ALA Elections 2019 [edited]

ALA ballots are coming out. I received mine, and have started working through the list.

There is a great guide to the election with candidate statements on the ALA web site. It is a great looking booklet, with a great description of Council including some of the pertinent actions taken over the past few years.

http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/governance/alaelection/2019/elections-booklet-2019.pdf

There is a link on page 16 to the Council bio statements (PDF, 194 pages!):

http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/governance/alaelection/2017/All%20Councilor%20bios%202017..pdf

And there is an Excel workbook on the main election page:

http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/alaelection

Here is a link to Andromeda Yelton's wonderful Council Candidate Sorter. (She has been doing this for several years now ... maybe 5 years?) The code behind it on GitHub (which I only very moderately understand...)

http://thatandromeda.github.io/ala_candidate_filter/2019_ala_council.html

The results will be posted April 10, 2019 on that last link above.

ALA Elections - 2018 Edition

It is that time of year again!ALA Elections.

I am asked about choosing candidates for ALA Council. Well, have I got good news for you ... one of my friends (and current LITA President) Andromeda Yelton has put together a tool to sort through the ALA Council candidate list. She has been doing it for a few years now, and it could be that this is the first time I have blogged about it, although I am pretty sure I have posted it on Facebook. Here is what she said:

Hi ALA people! Are you gearing up to vote in the ALA election. (<- answer="" be="" br="" here="" should="" the="" yes="">
This is my yearly candidate sorter. It lets you limit to people in particular divisions, round tables, ethnic caucuses, etc. (in addition to Cmd-F/Ctrl-F keyword search goodness). Hopefully it will make the job of finding people who represent you more manageable.

She also noted that there is a small issue:

(there's a javascript bug whereby if you have checked, then unchecked, a filter you end up with an empty page. you can reload the page to reset it. hopefully I will have time to figure it out and fix it, but if you know how, pull requests welcome)

 Here is the link: https://thatandromeda.github.io/ala_candidate_filter/2018_ala_council.html

More on the election when ballots are released in about 10 days. (I am on the ballot again this year, but not the ballot which Andromeda parsed!)

ALA Elections - 2016 version

It is getting to be that time again. ALA Election time.

The good news could be that I am not running for anything this year. I have enough to do already. In June/July I become the President of a division (ASCLA).

Every year I have a couple of colleagues who ask for advice on making selections from the very long list of candidates for ALA Council. It is a long list! One of my friends has taken the list of ALA candidates and created a searching tool so you can create your own list of parameters as you decide for whom to vote.

Here is the link to what Andromeda Yelton has created: https://thatandromeda.github.io/ala_candidate_filter/2016_ala_council.html

Play around with it. See how it works for you. I might create a list this year, but then again I might not. Back in 2009 (that was after I left), the ALA Executive Board  set some campaign guidelines. As an "officer" within ALA, I received an email with the following noted:

Appointed committee chairs, or members of committees may endorse candidates and may use ALA electronic discussion lists to express their support for an individual candidate or candidates for ALA offices, as long as they do not use their official titles or create the impression that they are speaking on behalf of an ALA committee or unit of ALA. Candidates can list endorsers by name, but not by ALA title or office. Executive Board members shall not endorse any candidate in any American Library Association election.

I need to ponder more.

ALA Elections 2015 - Some Reflections

First of all, wow. It was an interesting election.

All of the results are posted on the ALA web site, here.

One of the documents that I particularly looked at was 2015 Election Response Rate by Ballot. With all the sections of divisions and all the round tables, there are 81 different ballots. (Yes, you read that right, 81!) Most people only get some of them. How many, depends on how much you pay in dues and how the particular division or round table is structured. What I was interested in was the participation rate.

Both for ALA as a whole (Ballot 0 - Officers), like in the local, state, and national elections, the turnout of voters is not always what we would like. It is usually lower. But, I am proud to say that the election in which I was a candidate had one of the highest participation rates.

