an “up front” discount based upon Census data verifying need.)”

Electronic Member Participation:
After 18 months of work the Task Force on Electronic Participation presented sixteen recommendations to Council. Although chaired and composed by some of the most respected councilors, the Task Force encountered some stiff challenges in its presentations as councilors complained of insufficient time to examine the proposals and the accompanying background information. Almost everyone supports the principle of allowing electronic participation in association business because it promises to save a lot of time and energy now wasted in personal travel, but major concerns were raised about serious problems of implementation including costs of technology and training. This does seem to be a “wave of the future” but a newly-formed caucus of younger councilors expressed frustration at the seemingly slow pace of change in ALA. The Task Force report is available online: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/council/councilcommittees/tfoemp.cfm

ALA-APA:
ALA’s Allied Professional Association carries out activities that ALA cannot do for various tax-related reasons. Since its establishment six years ago it has struggled financially but does seem to be carrying out an effective program to certify public library administrators and is close to establishing one to certify library support staff. Our own Highline Community College is to be one of the first training providers for the latter. ALA-APA’s salary survey functions are being transferred to ALA’s Office of Research. http://www.ala-apa.org/

Library Education:
After ten years of work, the Library Education Task Force won Council’s approval for a set of “Core Competencies for Librarianship”, specifying a set of outcomes that “A person graduating from an ALA-Accredited masters program in library and information science should know and, where appropriate, be able to employ: Foundations of the Profession, Information Resources, Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information, Technological Knowledge and Skills, Reference and User Services, Research, Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, and Administration & Management.” For more information, please see this website: http://www.ala.org/ala/educationcareers/careers/corecomp/index.cfm

A more detailed, chronological set of notes on Council meeting follows.

ALA Council/Executive Board Information Session:
internal economics going well but investments are doing very poorly. Trying to move investments to more productive areas, diversifying portfolio.
2009 election: March 17 to Apr 20, results announced May 1. All electronic election.
New video on "Why run for Council?" with a variety of councilors. Will be on YouTube. Also ALA website.
Next presidential initiative: member-driven frontline advocacy.

ALA-APA Information Session:
Strengthening Professionalism in the Public Interest--draft statement by variety of professional group approved by Exec Board. Reported at Anaheim conference.
Salary survey going out to 4000 libraries, need good response. Chap Councilors will receive state specific lists to help encourage participation.
Tues Apr 14 is National Library Workers' Day. Nominate great student workers and supervisors.
Lib Support Staff Certification Program report: program expected to be ready to certify one year early.
• Competency-based, aimed at academic and public library staff people.
• Survey generated positive results, 2700 comments. Also positive response at conferences.
• Online portfolios: Not to give credit for experience but to demonstrate competencies in 6 of 9 sets.
• Policies & procedures for policy implementation.
• Currently projecting 300 enrollees in first year, 2010.

Council I:
Library Advocacy Committee: newly established this year, working groups Training, Coordinating, Ad-hoc advocacy group. New toolkit: advocating in a tough economy avail on ALA website, including ROI calculator. Public piece: Add it up! making the case for libraries influencing children and teens. Advocacy university with many tools. Building statewide coalitions during a tough economy: example of library ecosystem at work, e.g. Nebraska & Colorado. Name change: Committee on Library Advocacy.
Constitution & Bylaws: Bylaws adjusting placement of sections. Discussion arose about dues revisions as discussed on Council listserve. Extended delinquency provision to two months.
Executive Director's report: new Choice building acquisition running into problems with use of brownfield site. Diversity officer about to be hired. Lead in books issue--consumer product safety commission is being bombarded with comments.
Executive Board actions: comment that SRRT is unhappy with continued prohibition of ALA units from endorsing candidates. Request to have Current Reference File more available--promise to have scannable version available by Annual conference.
Implementation report: sweatshop resolution lists prepared of clean vendors and questions to ask prospective vendors.
Gaza resolution referred to International Relations Committee.
Council Forum: Mon 8-9:30 Hyatt Regency Centennial A, Tues 4:30-6 CC 402

