ALA Committee Volunteering - part of the inside story

First of all, if you want to volunteer for an ALA Committee, now is the time.

The deadline is November 6, 2015. Here is a link to the online form.

Important note (added 10/28): You are limited to volunteering for 3 positions. (That is the maximum number of volunteer positions you are permitted to hold at any one time.)

The use of this form, which automates many of the database and communication processes involved in volunteering for, being selected by an appointment chair, being notified of a possible appointment, selecting or refusing the appointment, and being added to a committee roster is available to all ALA divisions and round tables. Currently, United for Libraries,FAFLRT, GODORT, LHRT, LRRT, LSSIRT, STORT, and VRT are not using the form. Please contact them directly if you have an interest in volunteering.

So why use the form and what happens next?

The form populates a database that is available to staff (of course) and the volunteer leaders who are responsible for appointments. Those volunteer leaders include division Presidents-elect (me, right now - 2015/16), and the members of the Committee on Committees and Committee on Appointments. If you are interested in the distinction between these two committees and their responsibilities, see my (semi-ancient, but still accurate) post: ALA 101 - Part 5: Committees.

Since I am the President-Elect of ASCLA, I get to use this database. I'll be using it for two different things. First, the Committee on Appointments - which includes all my colleagues in the other divisions - works with the President-Elect of ALA to make some appointments. But, and this is critical, it is also what I will be using to make the appointments to all the ASCLA committees.

I can not repeat this often enough: If you want to serve on an ALA (or division) committee the fill out the form. Back in the day when I served on the Committee on Committees, it was all paper, spreadsheets, and emails. This new system is much smoother and slicker.

Yes, talk to someone if you want to be on a committee but

Fill Out The Form

Feel free to make comments - or otherwise contact me!

ALA 101 - Updates

Back in the day....(damn, I sound like a geezer), I posted a series of notes about ALA and its structure and governance. When I last changed format of the blog, I took the index to them and made it a "page."

Today, I updated that page to include a couple of new links. One is to a guide on the ALA web site which has some important definitions of terms, and the other is linked to a blog which aggregated some of the links commonly used by a Councilor.

Here is the link to the updated page: http://michaelgolrick.blogspot.com/p/ala-101.html

ALA 101 - Part 7: Governance (this means ALA Council)

ALA Council -- Folks seem to either love it or hate it. Here's where I try to answer what it is, what it does, who is on it, and how it relates to the Executive Board.

What is it?

ALA Council (henceforth, just Council) is the large, representative governing body for the American Library Association.

What does it do?

Council in addition to several specific duties set out in the Constitution and Bylaws of the Association, Council sets broad Association-wide policies for ALA.

Who is on it?

There are currently about 182 members of Council. Council members include the officers elected by the Association: President, President-Elect, Past President, and Treasurer. There are representatives from the 54 Chapters (or specific geographic association, however, each area can only elect one "Chapter Councilor" so there are six from New England, one from each state, and no Councilor from the New England Library Association). There are Councilors from the eleven divisions. There are six Councilors from the Round Tables (see my earlier discussion on Round Tables). There are eight members of the Executive Board. There are 100 elected "at large." All Councilors serve three year terms so two out of three years, 33 "at large" Councilors are elected, and the third year 34 are chosen. This assumes that there are no vacancies to fill.

I have a subsequent post in which I ask for your vote, tell you who else running for Council I support, and provide a link to the full list of candidates.

So what's this Executive Board?

The Executive Board (EB) handles the implementation of the decisions of Council and in between the semi-annual, face-to-face meetings of the Association, the Executive Board handles any issues which arise. The Executive Board is elected from the members of Council. To run for the EB a Councilor must have completed at least one full year. EB elections are held at Midwinter, and two years out of three, Council elects three to serve, with two elected the other year. Most of the time (that is, other than when a vacancy occurs), terms on the EB begin at the end of the last Council meeting (Council III) at the Annual Conference. This past January, Terri Kirk, Mario Gonzales, and Roberta Stevens were elected to the EB. Terri Kirk had been filling a vacancy created when Michael Gorman was elected President, so will now have a full three year term. Mario and Roberta were elected to replace Jim Rettig and me.