My visual inspection (I could not quickly grab it an put it in Excel for sorting, but may try again) shows these as the top participation rate groups:

RMRT	56.06%
GLBTRT	38.67%
LearnRT	38.34%
ASCLA	33.66%
IFRT	33.62%
EMIERT	32.68%
SRRT	31.14%

This means that ASCLA was the only division with more than 30% participation. It is the smallest division (615 members eligible to vote). But it clearly reinforces my contention that it is the easiest to get involved in - I believe that the voting participation rate shows that.

ALA Elections 2015 - about me

Edited 5/11 - no part 2 or part 3!


If you have not received your ALA ballot, they are distributed over several days.

Some of you may have noticed my name out there. This went out to a discussion list a little bit ago:

ASCLA 2015 Elections are Approaching!
Please click on this link to view the following ASCLA members who will be running for election for ASCLA offices in the 2015 Elections. Please join me in thanking these members for agreeing to stand for election for an ASCLA office and be sure to vote in the Spring elections! Voting begins on March 24, 2015 through May 1, 2015 @ 11:59 PM CDT.

Because of my standing for election as Vice President/President-Elect of ASCLA. For those who do not know, ASCLA  is the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, one of the divisions of the American Library Association.

It is the smallest of the ALA divisions. For more about ALA and ASCLA, visit the tab ALA 101 (on this blog).

So, here is what I said in my statement of professional concerns:

I have often recommended to new members of ALA to find a home in ALA with others whose work is like theirs. ASCLA has been ALA's smallest division and because of the small size, it is possible to get to know people and to become involved.

I did some simple analysis of recent membership trends, and plotting ASCLA's membership against ALA's membership shows that ASCLA has retained members better than ALA. That does not mean that we do not have to continue to work to recruit members, but it does show that ASCLA has value for ALA members. I have many contacts across the association, and want to leverage the knowledge those people have, to make ASCLA even more successful. Part of the perspective which I bring is from having been active in the larger organization. I believe that my experience, and contacts, will help position ASCLA for the future.

I ask for the vote for those of you who are ASCLA members.

I did stand for this office once before, in 2000. In that election, I was not successful. The difference was four (4) votes. In a way I was relieved. I changed jobs after agreeing to run, and it would not have been as good a fit as it is now. I also had a great deal less experience with ALA.

ALA Executive Board Elections

There has been a recent discussion on the ALA Council List about parts of the process for electing ALA Executive Board members. Anyone can read the postings. Go to the ALA List of discussion lists http://lists.ala.org/sympa and look under Governance for the Council list. Once you click on it, look for the box on the left side of the page for Archives, or look here for the threaded discussion.

As background, you may want to read Bobbi Newman's wonderful post The First Rule of ALA Executive Board is You Don’t Talk About ALA Executive Board. It gives all the foundational documents (and links) and some insight on her experience, which is more recent than mine. I highly recommend that you read the comments also, not just because I commented. Peggy Sullivan, who was both on the ALA EB as President and as Executive Director, offers some perspective as well.

In the comments I said a couple of things that I want to repeat for those who don't bother to go there:

I served on the ALA EB from 2003 – 2006, and started my blog most of the way through my term. I did talk some about being on the Board, and certainly on the blog have talked about service on Council. ...

One of the wonderful things that happened when I ran was that the six of us nominated by the Committee on Committees all went out to dinner at that Midwinter. It was a very congenial group. Two of those six were elected (the other person elected was nominated from the floor and could not join us for dinner). Of those not elected two were elected in later years.

One of the important points that Karen has raised, is the fact that it is easier to publish, even share, intentions today than it was. It is also true that there was (I am no longer a member of ALA Council, so I can't judge the current climate) a climate of this election being one of "standing for election" unlike for President, Treasurer, or even Council itself, of "running." After all, I have helped candidates with handing out flyers, talking up platform issues, even doing electronic mailings. I did so gladly when I felt that I could, and that it did not compromise my position.

[An aside: I spent my first two terms on Council as a Chapter Councilor. I perceived my role as that of representing my state, and of representing ALA to my state. For Presidential and Treasurer elections, I was (well, tried to be) as even-handed as I could. The only opinion I would offer would be a private one, privately. As a member of the Executive Board, I felt that I could not in good conscience campaign since I would wind up serving with the successful candidate, and if I had vocally backed the "other candidate" that would have felt awkward to me. That is a statement of why I acted the way I did. As a Councilor-at-Large, I did as I wished, and did publicly endorse and actively support candidates.]