ALA-APA:
Working on financial stability--restructuring. Collaboration between ALA Office of Research and ALA-APA on librarian salary survey.
Negative net revenue in 2008 of 19,000 because salary survey publication went out late. Results should be better in current quarter. Expect to be on track for positive performance throughout the year. Did make an interest payment on loan last year.
CPLA certification is going well--evaluations are positive. But participation has been below projections, office is asking councilors to create more buzz about program. Graduates are helping with this. Variety of other publicity underway. Comments: need to convince employers of the benefits of CPLA. How does it compare to MPA? Asking Chapter Councilors to promote at state level. Word of mouth most effective. Opp't'y for continuing education in rural areas. Target younger people who are still paying for college loans.
Salaries & Status report: six conference programs at annual. Resolutions coming up for annual, asking for input on outsourcing at wpaullin@aclsys.org
National Library Workers Day: April 14, 2009. Need volunteers for various committees: Pay Equity, Research, Resources/Statistics, Unions. Lobbying for Employee Free Choice Act? Not actively, just monitoring.
Resolutions guidelines tweaking adopted.

Council II:
Financial report: to be viewed within programmatic priorities and value statements
Washington Office: OITP convenes meetings on policy, e.g. conference on traditional cultural expression, future of libraries, e-rate simplification
Copyright advisory network: librarycopyright.net est in 2004 almost 2 million page views last year
also lobbying for education, chlidren's literacy, school libraries inclusion in No Child Left Behind
Legislative Action Center--web based timely information/action center
Nat'l Library Legislative Day--over 400 advocates came last year May 11-12 this year. Also Virtual Library Legislative Day.
Intangible results: e.g.getting EPA libraries reopened ; generally great return on investment ; LSTA & e-rate funding stable
Broad institutional strategies: promote ALA vision and mission at every opportunity ; establish & support a network of relationships that promote ALA's mission & priorities
influence legislation and regulation where possible
General trend--next year is last year of dues increase, revenues will slow down.
Mature business not likely to produce major revenue growth <10% per year
Need for revenue growth: staff, technology, fluctuating prices
Concerned that recession will impact library purchases of services
New business model: penetrate current markets deeper, new products for current markets, current products for new markets, new products for new markets

Freedom to Read Foundation:
Child Online Protection Act challenge succeeded after 10 years of effort unconstitutionally overbroad, burdened speech among adults, favors parental filters
National Security Letters case on gag orders without judicial review, put burden of proof on government
Harmful to Minors literature sellers registration requirement struck down, too vague, not narrowly tailored to achieve its goal
Ongoing harmful to minors case--Powell's books in Oregon no provision for judging value of content
Valerie Plame Wilson case challenging redaction, government must demonstrate harm of information that is already in the public domain

Library Education Task Force, Core Competencies of Librarianship has been through 10 years of development, to specify outcomes, not process of education. Amendments included explicit coverage of diversity (defeated--redundant), add "leadership" (adopted), add "freedom of expression" to legal framework (adopted), add "social responsibilities" to roles of library professionals (defeated--redundant). CD 10

Caregiver study task force: resolution adopted last Midwinter. COSWL taking over the function.

TF on Electronic Member Participation report, CD 35. Policy level: principles & discovery--main focus, Fiscal considerations--unable to flesh out in time available, Implementation. Asking only for passage of ideas, implementation to come later. TF assumes that participants in eparticipation will pay for the privilege. Financial problems of availability of technology. Accessibility barriers: both need to attend and requirements of technology. No recommendation on Midwinter. Very confusing situation led to extended discussion both in Council II and in Council Forum.
1st recommendation: encouraging experimentation with providing electronic access to non-governance activities.
2nd recommendation: all meetings of ALA are open to all members and the press.
3rd recommendation: openness of between-meeting activities--accessible to all members.
4th: Replacing virtual membership (non-voting) at ALA level with full virtual committee membership. Details to be assigned to successor task force.

