American Library
Association Chapter Councilor's Report
Report to the Maine Library Association
ALA Midwinter Meeting, Philadelphia, January 2003
Highlights
The development of a
resolution on the USA Patriot Act was the primary
discussion at this year's midwinter meeting, involving
several committees and round tables and council
caucuses. Discussions pertained mostly to the question
of whether or not the language which was crafted to
speak to Congress effectively also conveyed the
Association's commitment to oppose those parts of the
USA Patriot Act to our constituents. Some felt strongly
that there needed to be a more powerful assertion that
the Association opposed those parts of the Act which
infringe upon patron rights and/or a call for repeal of
those sections. Others asserted that including words
like "repeal" would severely limit the
document's effectiveness in Washington.
Another interesting
conversation from the Round Table Coordinating Committee
which did not actually make its way to the Council floor
this meeting was the question of the extent to which
round tables may express the unique views of their
groups to the public. It was noted that the advent of
web publishing brings a new wrinkle to this issue,
because whereas previously newsletters and so forth
could only be circulated to a limited extent, now such
publications are often freely accessible via the Web.
Some asserted that a disclaimer accompanying any
information released only by a round table should be
sufficient; it was pointed out that a disclaimer cannot
establish that a round table is a legally separate
entity from ALA. A background document on this is
available at:
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/council/cd_54.html
Council I 1/27/03
Honorary Memberships
John Berry presented
nominations for honorary membership to ALA, "The
highest honor ALA can bestow":
Barbara Gittings,
Lifelong commitment to developing awareness of gays and
lesbians. Primary force in establishment of Gay &
Lesbian Task Force, now GLBT Round Table.
Samuel Morisson: For his
long and distinguished career in librarianship,
establishing partnerships between libraries and other
organizations, committed to furtherance of
profession/mentoring. Significant contribution to status
of African Americans.
Dr. Lucille Cole Thomas
for her notable contributions as a librarian and
trustee, leadership at state local national and
international levels, and contributions to children's
library services. Served on Council for 22 years.
The nominations were
approved; these individuals will be presented with their
memberships at Annual 2003.
Executive Board
actions since Atlanta
Voted to request the
exploration of the establishment of a national
association of teenagers committed to libraries and
librarianship.
Freedom to Read
Foundation
CIPA litigation:
Unanimous decision by special three-judge panel that
CIPA statute violates the First Amendment and is
unconstitutional. On November 12, 2002 Supreme Court
granted the government's petition to review the
decision. Government's brief was filed January 10, 2003.
ALA's reply will be filed February 10. Oral arguments
will be heard March 5, 2003.
ACLU vs Department of
Justice is an FOIA lawsuit: FTRF is one of four
plaintiffs seeking a court order requiring the DOJ to
disclose aggregate statistical data and other policy
information about the Department's implementation of the
USA PATRIOT Act, including those which permit the FBI to
obtain library and bookstore records without showing
probable cause. Nov. 26, 2002 the court ordered the DOJ
to disclose relevant records. 200 heavily redacted pages
were turned over January 16, 2003.
Resolution
in Support of the School of Information Resources and
Library Services (SIRLS) at the University of Arizona,
which read: "That the American Library Association
Council directs its President and Executive Director to
convey to the President and Provost of the University of
Arizona the urgent need for the continuation of the
School of Information Resources and Library Services for
the reasons cited in the resolution as a critical part
of the university's mission."
Supporters of the
resolution asserted that this school is the only ALA
accredited library program in its geographical area and
is especially important in that it trains many Hispanic
and Native American library students. The resolution
passed.
ALA/APA (Allied
Professional Association) I 1/28/03
There were discussions
centering around making sure that Council established
policy, not the Executive Board.
Resolution
on Fair Pay for Library Workers: Was referred to ALA-APA
Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC) for
analysis.
For a complete list of
ALA-APA Council actions, see:
http://www.ala-apa.org/apacouncil_actionsmw03.pdf
Council II 1/28/03
Membership
Committee
Health Coverage Progress
Report January 26, 2003
At the 2002 Midwinter
Meeting, Council asked the Membership Committee and BARC
to provide an affordable group health insurance plan for
members. The Membership Committee formed the Insurance
Benefits Task Force with round table, division, BARC and
Membership committee representation to identify health
insurance options for members.
