In its second session, ALA’s governing Council approved 2015 Programmatic Priorities, offered by ALA Treasurer Jim Neal (Council Document #13). The priorities are: diversity; equitable access to information and library services; education and lifelong learning; intellectual freedom; advocacy for libraries and the profession; literacy; organizational excellence; and transforming libraries.
As finances seem to be heading in the right direction, Neal also discussed issues for the fiscal year 2012 budget. They include the fact that library budgets generally lag economic recovery; a political environment in Washington that may not be supportive; severe financial problems at the state and local levels; projected softness in conference revenue, though 2012 will be a year of two national conferences; the fact that there will be no operations budget increases, but plans are set for a 2% staff pay raise; and a need to leverage assets to support strategic priorities.
Council also approved several items offered by John A. Moorman, chair of the Policy Monitoring Committee. They are a change in the language that discusses gay rights (CD#43); non-discrimination in conference contracts (CD#45); insertion of language regarding prisoners’ right to read (CD#19.3); and a change in text regarding electronic signatures (Executive Board Document #12.19).
Three actions offered by James Rettig, chair of the Committee on Organization, were also approved CD#27): the renaming of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table; amending the composition of the Web Advisory Board by adding, as an ex-officio member, the chair of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies’ Accessibility Assembly; and the discontinuation of the ALA–Association of American Publishers Joint Committee in favor of a more workable system for maintaining an important ongoing inter-association relationship.
Council also approved ALA Honorary Membership for Yohannes Gebregeorgis, librarian, author, and founder of Ethiopia Reads, a nonprofit organization that is establishing children’s libraries in Ethiopia and publishing bilingual and trilingual children’s books.