ALA’s Don Wood has a blog that he uses as a channel for his communications on libraries and intellectual freedom. Today he has a post about the ALA Washington Office and their response to statements by the director of the FBI that they say reveals the Bureau’s continued lack of understanding of libraries and the … Read more Privacy, Libraries, ALA and FBI
Posted with permission December 13, 2006 Dr. Norman Abrams Acting Chancellor University of California at Los Angeles University Chancellor’s Office Box 951405 2147 Murphy Los Angeles, CA 90095-1405 Dear Acting Chancellor Abrams: I was shocked, as were many of the 66,000 members of the American Library Association, to read about and watch the November 14, … Read more ALA President Leslie Burger’s letter to UCLA regarding the taser incident
The new issue of the SRRT Newsletter, which is combined issue 156/157, January 2007, is finished and now online. Paper copies will be mailed to SRRT members and other subscribers soon. Erik Estep has put together a nice issue, with articles by some new voices in SRRT. Carol Gulyas, chair of the Alternatives in Publications … Read more SRRT Newsletter 156/157
In literature and film, we are drawn into a story and care about it because we believe, at some level, in the truth of the narrative. This requires what’s called a “suspension of disbelief.” Of course, we also know about what is actually going on in the world through media that present us with narratives. … Read more Torture
The Committee on House Administration is taking up some of the controversial questions related to proposed changes in cataloging practice at the Library of Congress, and ALA has submitted testimony criticizing LC for announcing some of these changes without sufficient discussion with the library community. (Admittedly, the Calhoun report was merely a presentation of an … Read more ALA Congressional testimony against LC proposed changes
Urgent message from the ALA Washington Office: On Wednesday, July 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the amended H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), by a vote of 410-15. We believe the legislation will now go to the Senate, which may or may not have time to vote on this before their … Read more Contact your Senators about DOPA
The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) would deny E-Rate funds to libraries that do not block whatever social networking sites and chat services the FCC puts on a “bad” list. DOPA has just been passed by the house and is now in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. At ALA Annual in New … Read more DOPA Resolution
It has seemed to me for quite some time that discussions about the American Library Association in the blogosphere and in the popular press often distort the nature of the association by focusing on one or two small activities as though they represent a major priority or budget item. I am part of the group … Read more What ALA is doing
SRRT Statement to ALA Council, 6/28/06 The Action Council of the Social Responsibilities Round Table made the decision that we could not leave New Orleans without issuing a statement bearing witness to what we have seen, heard and experienced while here during ALA’s annual meeting. We have witnessed that the spirit, hospitality and creativity of … Read more SRRT Statement on New Orleans
ALA Annual 2006 Report to SRRT By SRRT Councilor Al Kagan Having our meeting in New Orleans after Katrina was strange, sad, and even heartbreaking for those who saw the worst of the devastation up-front. But those who volunteered to put libraries back together and gut houses came away with a great sense of satisfaction. … Read more Al Kagan’s Council Report to SRRT
The New Orleans Times Picayune published an article on Sunday about Madeleine Albright’s appearance at the ALA Conference. The article was focused on Albright’s comments about the Cuban “independent librarians,” which really only amounted to a couple of sentences, and provided background on the situation from an anti-Castro perspective. Clearly Robert Kent got to the … Read more Ann Sparanese’s letter to the Times-Picayune
Councilor James Casey prepares a nice report after each conference and shares it publicly. Here is his report on ALA Annual 2006: AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING – New Orleans June 23-28, 2006. Notes by James B. Casey Only some 10 months after the Katrina hurricane devastated many neighborhoods of New Orleans and forced tens … Read more Jim Casey’s notes on ALA Annual 2006
Over the next few days I’ll be reporting on aspects of the ALA Conference that just took place in New Orleans, and talking about some of the things that ALA as an organization has been working on. It seems to me that ALA members like me who are very involved in the association could do … Read more Conference reports coming up
Issue 154/155 of the SRRT Newsletter is just published. It has a report from the Midwinter meeting, a message from the Coordinator, updates on Task Force and member activities, and a feature article by Fred Stoss on the situation facing the EPA Library Network.
The Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty Task Force of ALA/SRRT has a new web page collecting resources for libraries in providing service to poor people. We could all do a better job serving poor people, couldn’t we?
The results of the 2006 ALA Election are in. Congratulations to Loriene Roy, who was elected ALA President by a landslide, and to Councilors Mark Rosenzweig, Ginny Moore, and David Easterbrook. Here are the results. I find it worth noting that conservative blogger Greg McClay, who campaigned hard to be the sole voice of the … Read more ALA Election Results
By John Buschman, Library Philosophy and Practice Vol. 8, No. 2 (Spring 2006) The American Library Association (ALA) Committee on Professional Ethics is undertaking a several-year review of the Code of Ethics, nominally for reasons stated in various Annual Conference announcements: “Relevant or relic? Does [it] live up to the challenges of the new millennium?” … Read more On Not Revising the ALA Code of Ethics: an Alternate Proposal
After searching through hundreds of current titles, the Amelia Bloomer Project of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association honors 30 titles for the fifth annual Amelia Bloomer List. The criteria used by the Amelia Bloomer Committee in selecting books include: Significant feminist content Excellence in writing … Read more 2006 Amelia Bloomer List
Here are two letters to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations about the proposed cuts in the EPA Libraries’ budget: one dated February 24th, from ALA, ARL, AALL, and SLA, and the other, dated March 1st, from Michael Gorman as ALA President. It is good to see these letters.
The December, 2005 SRRT Newsletter (the latest one) is on the web. It’s recommended reading for those who wonder what SRRT as a group mainly does. Occasionally the SRRT Newsletter features an article that comes from outside the group, which the editor wants to share with SRRT members. This issue has an interesting article about … Read more SRRT Newsletter