The Insurance Benefits
Task Force undertook the following projects:
1. Identification of and
interviews with national organizations that offer
health-related benefits (e.g., National Association for
Female Executives, Academy of General Dentistry,
National Association for the Self-Employed, American
Academy of Pediatrics, etc.)
2. Examination of trusts,
e.g. Trust for Insuring Educators;
3. Interviews with
Chapters;
4. Interviews with
administrators of association affinity health care
benefits programs; 5. Interviews with national insurance
providers, e.g., Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
The Task Force will
contact two additional national insurance providers
after Midwinter.
The Task Force has
reached the following conclusions to date:
1. Health insurance
regulations are state-based, and state-based programs,
e.g. through Chapters, may be an option. 2. We have yet
to identify an insurer that will provide group health
insurance to ALA members. Since ALA members are not
employees of ALA, a groups can be formed only after a
sufficient number of ALA members participate in an
individually underwritten program for sufficient time to
determine group history. Group rates can then be
established. 3. Most national associations interviewed
do provide health-related benefits, most typically
supplemental health insurance, life insurance,
disability, and long-term care coverage. In addition,
many associations offer discounts on dental, vision,
prescription, and health programs.
At its meeting on January
25, 2003, the Membership Committee agreed to ask the
Task Force to (1) identify providers of supplemental
health and discount programs and (2) that the Task Force
continue working to identify a provider of group health
insurance for members. The Committee agreed to offer and
market supplemental health insurance and other discount
programs to ALA members.
*We encourage Councilors
and other members to notify the Task Force of specific
associations or insurance providers that offer basic
health coverage programs to association members. Send
your messages to Julie Greenfield, ALA Membership
Marketing Manager (jgreenfield@ala.org).
The Membership Committee
will provide a final report on providing individual
health insurance to Council at the 2003 Annual
Conference.
The following FY 2004
programmatic priorities were approved: Diversity,
Intellectual Freedom, 21st Century Literacy, Equity of
Access, and Education & Continuous Learning.
Financial news: Atlanta
income from exhibits and attendance down, CIPA expenses
up, GODORT publishing expenses up. AASL and PLA national
conferences extremely good revenue increases. Higher
institutional member rates also generated more revenue.
Publishing continues to be a good revenue source, but
conference income is steadily declining. Must move more
rapidly toward cost-saving technology.
Resolution
in Support of the State Library of Florida, which read:
"That the American Library Association reaffirms
the leadership and service roles of state library
agencies as essential in the provision of quality
library, media, and information services to the people
in all of the states; that the American Library
Association urges the Florida Governor to reconsider his
budget proposal for 2003-2004 and to reinstate funding
for essential library services that would be eliminated
or severely affected; and that the President of the
American Library Association conveys this resolution to
the Florida Governor and the Florida Secretary of
State." The resolution passed.
Resolution
on the Iraq Crisis, which read: "That the American
Library Association urges the President of the United
States to allow the inspections process to continue
towards a peaceful solution to the conflict with Iraq
and avoiding a costly war; that the American Library
Association urges all libraries to conscientiously build
collections of information presenting all points of view
on this critical issue; and that this resolution be sent
to the President of the United States, the Secretary
General of the United Nations, the Secretary of State of
the United States, members of the United States
Congress, IFLA, and the library press." Resolution
failed to pass.
Council III 1/29/03
Memorials were recognized
for the following deceased longtime members of the
Association: Julie Klauber, Crystal E. McNally, Roger H.