In addition to meeting at Midwinter and Annual, the Executive Board meets in the fall and the spring for a long weekend. The fall meeting is about the same time as the Division Boards meet. BARC often meets just before the EB, and F&A meets in conjunction with the EB. [BARC and F&A are part of ALA's financial oversight.] The EB also has monthly conference calls, and there is a closed electronic discussion list. The latter two are so that we can most effectively handle the affairs of the Association.

More about Council

Because Council is such a large body, there is a wide range of opinions represented. There are some folks who are more vocal than others, and on the electronic discussion list, it seems that there only a small group which expresses any opinions at all. It would be unwise to make any judgment about Council based on the discussion list. [That list can be read by anyone who is a member. If I can find it, I'll add a link to it in a day or two.]

Because of its size, even the room in which Council meets seems intimidating. In order to be heard, speakers must use a microphone. That alone intimidates many. To allow those with hearing impairment (and to provide a transcript for the preparation of minutes) there is a transcriptionist whose work is projected onto a pair of large screens. This, too, is intimidating. However, many of us have gotten past that, and speak regularly. Interestingly, while it is a large body, there are not organized "factions" or "parties" within Council. From a process stand point it is always interesting to watch.

This is one where I don't know what questions are out there....send me some.

I have been on Council for 10 years now. When I was first elected, terms were for four years. I served one four year term as the Connecticut Chapter Councilor, and then was re-elected to a three year term. When that term was coming to an end, I was elected as a member of the Executive Board. That term ends in June, and I am standing for election as a Councilor-at-Large.

ALA 101 - Part 6: Buildings and Finances

ALA's Headquarters (HQ after this), is officially located at 50 East Huron Street in Chicago. Actually, ALA owns not only 50 E. Huron, but also 40, and part of 30! The ALA offices stretch from the corner of Wabash and Huron, most of the way to Rush on the north side of the street. Across the street from HQ is the cathedral and offices for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. The Cathedral for the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is only a few blocks away.

Historically, ALA has owned 50 East Huron for a number of years. Back in the 50s or 60s, ALA purchased the parking lot at 30 East, and the building at 40 East. In the 70s ALA Executive Director Robert Wedgeworth was approached and worked out a deal to create a condominium at 30 East, and re-configure the offices. At 30 East, ALA has part of the first floor, and all of the 2nd through 7th floors. Currently the 7th floor is vacant, but there have been tenants in the past. Above that are apartments. About three years the original agreement on the development of the property expired resulting in a cash windfall for the Association. Those funds have been added to the Association's Long Term Investment Fund.

Michael Stephens posted photos from his recent visit to ALA HQ, and I'll link to that and then make comments about some of the specific photos. After wandering around FLickr for a bit, I found that Jenny Levine has five photos of that day also, start with that link, and look at the next four.

I am guessing that the photo of stuff on the window sill is in Mary Ghikas' office. You can see Michael's photo of Jenny photographic the ALA Mission Statement, and then Jenny's photo in her group of that statement. It is on a wall just inside the door to the "Governance" area on the 2nd floor. That is where Keith Michael Fiels office is.

The training room pictured is on the first floor of 50 East, right next to the Membership Services area (where the phones are answered). The room with the big table (and speaker phone in the middle) is the Carnegie Room. This is right above the Training Room, and is where the Executive Board meets when we are in Chicago (Spring and Fall...Next meeting April 7 - 9 (but some of us have meetings before that).

Michael's other photos are of the signs which hang and designate offices within the ALA building. The library shots are of the ALA Library (run by the wonderful Karen Mueller).

