The Virtual Council rules (CD#5.2) and agenda (CD#8.6) were adopted. The minutes from the 2021 ALA Midwinter Meeting and March Council Meeting Minutes (CD#2.3–2.4) were also adopted. Mike Marlin, chair of the Resolutions Committee, thanked his colleagues and bade farewell to retiring committee members before presenting his report (CD#10.2). The Committee on Committees (COC) report … Continue reading Council I: Forward Together Work Begins
Thanks to all who joined me last summer on the virtual “Holding Space” tour, a conversation series with libraries. I will forever remember you as faithful partners and travel companions as we faced seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Thanks in part to our advocacy, libraries secured federal relief funding of historic proportions. ALA staff and leadership managed … Continue reading Moving Forward
My friend is a well-respected educational consultant and author of half a dozen books. In a phone call shortly after she returned home, I was delighted to learn that, though she was still weak and had limited mobility, she was finishing a book she had been working on before her illness. “I’m writing for a … Continue reading To Survive, We Must Transform
I am beginning to see the light at the end of a dark COVID-19 tunnel. Many of us have been vaccinated or will be soon—a critical step toward healing all the communities hit by the global pandemic. Another ray of light came on March 11, when the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed … Continue reading Making a Difference
Jefferson took a moment at the beginning of the meeting to mark César Chávez Day, celebrated each year on the labor leader and civil rights activist’s birthday, March 31. Amy Lappin, chair of the Chapter Relations Committee (CRC), and Justin de la Cruz, chair of the Committee on Library Advocacy (COLA), presented the ALA Vaccine … Continue reading March Virtual Council Meeting
The minutes from the 2020 June, September, and December Virtual Council Meetings (CD#2, 2.1, 2.2) were adopted. ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall reviewed the Executive Board actions since the 2020 June Virtual Meeting (CD#15) and implementation of the 2020 Virtual Meeting Council Actions (CD#9). Patty Wong, chair of the Committee on Committees, presented the … Continue reading Council I: Forward Together Reports Presented
Similarly, 2020 made an indelible impression on the history of our country, and it has left us collectively exhausted. Many will remember it as the year we were locked down, Zoomed out, and either lonely or wanting to be alone. We lost loved ones, icons, and champions. We were confronted with furloughs and loss of … Continue reading A New Year of Hope
Jefferson thanked the Forward Together Working Group (FTWG) and Council members for their work the past several months. FTWG cochairs Stephen Yates and Joslyn Bowling Dixon provided an update on the group’s activities since the summer (CD#51). It held six discussion sessions between August and November to give councilors time to review, consider, and discuss … Continue reading ALA Council Holds Second Special Virtual Meeting
The primary focus of my ALA presidency is to serve the people—all people—with particular attention to those who were not included or who are underrepresented or forgotten. In my last column, I shared the idea behind ALA’s “Holding Space” tour, which began in July and featured virtual visits to 11 libraries across the country that … Continue reading We the People
