ALA's Call for Committee Volunteers

Have you ever wanted to serve on an ALA Committee? Well, now is the time to get your name in for committee appointments which begin after ALA Annual in Anaheim. Most member are appointments for two years, and chairs are appointed for one year as chair (and may or may not already be members of that committee).

So....what committees are included? Well ALA has a page listing all the association-wide committees. There are two kinds of committees: Council and Association. The only difference is who decides. The Committee on Committees (elected by Council from its membership) appoints to the Council committees. The Committee on Appointments appoints the other committees. The Committee on Appointments is made up of the President-Elect of each division. You can fill out one form for both committees at once, and it is now an interactive form. Here is the text of the email which has begun to make the rounds:

ALA President-Elect Jim Rettig is seeking applications and nominations for appointments to 2008-2009 ALA and Council committees.

He will fill slots on the following committees: Accreditation; American Libraries Advisory; Awards; Budget Analysis and Review; Chapter Relations; Conference; Constitution and Bylaws; Council Orientation; Diversity; Education; Election; Human Resource Development and Recruitment Advisory; Information Technology Policy Advisory; Intellectual Freedom; International Relations; Legislation; Literacy; Literacy and Outreach Services Advisory; Membership; Membership Meetings; Nominating (Deadline for Nominating Committee applications is September 1, 2007); Organization; Orientation, Training, and Leadership Development; Policy Monitoring (current Council members only); Professional Ethics; Public and Cultural Programs Advisory; Public Awareness; Publishing; Research and Statistics; Resolutions; Rural, Native and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds; Scholarships and Study Grants; Status of Women in Librarianship; Website Advisory; ALA-Children's Book Council (Joint); ALA-Association of American Publishers (Joint) and ALA-Society of American Archivists-American Association of Museums (Joint). Committee charges can be found in the ALA Handbook of Organization.

All applicants must complete and submit the electronic 2008-2009 ALA Committee Volunteer Form. The form is available on the ALA web site. The deadline for submission of committee volunteer applications and nominations is Monday, December 3, 2007, which the exception of the Nominating Committee, with is September 1, 2007.

Geographical location, type of library, gender, ethnicity, previous committee work (not necessarily with ALA), ALA and related experience, and other factors are considered when the committee slates are compiled in order to ensure broad representation and diversity on all committees. The ALA Committee on Committees and Committee on Appointments will assist ALA President-Elect Jim Rettig in making appointments. Committee appointees will receive appointment letters after the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Appointees will begin their committee service after the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.

Questions concerning appointments can be directed to ALA President-Elect Jim Rettig at jrettig@richmond.edu or Lois Ann Gregory-Wood, Council Secretariat, at lgregory@ala.org

Go for it. If you don't ask, you don't get!