Town meetings in Virginia to generate ideas for ways members can participate in ALA

August 6, 2007 American Library Association No Comments

In my statement on the spring ALA ballot I wrote: “I will encourage bold experimentation in the ways ALA does its business. ALA best serves its members when it offers opportunities for each one to participate and contribute in meaningful ways. For some, that is committee service or elected office. For others it is working in groups that transcend organizational borders. A truly inclusive, vibrant ALA will be open to new approaches and will amplify members accomplishments, whether they blossom through time-tested structures or grassroots initiatives.”

I would like to meet with interested ALA members and others to discuss this. I have scheduled meetings at several Virtginia libraries: the Richmond Public Library's West End branch (Aug. 10), the Virginia Beach Public Library's Bayside Special Services Library (Aug. 23), the Williamsburg Regional Library's Williamsburg location (Aug. 23) and the Fairfax County Public Library's Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library (Aug. 30).

I hope to hear your ideas about new ways members can participate in ALA and your ideas on questions such as:

What have your best, most rewarding experiences in ALA been? What made them the best? How can ALA offer opportunities for such experiences to all of its members?

If ALA didn't exist today and we wanted to create a library association that would work on behalf of all types of libraries, all library users, and all library workers, what would it look like and how would it operate?

Are there thing you would like to do in or through ALA that you can't do through ALA's current ways of operating? What could make the needed difference?

If you can't get to a session at its start, come later. I'll be there the full scheduled time. And light refreshments will be served. Please come!

Detailed schedule:

Friday, August 10, 10:00-11:30 AM
West End Library
http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/branches/westend/westend.htm
Richmond Public Library
5420 Patterson Ave.
Richmond, VA
757-646-1877

Thursday, August 23, 10:00-11:30 AM
Bayside Special Services Library
http://tinyurl.com/3de6wm
936 Independence Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA
(757) 385-2680
Directions: http://www.communitywalk.com/vblibraries#000423cN

Thursday, August 23, 2:30-4:00 PM
Schell Room
Williamsburg Library
http://www.wrl.org/
515 Scotland Street
Williamsburg, VA
757-259-4050
Directions: http://www.wrl.org/info/directions.html

Thursday, August 30, 2:00-3:30 PM
Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/ty/

7584 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA
703-790-8088
Directions: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/ty/direct.htm