James LaRue, CEO of LaRue and Associates in Castle Rock, Colorado, Julie Todaro, dean of library services at Austin (Texas) Community College, Joseph Janes, associate professor and chair of the MLIS program at the Information School of the University of Washington in Seattle, and JP Porcaro, acquisitions and technological discovery librarian at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, are candidates for the 2016-17 presidency of the American Library Association (ALA).
LaRue has been an ALA member since 1994, and has served as a member of the ALA Digital Content Working Group from since 2010. Recently retired from Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries, he has also held offices on the Bibliographic Center for Research Board of Trustees, the OCLC Membership Council, and has served on numerous committees of the Colorado State Library and the Colorado Library Association, including holding its presidency from 1998-99. He holds a MLS from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Science degree in philosophy and English from Illinois State University.
“This is a time of both extraordinary opportunity and extraordinary challenge. Librarians have a vital role to play, right now, at the birth of an unparalleled explosion of local, national, and international content creation,” LaRue said in a statement. “We are also urgently needed to help our communities thrive, and to promote literacy for the young, which itself solves many community problems before they begin. I am honored to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of our profession as a candidate for ALA President.”
Todaro has been an ALA member since 1972, and has been active in ALA divisions and round tables including ACRL, the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT). She is the 2007-08 past-president of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the 2000–2001 past-president of the Texas Library Association (TLA), and 2012 chair of the Texas Council of Academic Librarians. Todaro earned her DLS from Columbia University’s School of Library Service, a MLS from The University of Texas Graduate School of Library Science (including school librarian all-level certification) and her Bachelor of Science degree in English and History from The University of Texas.
”My professional commitment has been to the communication of the role and value of libraries, librarians, library workers, and library supporters,” Todaro said in a statement. “Although ‘role and value’ is typically an easy sell to our loyal constituents, our challenge has been and continues to be creating awareness, illustrating outcomes, and proving worth to decision makers and funders. It would be an honor to serve ALA members and stakeholders to advance the vision and mission of libraries.”
Janes and Porcaro are petition candidates for the presidency.
Janes has been an ALA member since 1982. He served on the 2007–2011 ALA Committee on Accreditation, as well as the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee from 1998–2002. He is an active member of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), and served as the founding director of the Internet Public Library from 1995–98. He is a frequent presenter at national conferences including ALA, the Canadian Library Association, and Library of Congress, in addition to conferences in Europe, the UK and Japan. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a MLS, and a Ph.D. in information transfer, all from Syracuse University.
“I’ve had the great good fortune to help prepare people for their careers in librarianship for almost 30 years, and the privilege to write and speak and think about how what we do makes humanity more human,” Janes said in a statement. “I’ve met some extraordinary people and learned a great deal, and it would be an honor—and a lot of fun—to share widely the stories of this profession we all hold so dear, which makes people and communities better, and to help all of us to think creatively and critically about what comes next.”
Porcaro has been an ALA member since 2004, and was organizer and founding president of the ALA Games and Gaming Round Table from 2010-12. He served on the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) Executive Board from 2012-13 and as the NJLA chapter councilor on the ALA Council from 2013-14. Porcaro was an ALA Emerging Leader in 2010. He is a founding member of the ALA Think Tank, social media’s largest space for librarians, a member of the advisory board of the EveryLibrary political action committee, and social organizer for Urban Librarians Unite.
“Through their service—and with a spirit of empathy, enthusiasm, and joy—librarians make the world a better place. Bringing that message and energy to the highest level of the ALA will inspire positive change in libraries everywhere!” Porcaro said in a statement.
LaRue, Todaro, Janes, and Porcaro will participate in a candidates’ forum on Saturday, January 31, during the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. Each candidate will have an opportunity to make a statement and answer questions from the audience. Ballot mailing for the 2015 ALA Election will begin on March 24. The election will close on May 1.
Updated Sept. 30, 2014