McDonough
Committee reports
Committee on
Legislation, Bernadine Abbott-Hoduski, Chair,
CD # 20-CD# 20.2
Resolution
on the USA Patriot Act and related Measures that
Infringe on the Rights of Library Users--Passed with
amendments
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/usapatriotresolution.html
Resolution
on Withdrawn Electronic Government Information - Passed
as presented
WHEREAS, permanent public
access to government information, including information
on federal government web sites, is essential to an
informed public; and
WHEREAS, it is the
responsibility of the federal government to ensure
permanent public access to that information; and
WHEREAS, for various
reasons, federal agencies removed, without public
notification, information and publications from their
web sites; and
WHEREAS, many federal
records removed from public access have continuing
value; and
WHEREAS, federal agencies
currently remove information from web sites with no
provisions for bibliographic control and permanent
public access; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the
American Library Association urges federal agencies to
ensure permanent public access through a searchable
archive to information no longer available on their
current web sites; and, be it further
RESOLVED, that the
American Library Association urges federal agencies to
comply with Title 44 amendments contained in the
E-Government Act (PL 107-347) and place required record
schedules on the web sites for public access; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, that the
American Library Association urges all federal agencies
to make available to the public an inventory of
documents and other information scheduled for permanent
retention that have been removed from their web sites;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, that copies of
this resolution be transmitted to the Office of
Management and Budget, the United States Congress and
other entities as appropriate.
Intellectual
Freedom Committee, Nancy Kranich, Chair
CD 19. Due to situations in libraries involving such
groups as the World Church of the Creator, another look
is being taken at the Meeting Policy and a Q & A to
be developed. There will also be developed a Privacy
Tool Kit. A privacy audit will be undertaken at ALA and
staff privacy issues addressed.
International
Relations Committee, Betty J. Turock, Chair -
CD 18-18.2 IFLA (International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions) Internet Manifesto: ALA
Council endorsed the IFLA Internet Manifesto at Annual
Conference in Atlanta. The IRC is pleased to report that
the IFLA Council approved the Manifesto in August. The
Manifesto can be found at http://www.ifla.org/III/misc/im-e.htm
Constitution and
Bylaws Committee, Norman Horrocks, Chair, CD
#25-CD# 25.1 The following was adopted: "Virtual
members of committees or task forces have the right to
attend meetings, participate in debate, and make
motions. Virtual members are not counted in determining
the quorum nor do they have the right to vote."
There was some discussion as to whether or not this was
the right way to encourage virtual participation. Some
concern was expressed that if too many committees or
task forces participate virtually, then conference
attendance would suffer. Others felt that such
restrictions would discourage virtual participation. A
related discussion was the vote to allow electronic
voting, and the following wording was approved:
"Voting by mail shall be deemed to be by postal
services or electronic mail as determined by the
executive director who shall be responsible for ensuring
the integrity of the ballot." There were objections
to the phrase "electronic mail" because actual
voting would probably take place via an interactive Web
form that would download into a database, not as actual
mail. However, the action passed.
Two new scholarships were
approved:
Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators
Supporting Services to Children. The Sullivan Award for
Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to
Children honors an individual who has shown exceptional
understanding and support of public library service to
children while having general
management/supervisory/administrative responsibility
that has included public library service to children in
its scope. The recipient will receive a plaque and
recognition artifact. The donor is Peggy Sullivan, Ph.D.
(CD#10)
Schneider Family Book Awards. The Schneider Family Book
Awards honors an author or illustrator for a book that
encourages artistic expression of the disability
experience for child and adolescent audiences. Three
recipients will receive $5,000 and a plaque. One award
will be given in each category. The categories are:
young children, middle school teens. The donor is
Katherine Schneider, Ph.D. (CD#10)
A "Resolution on Rescinding 2001-2002 CD # 18.8,
Resolution on the Destruction of Palestinian Libraries,
Archives, and Other Cultural Institutions" was
introduced and debated. Supporters of rescinding the
resolution argued that the resolution was partisan and
politicized. Those opposed to rescinding asserted that
various accusations of partisanship were unfounded, that
the original resolution was in support of an existing
IFLA effort and performed its intent, which was to
deplore the destruction of libraries in general. The
resolution to rescind did not pass.
A complete listing of
council actions for Midwinter 2003 may be found at:
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/council/actions_mw03.html
Respectfully submitted,
Melora Ranney
Maine Chapter Councilor
March 2003