Other buildings

ALA recently purchased an office condominium in Washington DC to house the Washington Office (WO). The WO had previously been located (most recently) in rented space on Pennsylvania Ave. While convenient to Capitol Hill and many other federal offices, costs continued to rise, and with the shortage of Class A office space in DC, the lease costs continued to rise faster than ALA's other budgets. The opportunity caused by the refinancing of the Chicago property, meant that last year was a good time for the Association to purchase property rather than rent. That purchase was financed by tax exempt bonds issued by the District of Columbia in a complex financing package which will result in budget savings to the Association as well as the increase in value of the asset. The offices are in a building which used to be an embassy, and ALA is the majority owner of the business condominium and therefore has a great deal of control over its space.

ALA also has an office in Middletown CT. The editorial offices of Choice, the book review publication of ACRL, started in the University Library on the Wesleyan University campus. They are now in a rented office, and ALA is exploring the possibility of purchasing a building to house those offices.

Finances
As you can imagine ALA's Finances are complex. However, remember that Divisions and Round Tables each can set and charge their own dues. Most of my comments are about the finances of "big ALA." Let me also add, that BARC and the Treasurer sponsor an event at each Midwinter Meeting called ALA Finances 101. That is an opportunity to hear an in depth discussion of ALA finances.

ALA has a number of revenue streams. Dues account for about 17% of this year's budget. Publications and Conferences are both larger sources of revenue. In the case of both Publications and Conferences, ALA generally talks about the net income from those areas, meaning that all the expenses have been removed. Those expenses include items for which ALA is billed (the actual printing and distribution in the case of Publishing, and the cost of meeting rooms and convention center space in the case of Conferences) as well as the cost of staff in the offices. The fourth and final major source of income is Grants. Grants include partnerships with Major League Baseball and specific grants for programs such as those from the Public Programs Office. All of this income pays for the staff in the offices (see Part 4) . It also pays for projects like the Campaign for America's Libraries which are aimed at the general public.

The one other factor which I won't go into, but is important to know about, is that the financial relationship between "big ALA" and the Divisions, is spelled out in detail in something known as the Operating Agreement. This agreement is included in ALA's Policy Manual (which is included in the ALA Handbook of Organization. It is complex enough that I am not sure that I understand all of the nuances included.

Oversight for ALA's finances and budgeting has several levels. The Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC) is one of the Council Committees which reviews proposals before any new projects are undertaken. The Executive Board has a Finance and Audit Committee (F&A, technically a subcommittee of the Board), on which I am serving this year. At Executive Board meetings both BARC and F&A report. The Treasurer who serves on both of those also reports to the Board (and Council).

The Long Term Investment Fund (also known as the endowment) is managed by an independent group of Trustees (three in number, each serving a three year term). They report to F&A, the Board, and to Council on the performance of the invested funds. Many of these funds are restricted as to use, and fund Awards and Scholarships.

The finances are complex, and this is just one view of them. I welcome either comments or questions either through this blog or emailed.

ALA 101 - Part 5: Committees

Committees is one of my favorite ALA topics. Why? Well ALA truly is a complex organization. I illustrate that by talking about my three favorite Committees: the Committee on Organization (COO), the Committee on Appointments, and the Committee on committees.

I have served for the last two and a half years as the Executive Board liaison to COO. This committee writes the actually charges of all Association-wide committees and reviews and recommends the make up of the committee. It is very detail oriented work, is perceived by many librarians as not very attractive, but is a very powerful governance committee.

The other two I cite above actually have very similar tasks, just for different committees. Committees of the Association are designated as either Council Committees or Association Committees. Members of Council Committees are appointed by the Committee on Committees, and appointments to Association Committees are made by the Committee on Appointments. Both committees are chaired by the President-Elect.