Council III:
Intellectual Freedom Committee: published festschrift for Gordon Conable, casebooks available this years, privacy and copyright issues, IF manual aiming for publication in 2010, publicizing "Privacy Revolution" with door hanger
Cttee on Legislation: encouraging librarian participation through links on website and Library Legislative Day. Legislative Assembly a place for ALA units to be represented. Expanding committee membership to handle expanded workload. Encouraging members to distribute listserve messages to other listserves.
Commending Obama for position on Open Government.
Supporting LSTA reauthorization.
International Relations committee: Blue Shield worked on US passage of the Hague Convention. Debate on Gaza resolution (watered down) adopted.
CPSC put "hold" on banning children's books while they investigate.
Committee on Organization: changing committee names, approved merger of ALTA and FOLUSA, expand Committee on Legislation
Resolutions Committee: guidelines for resolutions at Membership Meetings.
Website Advisory Committee: CMS support will expire, meeting planner will be improved. Funds needed to make website fully accessible.
TF on Electronic Member Participation report CD35: reconsidered 35-4 because many councilors felt unclear on whether they had eliminated authorization for virtual members throughout ALA. Amended and adopted to clarify that we're eliminating "second class" status of electronic members of committees. 35-5: participation requirements to be updated to include virtual/email membership activity. Variety of objections and supports for other recommendations. Fairly strong support for eparticipation in general, just concerns about specific implementation problems. Referred the rest of the items to ALA Executive Board.

Resolution on setting up a "one conference one book" program on Gaza for Annual Conference. Purpose: Education of ALA members. Referral to IRC failed. Rejected.
Resolutions on accessible workshops adopted.
Resolution on high speed internet wireless access at conference hotels.

10,220 attendees, 7905 members.

ALA President’s Informal Report for January 2009

From Jim Rettig, ALA President--

In my role as ALA president I did the following during January:

CONFERENCES, etc.
• January 8: AASL president Ann Martin arranged for me to visit libraries at an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school in Henrico County (VA). My March American Libraries column tells what I learned from the experience.
• January 30: Keynote speaker at the “Bridging the Spectrum” symposium at the School of Library and Information Science at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

PRESS INTERVIEWS
• January 6: Larry Ragonese of the Star Ledger (NJ) on proposed library budget cuts in Morris County (Whippany, NJ)
• January 6: Jim Carlton of the Wall Street Journal on increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn
• January 6: Mary Jo Balasco of the Herald (SC) on increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn
• January 9: Motoko Rich of the New York Times on the report from the National Endowment for the Arts on an increase in reading of literature among American adults; see http://www.nea.gov/news/news09/ReadingonRise.html
• January 15: Ryan McCarthy of the Florida Keys Keynoter on increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn
• January 16: Jeff Danna of the Pioneer Press (IL) on increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn
• January 26: Annie Gowen from the Washington Post on increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn
• January 30: Taped an interview with Lynn Neary at NPR headquarters in Washington. She is working on a story about the grants ARUS is managing for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation. The grants will help twelve public libraries present educational programs for investors. See http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/january2009/finra.cfm

Other media outreach:
• January 5: USA Today published a letter to the editor responding to Sen. Coburn's criticism of the Westfield Washington Public Library in Westfield, Indiana for using grant money to purchase equipment for gaming day. (The grant was made by the state library, not a federal agency.)
• January 7: Guest on WAMU radio’s “The Diane Rehm Show” (http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/01/07.php#24509), syndicated on many public radio stations nationwide. Fellow guests discussing increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn were ALA past president Carla Hayden of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and Ginnie Cooper of the Washington, DC, Public Library.
• January 23: Guest on "The Sound of Ideas" (http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/soi/) talk show on Cleveland’s NPR station; the show focused on increased use of public libraries and the nation’s economic downturn

During the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver:
• Introduced my President’s Program speaker, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace prize recipient, and posed questions to him after he concluded his formal remarks. This program far exceeded my hopes for it.
• Participated in the ceremony to announce winners of youth book and media awards
• Participated in part of the Freedom to Read Foundation’s board meeting
• Taped a brief video for the Public Information Office to encourage ALA members to respond to the forthcoming member survey
• Participated in a press conference to announce the new FINRA-RUSA grants
• Spoke at meetings at meetings of COSLA, the New Members Round Table, orientation for new members of Council, the Advocacy Coordinating Group, the Chapter Relations Committee, the Committee on Professional Ethics
• Participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr., commemoration ceremony
• With the ALA Development Office hosted a reception for our Library Champions

GOVERNANCE ACTIVITIES
• Submitted my midyear report to the Executive Board and Council
• During the Midwinter Meeting: Presided at the Executive Board meetings
• During the Midwinter Meeting: Presided at the Council meetings