Council II: Snowden Resolution, and Others

January 28, 2014

Despite concluding earlier than scheduled, ALA Council II managed to address nearly every item on its agenda on Monday, passing the FY2014 Programmatic Priorities, as presented by ALA Treasurer Mario Gonzalez (CD#13), and an action item from the Policy Monitoring Committee on prayer in ALA meetings (CD#17).

ALA Council also heard a report from Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) President Julius C. Jefferson (CD#22) on litigation activities, developing issues, the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund, and strategic plan initiatives and FTRF membership.

Revisiting items that had been postponed at its first meeting, ALA Council passed a resolution to improve member access to ALA unit governing information (CD#35 Revised).

After much debate, the resolution to recognize Edward Snowden as a whistleblower (CD#37) failed. A resolution to allow programs at ALA Midwinter Meetings was referred to the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC).

ALA Council also passed a motion for the Committee on Legislation (COL) to report out at the 2014 Annual Conference regarding the resolution on digitization of US government documents (CD#49, 2013), which was referred to COL at the 2013 Annual Conference.

ALA Council conferred honorary membership on Patricia Glass Schuman, past president and past treasurer of ALA.

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels reported that the attendance for this Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia stands at 12,189, including 8,398 registered attendees and 3,796 exhibitors.

See, hear, and read more about what went on at Midwinter.

Twitter: @alamw and #alamw14

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/512164432210368

YouTube: youtube.com/user/AmLibraryAssociation

Flickr: flickr.com/groups/2422196@N23

Pinterest: pinterest.com/alamidwinter

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Ana Ndumu writes: “For more than a century, American libraries of all types have helped immigrants integrate, worked with municipalities to cultivate welcoming communities, and supported laws to shape our immigration system. With immigrants making up 13.8% of our population, the US is more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse than ever before. But for many library workers, staying abreast of the fraught immigration policy landscape is challenging. Laws shift rapidly, with initiatives introduced or eliminated according to political agendas. Here are additional resources library workers can use to educate themselves or network with others administering to immigrant communities.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
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Michael Kan writes: “Are you still using ‘chocolate,’ ‘naruto,’ or ‘monkey’ for your passwords? You really need to stop. All three are among the most commonly used passwords, putting your accounts at risk of hacking, according to new data from NordPass. The password manager’s sixth annual list of the top 200 most commonly used passwords is pulled from a 2.5TB dataset of stolen logins taken from various sources.” ZDNet offers tips for creating stronger passwords and improved security measures.

PC Mag, Nov. 14; NordPass, Nov. 13; ZDNet, Nov. 14
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John Sharp writes: “Athens and Fairhope are two fast-growing cities in the fastest-growing areas of Alabama, and there is no mistaking their conservative bona fides. But according to early statistics about library card applications, their libraries appear to be bucking a trend embraced by conservative-leaning groups and the Alabama GOP: Their patrons appear to be trusting the libraries. More than 60% of parents at Fairhope Public Library and Athens-Limestone County Public Library have signed off on all-access passes for their children with no restrictions on library usage.”

AL.com, Nov. 17
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Katie Gaddini writes: “Book bans may have mushroomed in the Trump era of reactionary politics, but they have a well-established history in America. One woman in particular, Norma Gabler, redefined the current strategy and logic behind modern book bans. Called ‘education’s public enemy number one,’ by critics in 1980, Gabler led the crusade against the so-called secular trend in school textbooks throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Even though Norma and her husband Mel worked together, Norma was the public face of their efforts for decades.”

Time: Made By History, Nov. 13
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Many members know Bill Ladewski as executive director of the Reference and User Services Association, an ALA position he has held since 2019. In early September, Ladewski added another title to his CV: director of Member Relations and Services. In this role, he and his team are charged with providing service and information to the Association’s nearly 50,000 members. Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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John Warner writes: “I understand what people mean when they invoke the term ‘institutional neutrality,’ but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are, by definition, not neutral. The Kalven report, the Rosetta Stone of institutional neutrality produced by a faculty committee at the University of Chicago in 1967, is not a call to make all work emanating from an institution ‘neutral,’ but is instead a call to make the atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and debate as free as possible.”

Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15
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Angela Hursh writes: “Ever wondered how your library’s email performance compares to others? Benchmarks help you understand how well your emails perform in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement. They also allow you to compare your email marketing performance, set goals, and stay on top of trends. However, the lack of industry benchmarks for email marketing metrics specific to libraries has been bugging me. Metrics from similar industries don’t fully capture the unique aspects of promoting a library. To help libraries accurately measure their email effectiveness, we’ve created the first-ever library email benchmark report.”

NoveList, Oct. 22