The Committee on Committees is made up of the President-Elect and four Councilors. At each Annual Conference, four Councilors are elected. I have served on this committee, which is an interesting experience. The Council Committees are:

• Budget Analysis and Review
• Committee on Committees
• Council Orientation
• Diversity
• Education
• Intellectual Freedom
• International Relations
• Legislation
• Organization (COO)
• Pay Equity
• Policy Monitoring
• Professional Ethics
• Public Awareness
• Publishing
• Resolutions
• Status of Women in Librarianship

Some of these committees are very highly sought after (International Relations, Intellectual Freedom) while others often have fewer volunteers than open slots. In the year I served, we had to search for folks willing to serve on COO, Policy Monitoring, and some others.

The Committee on Appointments is also Chaired by the President-Elect, but consists of the Presidents-Elect of each of the Divisions. This is one of the ways that the Association assures that there is divisional representation on association-wide committees. The Association Committees are:

• Accreditation
• American Libraries Advisory
• Appointments
• Awards
• Chapter Relations
• Conference
• Constitution and Bylaws
• Election
• (Office for) Human Resource Development and Recruitment Advisory
• (Office for) Information Technology Policy Advisory
• Literacy
• (Office for) Literacy and Outreach Services Advisory
• Membership
• Membership Meetings
• Nominating Committee
• Orientation, Training and Leadership Development
• Public and Cultural Programs Advisory
• Research and Statistics
• Round Table Coordinating Assembly
• Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds
• Scholarships and Study Grants
• Website Advisory

Now, you'll notice that the Scholarships and Study Grants Committee does not have a link. That is because that committee was only just established within the past year. (I forget whether it was at Annual 2005 or Midwinter 2006.) It was created to clarify the responsibility for scholarships and separate the "Awards" from the "Scholarships."

Other tidbits about these Committees which I know from my experience:

• You can only serve on the Nominating committee once, ever, in your ALA career. That can be good or bad. Getting folks to agree to run for ALA office can be a challenge.
• The Membership Committee is where dues increase proposals originate. That committee also sets the member benefits which are not spelled out in the by-laws. Some see this as a not terribly important committee, but it can be powerful. Membership also runs the committee intern program. I have served on this committee including a term as chair.
• The Election Committee oversees the ALA election, and members are required to pay their own way to Chicago to do that. Therefore, this committee often has ALA members from the greater Chicago area.
• Note that many of the committees on this list are advisory to the Offices in the association mentioned in Part 4.
• Chapter Relations is a great committee to attend the meetings of because everyone who is anyone in ALA appears at one time or another. As a Chapter Councilor, I used to attend as many of these as I could. A large number of the Chapter Councilors do this as well. So you get to hear about the Association issues, as well as talk with colleagues who have similar responsibilities to your own. I have made some great friends through my Chapter experiences at ALA.

Some of my other Exec Board liaison responsibilities are on this list. For two years I was liaison to the HRDR Advisory Committee. I am still liaison to OITP Advisory, Constitution and Bylaws, Membership Meetings, and Research and Statistics.

The last category of committees are the joint committees. These are permitted in the Bylaws (Article VIII, Section 5). Joint committees are of two types: (1) those established between ALA and an outside organization, in which case the ALA Executive Board is the appointing authority (the Board may ask a unit of the Association to name representatives to the joint committee) and (2) those established between a unit of ALA and an outside organization, in which case the appointing authority is the designated unit. The joint committees are:

• ALA/Association of American Publishers
  
• ALA/Children's Book Council
  
• ALA/SAA/AAM/American Library Association/Society of American Archivists/American Association of Museums

ALA 101 - Part 4: Offices

The ALA web page lists fifteen (15) Offices. Actually, two of them are sort of subsets of the third, but each acts independently. All of the offices except the ALA Washington Office (and its two components: Office for Government Relations and Office for Information Technology and Policy) are located at ALA Headquarters in Chicago. (More on that in the post on ALA buildings.)

