June 2015

ALA’s Annual Conference was held on June 25 – 30, 2015 in San Francisco, CA.  ALA’s Council meets three times at each conference.  I have included below a list of links to the various documents and information that are involved in Council. There’s even an audio recording of each Council meeting if anyone is interested in hearing the actual discussions.

Council Actions http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/council/council_actions

Council Agendas http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/council/council_agendas

Council Documents http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/council/council-documents

Council Recordings http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/council/councilaudio

A number of resolutions were discussed by Council in these sessions.  Some of the actions taken by Council include the establishment of the Ernest A. DiMattia, Jr. Award for Innovation, and Service to Community and Profession (ALA CD#7), the adoption of revised interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights (ALA CD# 19.3, Internet Filtering, ALA CD#19.4, Labeling Systems and ALA CD#19.5, Rating Systems), and the adoption of Resolution to Improving Access to Spanish, Bilingual, and Books in Various Languages for Children in Detention Centers (ALA CD#38).

A recommendation to change the ALA Constitution (to be placed on the Spring 2016 ballot for membership approval) to read

Article X. Affiliated Organizations and Chapters  

Section 1.  National or international organizations having purposes similar to those of the Association or to one or more of the Association’s subdivisions may request to become an affiliate of the Association.  Requests for affiliation are subject to Council’s approval.

Section 2.  The Association or any subdivision thereof may request to become an affiliate with national or international organizations having purposes similar to those of the Association or to one or more of the Association’s subdivisions.  However no subdivision of the Association may separately affiliate itself with an organization with which the Association is affiliated.

The prior language read

Article X. Affiliated Organizations and Chapters  

Section 1. The Council may by vote affiliate with the American Library Association or with any subdivision thereof upon its request, any national or international organization having purposes similar to those of the Association or its subdivision. The dues of affiliated organizations shall be as provided in the Bylaws.

Section 2. The Council may by vote affiliate the Association, or any subdivision thereof upon its request, with; provided, however, that no subdivision of the Association may separately affiliate itself with an organization with which the Association as a whole is affiliated.

The change should clarify section 1 and prevent it from being an issue in the future.  (ALA CD#25.1)

Council also adopted the Resolution on the Importance of Sustainable Libraries (ALA CD#36) and the Resolution Denouncing the Systemic Racism that Motivated the South Carolina Shootings (ALA CD#43).  The Resolution on Libraries and Schools Affected by the Conflict in Gaza and Israel in 2014 (ALA CD#40) was defeated and the Resolution Against Mass Surveillance of the American People (ALA CD#42) was referred to the Committee on Legislation and the Committee on Intellectual Freedom.  Council adopted the Resolution on Gun Violence (ALA CD#45) and endorsed the Statement from The Movement for Black Lives on the Charleston Shooting (ALA CD#46).

Memorial resolutions were passed honoring 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.  Tribute resolutions were passed honoring Jessie Carney Smith, the 25^th Anniversary of the Signing of the American’s with Disabilities Act, the 35^th Anniversary of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, MD, and the 50^th Anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

I have also passed along information received through the various ALA listservs to the TLA listserv.

If there are questions about the information here, any of the emails that I have sent to the listserv, or about ALA and Council in general, please let me know! I can be reached via email at tla.alacouncilor@gmail.com.