Elaine Harger, outgoing coordinator of the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table, compiled a list of resolutions by ALA Council on the War on Terror, for distribution to congressional offices on Tuesday, which was a day of lobbying during the ALA Conference in Washington, DC. The list is online in PDF form, and also here: American … Read more American Library Association statements re: the “War on Terror”
Mary Sue Brown of ALA/SRRT’s Alternative Media Task Force (AMTF) has compiled a bibliography of “sources for, reviews of, and film subscriptions to alternative media in film,” titled, “Beyond Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” It is available in a six-page pdf on the AMTF website, and also here: Beyond Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ALA … Read more “Beyond Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” – Video Resources
Resolution on Southeast Asia Conflict Whereas, the stated objective of the American Library Association is the promotion and improvement of library service and librarianship, and Whereas, continued and improved library service to the American public requires sustained support form public monies, and Whereas, the continuing U.S. involvement in the conflict in Southeast Asia has so … Read more ALA Council Resolution on Southeast Asia Conflict (1971)
In mid-April I posted an item about the campaign to get Reed Elsevier out of the arms trade business, which had a link to a well-organized petition drive. I found out about the issue from Mark Rosenzweig, who tried to bring the issue up for discussion on the ALA Council list, where it was ignored. … Read more Reed Elsevier to stop organizing arms fairs
From ALA’s Washington Office: Please contact your Senators and ask them to support the OPEN Government Act of 2007 (S. 849), and to urge Majority Leader Harry Reid or Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to support bringing the bill to the floor in early June. Unfortunately — and ironically, since this is an open government bill … Read more OPEN Government Act of 2007
SRRT Newsletter issue 158/159, June 2007, is published and on the web, and will be showing up in SRRT members’ (postal) mailboxes soon. Newsletter editor Erik Estep wishes to extend special thanks to former editor Jane Ingold for her help with this issue. The new issue includes: Info about SRRT’s activities at the ALA Conference … Read more New SRRT Newsletter
I’m thinking of planning some kind of party for Library Juice Press at ALA in Washington, DC, if there’s enough interest. I am thinking Saturday night (June 23rd). Comment or email me if you’re interested. I’m thinking it would be in the Dupont Circle area or just north of it. Aside from that though, if … Read more At ALA….
Bernadine Abbott Hoduski shared this information with ALA Council today… The ALA Washington Office and ALA Council’s Committee on Legislation have started a wiki on federal libraries. The wiki says: The purpose of this wiki is to share and track information on federal library threats, re-organizations, and closings. Based on discussions with members, the main … Read more Federal Libraries Wiki
I urge everybody to read Kathleen de la Peña McCook’s post on her main blog, Fighting the Bush Doctrine of Disinformation is a Librarian’s Mandate. She hits the nail on the head: the key to the our urgent political problems right now are in the Bush Administration’s governance by manipulation of information. She puts a … Read more Fighting the Bush Doctrine of Disinformation is a Librarian’s Mandate
Text from the ALA campaign for this legislation: Next week, to celebrate National Library Week, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) plans to introduce the Librarian Act of 2007. The Librarian Act of 2007 amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for Perkins student loan forgiveness to encourage individuals to become and remain librarians in … Read more The Librarian Act of 2007
Erik Estep, SRRT Newsletter editor, has asked me to post this call for contributions…. Fellow SRRTers: I hope everyone is having a nice spring. The deadline for submissions for the newsletter is April 30th. Here are the new submission guidelines: (1) Please submit your information with “SRRT NEWSLETTER MATERIAL” in the subject line. Also, it … Read more SRRT Newsletter – call for contributions
I am going to take another stab at outlining my views on “library and non-library issues.” Last time I did it I was sloppy in the way that I stated my views, and I surprised and disappointed some people who I think would not have been so surprised and disappointed if I had been clearer … Read more Library and non-library issues
Email to lists from Mark Rosenzweig: —- Dear SRRT members and other progressives in ALA, The PLG Coordinating Committee has compiled the following short list of Council candidates (there may be one or two we missed) we believe are truly worthy of your votes. We urge you to BULLET VOTE for the list, that is, … Read more Progressive Council Candidates
At the ALA Midwinter in Seattle, two SRRT task forces were combined into one. The Alternatives In Print Task Force was one of SRRT’s original task forces, and has consistently advocated for the collection of materials from alternative publishers as a necessary part of living up to the Library Bill of Rights in collection development. … Read more Alternative Media Task Force
Statement Emily Sheketoff, Executive Director, ALA Washington Office The American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) would like to take this opportunity to announce its support of H.R. 800, the Employee Free Choice Act. Formed for the purpose of promoting “the mutual professional interests of librarians and other library workers,” the ALA-APA is a strong advocate … Read more ALA-APA supports the Employee Free Choice Act
This is really funny.
ALA Council Report to SRRT, Midwinter 2007 Greetings once again to SRRT members, old and new. Following up on our previous successes, in Seattle we introduced a resolution aimed at lobbying the Congress to defund the Iraq War. The resolution referenced our past successful resolutions since 2003, which addressed securing Iraqi cultural resources and rebuilding … Read more Al Kagan’s report to SRRT on ALA Council, Midwinter Meeting, Seattle ’07
In Seattle last week ALA passed this Resolution in Support of Immigrants Rights: Resolved, that ALA strongly supports the protection of each person’s civil liberties regardless of that individual’s nationality, residency, or status; and be it further resolved that ALA opposes any legislation that infringes on the rights of anyone in the USA (citizen or … Read more ALA Council supports immigrant rights
ALA has started up some blogs. Some belong to staff members, but there are many that belong to units. Check out the Office for Intellectual Freedom blog, and then look at some of the others linked at the top of the top level ALA blogs page…
I had announced a small Library Juice Press book release party at ALA Midwinter in Seattle, saying that I would announce the location when I had more info. I have since decided not to attend Midwinter, so I won’t be in Seattle. I was looking forward to showing off the first four books and to … Read more ALA Midwinter