Meredith Farkas on ALA

November 12, 2006 American Library Association No Comments

At “Information Wants to Be Free” Meredith Farkas has a lengthy thoughtful post on ALA through my eyes: One year later. I have commented briefly there. However some of what she writes merits a more precise response:

…Not only should they [the ALA divisions] show members how they can get involved, they should offer different levels of involvement. My library does not subsidize my ALA membership and they really don't encourage involvement in ALA. So I cant exactly afford to go to both Annual and Midwinter, which leaves me out of most opportunities for involvement. I think the divisions need to look at better ways for working together online…and not requiring committee members to be physically THERE all the time. …I'm certainly someone who is willing to work hard to serve the profession, though I do it in my own way. And maybe less structured contributions should be encouraged from people who are willing to make the effort. I'm sure I'm not the only person who would like to get involved, but feels like there isn't a place for them. And maybe there is a place for me, but it certainly isn't apparent when I look on the Websites for the divisions I'm a member of …
I vacillate between wanting to serve on a committee to wondering if my time isn't better spent developing free online courses and developing collaborative tools to benefit the whole profession. Wouldn't it be great if I could do that sort of stuff within the ALA instead of outside it?

Yes, indeed, Meredith, better collaboration across ALA “silos” is highly desirable. Collaboration across the organization is a perennial topic. Perhaps some ALA-supported bold experimentation with newer technologies and techniques by members who have not been on the “inside” would yield better results.
It would definitely be great if you could do these sorts of things within ALA instead of outside it! We need to broaden the notion of participation equalling committee service. The ALA Participation Task Force is looking at how ALA can offer members varied and meaningful ways to participate. These wouldn't replace divisions, roundtables, and committees, but would supplement and complement them. Most importantly, they would capitalize on the ideas, energy, and imagination of ALL members of the association whether or not they serve on any committees or in any elected offices.

And thank you for being a member of ALA, Meredith. We need everyone's ideas to keep ALA a vital, effective organization working on behalf of its members and our interests.

ALA Participation Task Force

November 12, 2006 American Library Association No Comments

ALA president Leslie Burger appointed the ALA Participation Task Force last summer “to develop recommendations for expanding member opportunities, especially for the for the next generation of leaders, to participate in their association in meaningful ways.” Leslie and I began to discuss this issue a year ago and I volunteered to serve as chair of a task force charged to explore this issue and return recommendations at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

Members of the Task Force are:

John W. Berry
Clara Nalli Bohrer
Sally Gibson
Romina Gutierrez
Kathy Schalk-Greene
Karen G. Schneider
Cal Shepard
Michael Stephens

This eclectic group includes a former ALA president, a trainer, a student, a library school faculty member, public librarians, academic librarians, and leading thinkers on information technology's role in information services. Jenny Levine was appointed to the task force; when she joined the ALA staff she transitioned into the very helpful and essential role of staff liaison to the task force. An academic librarian who accepted appointment concluded in October that she could not continue as a member.

The group has had a slow start due to the usual competitors for members' time and attention: summer vacations, start of the school year, travel to conferences, preparing conference presentations, managing a building renovation that has run longer than planned, etc. The group has finally gained some traction as members have responded to the following questions:

I am a Millennial librarian, in the profession a short time. Persuade me about the reason I should join ALA and get involved. (Or to recast that in a more favorable form rhetorically, what can I gain from joining ALA?)

What should/will ALA 2.0 look like?

We began working in ALA's online communities software but have recently concluded that, for a variety of reasons, we should move to an open venue. Jenny is working on making that happen. Meanwhile, Michael Stephens' and my responses are public in our blogs.