Council III Memorials and Actions

June 30, 2015

ALA President Courtney Young opened the Council III meeting at 7:45 on June 30, and former ALA President Barbara Stripling announced it closed just before 10 a.m., with numerous actions and reports.

Council members stood as memorials were read for Gail A. Schlachter, David Cohen, Charles Benton, Cynthia D. Clark, Ruth C. Carter, William Vernon Jackson, Elizabeth H. (Betsy) Park, Floyd C. Dickman, Cynthia G. Hurd, and Zoia Horn.

Tributes included: Jessie Carney Smith, the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 35th anniversary of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, and the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

ALA Treasurer Mario M. Gonzalez presented his report, including approval of the Annual Estimates of Income and the FY2016 Budgetary Ceiling. The new FY2016 Budgetary Ceiling  of $67,087,027 passed unanimously.

Councilor Denise Zielinski gave the Report of the Tellers (CD #12.3). The following candidates were elected to Committee on Committees: Gladys Smiley Bell, Maria Carpenter, Stephen Matthews, Rocco Staino, and the Planning and Budget Assembly gained three chapter members (Jennifer Alvino, Ben Allen Hunter, Patty Wong) and two councilors at large (John C. DeSantis and Eric D. Suess).

The Committee on Legislation’s (CD #20.2) resolution on the passage of the USA Freedom Act and Reaffirming ALA’s Commitment to Surveillance Law Reform, a proposed substitute for CD #42, was referred back to the Committee on Legislation and the Intellectual Freedom Committee after extensive debate.

Ma’Lis Wendt of the Intellectual Freedom Committee proposed three action items: (CD #19.3) Internet Filtering: An Interpretation of the Library Bills of Rights, (CD #19.4) Labeling Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, and (CD #19.5) Rating Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. All passed.

In other new business, (CD #46_62915_act) a resolution to Endorse the Statement from the Movement for Black Lives on the Charleston Shooting passed, (CD #38_Revised-2_62915_act) a resolution on Improving Access to Spanish, Bilingual, and Books in Various Languages for Children in Detention Centers passed, and (CD #45) an amended resolution on Gun Violence passed.

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels provided the attendance numbers of 22,696 attendees, versus 19,889 in Las Vegas in 2014, and 23,545 in Chicago in 2013.

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