If you want to know where your dues dollars go, this is an important part of the answer to the question. The current ALA offices include [I've learned, and I think the links from the ALA page will follow here]:

• Chapter Relations Office
• Development Office
• Governance Office
• International Relations Office
• Office for Accreditation (OA)
• Office for Diversity (OFD)
• Office for Government Relations (OGR)¹
• Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR)
• Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP)¹
• Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)
• Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS)
• Office for Research and Statistics (ORS)
• Public Information Office (PIO)
• Public Programs Office (PPO)
• Washington Office

¹OGR and OITP are housed at ALA’s Washington Office. Other offices are in Chicago.

Let me offer some personal reflections on the Offices with which I have dealt.

The Chapter Relations Office is the one which works most closely with the individual state associations to support their work, and to help ALA have a presence in the states. As a "Chapter President" in 1998-99, I found that I received a lot of good information. As a Chapter Councilor, I had a lot of interaction.

OIF is who you call if someone challenges material which your library owns. I have had a charmed career in this area, and have not had to use their services.

Because of my ALA work, I have been to the Washington Office during ALA Legislative Day, and have worked closely with staff there on CIPA and UCITA (OGR). I have been serving on the E-Rate Task Force which is part of the activities of OITP.

Most of my contacts with HRDR and ORS have been the result of serving as the Executive Board Liaison to their advisory committees. PIO does ALA's press releases and has called on me several times for radio "gigs." Public Programs lets me know about some of the nation-wide grant funded discussion programs which I have been part of over the years.

The last one I'll mention is the Governance Office. Those are the folks who are responsible for the "care and feeding" of the Executive Board and of ALA Council. There are some really great people in that office, and I know that when I leave the EB in June, I'll miss that close contact with many of them.

ALA 101 - Part 3: Round Tables

ALA has seventeen Round Tables [This ALA page has links to all the Round Tables]. These are much less formally structured than the Divisions. Round Tables charge dues, but they are usually much more modest than Division dues. To start a round table, you need just 100 members. Unlike the divisions, Round Tables have no staff and no authority to speak on behalf of the organization. However, each Round Table does have an official staff liaison -- a paid staff person who helps move round table issues through the ALA processes.

The seventeen Round Tables are:

• Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange (CLENERT)
• Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange (EMIERT)
• Exhibits (ERT)
• Federal and Armed Forces Libraries (FAFLRT)
• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered (GLBTRT)
• Government Documents (GODORT)
• Intellectual Freedom (IFRT)
• International Relations (IRRT)
• Library History (LHRT)
• Library Instruction (LIRT)
• Library Research (LRRT)
• Library Support Staff Interests (LSSIRT)
• Map and Geography (MAGERT)
• New Members (NMRT)
• Social Responsibilities (SRRT)
• Staff Organizations (SORT)
• Video (VRT)

Round Tables are a great way to get involved in the organization. For folks who are new, the best one is the New Members Round Table. NMRT has a structure which gives folks a taste for the organization and is often a launching pad to ALA involvement.

Round Tables are often smaller than divisions, and are a great way to get to know folks in the Association.

Currently the five largest Round Tables elect a representative to ALA Council. The remaining Round Tables elect an additional Councilor whose job it is to represent the twelve smaller Round Tables. On the ALA Ballot this spring is a question which would change the By-laws to add Round Table Councilors for those Round Tables which have a membership greater than 1% of the ALA personal membership. Current estimates are that this would add five more Councilors, and result in the "small Round Table Councilor" having to represent only six or seven Round Tables.

I've not been very active in Round Tables, but I was in GODORT for a while, and know that they publish a wonderful newsletter called Documents to the People which helps government documents librarians a great deal.

ALA 101 - Part 2: Divisions

ALA has eleven divisions. Within ALA, the divisions have distinct responsibilities, and the authority to speak on subject areas within their purview. The divisions are often divided into two kinds: type of library and type of activity.

