ALA Council II

The first few votes that were taken at this meeting include some minor changes in wording in the ALA Policy Manual (Document #17) and a change in the timeline for work being done by the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC) (Document 33.1).

The Committee on Membership Meetings (Document 37) reported that they would like to discuss adding 30 minutes to Council meetings for non-council ALA members to speak on the resolutions that are brought before Council. This was agreed to.

The Treasurer's report (Document #13) reiterated ALA's action goals (Access to Information, Legislation/Funding, Intellectual Freedom, Public Awareness, Personnel Resources, Development & Technology.) There is information on Total ALA Operating Expenses, General Fund Dues Revenue, Projections on Revenue, Members and Long term investment among other tables. Progress in aligning ALA with their 2010 strategic plan is also addressed. Bottom line is ALA is currently financially sound and stable. However, there are always concerns such as the tenable nature of library funding, the rising costs of health care, the state of the art technology costs, and loan and interest rates. Teri Switzer from Colorado has served as the Treasurer for ALA, and she has done a fantastic job. We in Colorado should be very proud of her contributions to ALA.

John Berry, the Freedom to Read Foundation President, reported on the foundation. This was reported on in an earlier blog. (Document #22)

Honorary membership nominations were made and voted on. Honorary memberships were given to David Cohen, Alice Hagemeyer, Anita R. Schiller, and Alphonse F. Trezza. (Document #24)

After much discussion, both the Resolutions referred to earlier (Impeachment of George W. Bush and Funding for the War in Iraq) did not pass. I abstained on both votes.

The next resolution that was presented concerned the Boy Scouts of America. The resolution stated that ALA call upon all its units to follow ALA Policies and to suspend all affiliation with the Boy Scounts of America National Council until such time as the Boy Scouts of America ends its exclusionary policy on the basis of a person's religious beliefs or sexual orientation and rescind its decision to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and/or religious beliefs so that it demonstrates a commitment to human rights, inclusiveness and mutal respect, before prior relations with ALA can be restored. This resolution was referred back for review.

To be clear on the amount of time that I spent in meetings on these last three resolutions, it was 2 1/2 hours at two different meetings. I found the discussions on these issues to be appropriate in the sense of clarifying ALA's stance on first amendment issues. However, my comments to the Council were the following (although not verbatim):

"My statement has to do with my role as a representative of my Chapter as well as ALA members. The democratic system calls for us, as leaders, to be representatives of the people's opinions that are passed on to us. For those in favor of this resolution, I agree that the resolution fits into the broader mission of ALA. But, to me the question is not just about whether it is right or moral or appropriate for us to bring this before council, but more importantly, are we representing our constituents. I have heard many of the Chapter Councilors say that the feedback they are receiving is that folks do not believe this is appropriate business to be going forward with in Council. I wonder if there isn't a better way to make sure that we are properly representing our constituents, not our own beliefs."