A part of me agrees with the idea that there should be more discussion prior to Midwinter, and more opportunities to interact with the candidates. When I "stood" for election, I did not really stand still. I made it a point to talk to fellow Councilors at the reception (Midwinter only event) for new Councilors. I chatted with them before and after sessions, each meeting of the Council Forum/Caucus, at the Chapter Councilor meeting, at committee meetings, etc. I did ask those I knew to vote for me. As many know, I am usually vocal, and did not silence myself during the period. Today would be different.

There is also not always someone nominated from the floor. There was the year I was elected, and that person was one of the successful candidates.
 

ALA Elections 2014 - My list

Some years I have written more about this, and other years less. This year is going to be a minimal post. Below are listed the folks for whom I will vote for ALA Council. I am still undecided about ALA President, I know both candidates slightly, and am still trying to make up my mind -- unlike in some past years where I had a clear favorite.

Not making the list does not mean that I dislike or disagree with a person. More likely, I just do not either know them well enough or know their work well enough to support them. The list below is alphabetical, because that is the way my ballot is/was.

Vivian Bordeaux
    I worked with Vivian at the Bridgeport Public Library. She is very thoughtful.

Matthew Ciszek
    I met Matthew through working on Council. He is very well-spoken and articulate. (Plus usually agree with him!)

Emily E. Clasper
   Emily is a dynamic library trainer from New York. I think she would be a great addition to Council.

Roberto C. Delgadillo
    Like several of the folks on this list, I met Roberto through Council. He brings a wealth of knowledge to Council.

John Desantis
    Like several of the folks on this list, I met John through Council. He is in tech services which is a part of the 
    profession often under-represented on Council, and John is articulate on the issues he chooses to address.

Ed Garcia
   Ed has been the Rhode Island Chapter Councilor, and is articulate and thoughtful.

Rhonda K. Puntney Gould
   I have known Rhonda for a number of years. She is active in ALSC, and has worked with the Wisconsin Library
   Association prior to her recent "removal" to Washington (and a different WLA).

Dora Ho
   Dora is a former ALA Exec Board member. I worked with her on the Membership Committee. She has the 
   broad perspective that is important on Council.

Em Claire Knowles
   Em Claire is a former ALA Exec Board member. She has the broad perspective that is important on Council.

Susan L. Jennings

    I met Susan as part of my work on Council.
Margaret L. Kirkpatrick

    Margaret is a long-time support of Youth Services issues. She has a long and distiguished record on Council and, 
    I think deserved to be elected.
Charles E. Kratz

   Charles is another former ALA Exec Board member. He has the broad perspective that is important on Council.
Rodney Eugene Lippard

  Rodney is a former Chapter Councilor who is also thoughtful and well-spoken.
Mike L. Marlin

   Mike is a vocal advocate for people with disabilities, and I have come to respect his expertise in this area
Dale K. McNeill

   I have known Dale electronically for many years, initially from the PUBLIB discussion list. He would be a great 
   addition to Council.
Michael J. Miller

   I have worked with Michael on several committees over the years. He is thoughtful and articulate
Jerome Offord

   I got to know Jerome primarily through his work in diversity at OCLC, and our overlapping group of friends. He is
   thoughtful and well-spoken.
Andrew Pace

   Andrew is a well-spoken and thoughtful person who also is an advocate of appropriate use of technology.
Kevin Reynolds

  Kevin is another former ALA Exec Board member. He has the broad perspective that is important on Council
  He previously had served as the Tennessee Chapter Councilor. It is important for the Chapter perspective to 
  be represented by more than just the official Chapter Councilors.
Jules Shore

   I know Jules mostly from social media. He is a medical librarian, and as such, would represent a segment of libraries
   which is under-represented on ALA Council.
Christian Zabriskie
   Christian is one of the founders of the Urban Libraries Unite, an important new library advocacy group. 

So...that is my list.