MemberBlog

American Library Association
Spring 2009 Executive Board Meeting, Chicago, Illinois
Report of James Rettig, President

This has proved to be a fascinating time to serve ALA’s members as their association’s president. The nation’s economic crisis has provided opportunities and challenges for libraries that in turn has focused public attention on libraries and the services they deliver. I have had the to privilege in numerous interviews with reporters to make the case that America’s librarians are helping to put the nation back to work and that librarians have been first responders to the economic crisis. Librarians understand their communities and the needs of the people in those communities. They adapt existing programs and create new ones to meet changing needs. We can only hope that when state and local governments recover from their current fiscal hardships that citizens will retain their newfound appreciation for the contributions their libraries make to their communities and will demonstrate that appreciation by restoring and expanding funding for library services.

Representing and Speaking for ALA
Each month I send an informal report to the Council and Member Forum lists. These reports provide details about the events at which I have represented ALA and the interviews I have given on behalf of ALA.

Noteworthy among recent opportunities, on March 4, in Washington, D.C., I spoke to members of the Washington Office’s Library Business Alliance and thanked them for their support before they dispersed to Congressional offices to lobby their senators and representatives on behalf of ALA and libraries. Jessica McGilvray, Assistant Director, of the Office of Government Relations (OGR) at the Washington Office, and I met with Rep. Rob Wittman (1st district Virginia) and one of his aides for twenty minutes. We also met with a legislative aide to Sen. Jim Webb, a member of the Joint Economic Committee.

I doubt that any state library association conference demonstrates the value of our chapters more dramatically than the Alaska Library Association. The distances are so great and the transportation links so limited among some towns in Alaska that the AkLA annual conference is the only opportunity some Alaska library workers have to interact face-to-face with peers. I had a conversation with two Alaska Natives who serve villages in the far north. One village has a population of 230 and the other a population of 890. These solo librarians provide invaluable service to their communities.

An ALA president’s travels have memorable moments that come not from the library world:
• The eagles in Kodiak in mid-March are abundant and simply magnificent!
• During the opening session of the Texas Library Association (TLA) conference in Houston on April 2, comedian Paula Poundstone, having established that she was addressing an all-Texas audience, suffered presidential straight man/woman whiplash. Singling me out in the first row and, after inquiring where I am from, she asked why someone from Virginia was at a conference for Texas librarians. I explained that visiting state conferences is part of my duties as president of the American Library Association. When Ms. Poundstone’s time was running out, Melody Kelly, TLA president, made appropriate hand signals to conclude the performance. After asking, “And who are you?” and learning that Ms. Kelly is president of TLA, Ms. Poundstone, pointing at me, said, “I thought he’s the president!” President Kelly replied, “He is merely president of the American Library Association. I am president of the Texas Library Association.” That line got more applause and louder cheers than the award winning comedian received for her entire performance. It is good to know that Texans do not suffer from low self-esteem.

Presidential Initiatives
Most of my presidential initiatives are experiments designed to increase opportunities for members to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from their association. These initiatives are meant to create connections among members and between ALA and its members.

One initiative is especially noteworthy. A call for program proposals for the 2009 Annual Conference attracted 118 proposals. That is a very positive response for a first-time venture that departs from long established practice.

To strengthen connections between ALA and its student members, I asked the student ALA chapters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to serve as the first round jurors. In early February I met with both groups of students. They were very enthusiastic about their assignment and the quality of their questions demonstrated their engagement. Each group received half of the proposals and selected the ten they thought best. Members of my presidential initiatives advisory committee selected ten of these twenty for presentation in July. The authors of the proposals selected are very pleased that they will get to share their ideas at the Annual Conference. I even received appreciative messages from some of those whose proposals were not selected. All of this demonstrates the value members place on the juried grassroots initiative. I am optimistic that it will continue in 2010 and beyond and I hope various ALA units will consider this approach to their program planning for Annual Conference.

I met with students at the University of Washington’s Information School while I was in Seattle for the ACRL National Conference in March. The students had many questions and many ideas to share; our session ran well beyond its scheduled concluding time.

For additional information on my initiatives please consult http://jimrettig.org/content/initiatives/initiatives.htm.

President’s Programs in 2009
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, spoke at the President’s Program at the Midwinter Meeting in Denver in January. Members appreciated Dr. Yunus’s presentation. Leonard Kniffel summed it up well in the AL Inside Scoop blog:

Could ALA President Jim Rettig have picked a better speaker for this Midwinter President’s Program than Muhammad Yunus? I don’t think so. With American capitalism failing at numerous levels, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty told the amazing story of his crusade to end world poverty with a lending system that defies the traditional notion of how banks do business.

Mr. Tomas S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, will speak at the President’s program at the Annual Conference in Chicago, in July. He directs the National Security Archive at George Washington University. He will speak on access to government information.