ALSC Board Votes to Cancel National Institute in Charlotte

Meeting canceled in response to HB2 law

April 18, 2016

The board of directors of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), voted today to cancel its 2016 National Institute scheduled for September 15–17 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The cancellation is a response to the passage last month of North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (House Bill 2), which repealed all LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances across the state. The law contradicts the core values, purpose, and diversity work of ALSC and undermines civil rights and the fundamental principles upon which libraries are founded. While N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory did release an executive order last week addressing the controversial HB2, the action does not restore cities’ right to establish local nondiscrimination ordinances that apply to the private sector.

All those registered for the ALSC National Institute will receive a full refund of the registration fees without penalty and will be contacted directly with further information in the coming days.

ALSC is working on educational offerings in online and face-to-face format to take the place of the Charlotte Institute. Full details will be available in the coming weeks.

ALSC expresses its immense gratitude to the 2016 Institute Planning Task Force for their commitment, creativity, and the incredible amount of work they completed. The ALSC leadership also is grateful for all the thoughts, concerns, and suggestions provided by our members, which helped inform and guide the Board’s discussion and decision making.

“We have heard loud and clear from our members that this new law of the land in North Carolina is not compatible with ALSC’s core values, particularly those of inclusiveness and respect,” said ALSC President Andrew Medlar. “At the same time we strongly and proudly support our members in North Carolina and the commitment they have to serving all members of their communities, and we will continue our transformative work together to create a better future for children through libraries.”

“We very much stand behind our members in North Carolina,” Medlar said in an interview with American Libraries. “We are finding ways that ALSC can continue to support the community.” Medlar said he was gratified by the respectful dialogue that members had engaged in during the weeks leading up to the decision and by the support of ALA and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) in making this decision.

Tagged Under

11 Questions with Sheila O’Donnell

Meet the new director of ALA’s Development Office

At the ALA National Policy Convening, Alan S. Inouye (left) moderates a panel on "Future Directions for the Library of Congress," featuring Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and university librarian emeritus of Harvard University; Sascha Meinrath, Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State University; and Katie Oyama, senior policy counsel of Google.

ALA’s National Policy Convening

Inaugural event seeks to put library issues on the next administration’s agenda

Latest Library Links

3h

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
23h

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
1d

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
2d

Rachel Hendrick writes: “Students and library vendors are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher education, but there are very few resources that help librarians and scholars separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, we here at Choice love a good assessment rubric. (In fact, we made a PDF of our assessment rubric.) Even the least tech-savvy of us can use a very simple AI literacy framework to think critically about whether an AI application is worth your time.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Nov. 13
2d

Rowana Miller writes: “In my experience, many young library-goers identify as storytellers but not writers. These are the kids who draw Captain-Underpants-style cartoons, who craft meticulous Minecraft universes, and who plot elaborate Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, but who believe that ‘writing’ is limited to five-paragraph essays. But when children draw the connections between their natural storytelling proclivities and the written word, they can become self-motivated to develop the communication skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. Libraries, I believe, are uniquely positioned to help children make this connection.”

ALSC Blog, Nov. 15
3d

ALA has reopened its search for an executive director in partnership with executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. A committee of ALA member leaders will oversee the search. The selected candidate will succeed Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger, who was appointed in November 2023. “We are excited to embark on our search for a new executive director,” said ALA President Cindy Hohl. “This leadership position is critical as we navigate the years ahead. We seek candidates who have knowledge of the library community and the urgent issues we face.”

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, Nov. 14
3d

Emily Weak writes: “Something I always hear from hiring managers is that they want to build a resilient, diverse workforce. Sometimes we say we want a resilient workforce, but what we mean is that we want staffers who are willing to go above and beyond, or to do more with less. These concepts are deeply entrenched in librarianship, but I think we’re beginning to see how they can cause problems. Instead of trying to hire people who will do more with less and who will thrive amid adversity, let’s think about resilience as an organizational feature.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.