I will not provide links to each division, but they each have separate sections on the ALA web site [the page I chose lists all the divisions with links].The "type of library" divisions (in alphabetical order, of course) are:

• American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
  
• Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)
• Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA)
  
• Public Library Association (PLA)
  

The "type of activity" divisions are:

• Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS)
• Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
• Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA)
  [Merged with Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) to form
  Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations
  (ALTAFF) edit 2/14/10)]
• Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA)
  [Now called Library Leadership and Management Association LLAMA) edit 2/14/10)]
• Library Information Technology Association (LITA)
• Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)
• Young Adult Services Association (YALSA)
  

To belong to a division, you must first belong to the American Library Association. Each division sets and charges its own dues. Those dues finance the activities of that particular division, with a portion going to support the overhead services provided by "big ALA." These services are spelled out in the ALA Policy Manual, and run to almost four pages of very small type.

Divisions have a great deal of autonomy. Each division has its own staff (although some of the smaller divisions share staff). They run programs, and create their own internal structure. They tend to have a governing board, and then sections to carry out the work of the division. Several years ago, the Public Library Association did away with its old structure of sections and went to the concept of "clusters."

Because a section is small, and generally consists of colleagues interested in the same topic or smaller focus on librarianship, it is usually easier to begin your activities in a section. Over the years, I have been involved with MARS (Machine Assisted Reference Services section of RUSA -- the newsletter always had Messages from MARS), BRASS (Business Reference and Service Section (also part of RUSA), and ICAN (Interlibrary Cooperation and Networking, a section of ASCLA).

Next will be Round Tables.

ALA 101 - Part 1: Overview

What is ALA? First remember, it is the world's oldest and largest professional library association. It was founded in 1876 by Justin Windsor, C.A. Cutter, Samuel S. Green, James L. Whitney, Melvil Dui [Melville Dewey], Fred B. Perkins, and Thomas W. Bicknell. As a note of interest, ALA is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Traditionally the head of the Boston Public Library serves as the agent for service for the Association. For the last several years this has been Bernie Margolis. One of the effects of this is that Massachusetts state law governs some portions of the ALA's activities. This does mean that it is Massachusetts laws which cover official decisions by the association including rules on conference calls and proxy voting. The last time legal counsel (note spelling) advised the association about electronic meetings and voting, Massachusetts state law had not caught up with technology, and it was not permitted (or forbidden).

You can join ALA and belong only to ALA. As a member benefits include the official journal, American Libraries, the ability to vote in elections for association-wide offices (President-Elect, Treasurer, and 100 members of Council), the ability to vote on changes to the Constitution and the Bylaws, and other benefits determined by the Membership office.

Within ALA there are five kinds of units: divisions, round tables, offices, task forces, and committees.

ALA 101 - Introduction

Most of what I am going to say in this series of posts is drawn from two sources: The ALA Handbook of Organization and my personal experience.

So what is my experience that I think I know so much? I have been active in three divisions: RUSA (and its predecessor RASD), ASCLA, and PLA. I have served on one or two PLA committees (not chairing any). I have served on the section board for ASCLA, co-chaired a pre-conference and ran for President (but lost by 4 votes). I have served on several RUSA/RASD committees.

For the past 10 years I have been a member of ALA's Council. I was the Connecticut Chapter Councilor from 1996 - 2003. I have been on the ALA Executive Board since.

I have chaired and been a member of the ALA Membership Committee. I have been chair and served on the Special Presidential Task Force on Membership Meetings (now called the Committee on Membership Meetings), and served on the second Core Values Task Force.

I am envisioning six seven parts (after this) to this series: Overall ALA Structure and Governance Overview; Divisions; Round Tables; Offices; Committees; Buildings and Finances; Overall ALA Structure and Governance. If I receive substantive enough questions, I will expand the series. I will happily take questions either as comments to specific posts, or as private emails.

On with the show!

[revised 3/8/2006; strikethrough for deletion; bold & italic for addition.]