Council II Honors Charleston Victim

By Amy Carlton | June 29, 2015

The second meeting of the ALA Council in San Francisco opened with a moment of silence for Cynthia Hurd, a victim of the June 17 shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Hurd was the manager of the John L. Dart branch of the Charleston County Public Library. The resolution honoring Hurd is ALA Memorial #26.

ALA President Courtney L. Young then recognized the retiring councilors and executive board members.

Loida Garcia-Febo, chair of the International Relations Committee, presented her report (CD#18.2). Nearly 600 librarians from 62 countries attended ALA Annual in San Francisco.

Mary Rzepczynski, chair of the Committee on Organization, presented an action item proposed at ALA Midwinter 2015 to clarify the committee composition description for the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (CD#27.1). The motion passed.

Julius C. Jefferson Jr., president of the Freedom to Read Foundation (CD#22.1), provided updates on the foundation’s current legal cases, Banned Books Week, and the Intellectual Freedom Education course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also announced that executive director Barbara Jones will retire at the end of this year.

A Resolution on Improving Access to Spanish and Bilingual Books for Children in Detention Centers (CD#38) was deferred until Council III on Tuesday.

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels reported there were 15,816 attendees and 6,798 exhibitors, for a total of 22,614 total registrants; 19,865 attended Annual Conference in Las Vegas in 2014, and 22,879 attended in Chicago in 2013.

President Young adjourned the meeting early at 9:08 a.m.

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