Sanford Berman argues a doomed resolution at the Council mike.

Karen Schneider urges Council to avoid micromanagement.

ALA Council,
1999 Annual Conference

From Powell to Berman, No Micromanagement

The debate over General Colin Powell’s $70,000 Annual Conference speaking fee spilled onto the floor of ALA Council, as the Association’s governing body met June 27, 29, and 30 during the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. But, moved along swiftly by ALA President Ann Symons and President-elect Sarah Long, councilors easily defeated a resolution (CD#74) brought forward by Maryland Chapter Councilor Stephen Peter LaBash that called for a cap of $20,000 on speaker fees and expenses from ALA funds.

LaBash said the resolution was “not intended to be a referendum on Colin Powell,” but rather an expression of “great consternation about the amount of money that is being spent for speakers.”

Several councilors leaped to the microphones to oppose such a cap. Councilor Sally Gardner Reed, a member of the ALA Executive Board, pointed out that the Association has a $40-million budget and “we need to be spending our time discussing issues of substance, not micromanaging line items in our budget.” Most councilors agreed, and the resolution failed.

The discussion set the tone for all three Council sessions, with a handful of councilors bringing forth a series of resolutions that the majority saw as “inappropriate” attempts at “micromanagement.”

Berman supporters angry

Angry over an incident that led to the resignation of Sanford Berman from the Hennepin County (Minn.) Library System (AL, June/July, p. 36), Councilors Mark Rosenzweig, S. Michael Malinconico, Maurice Freedman, and Diedre Conkling offered a resolution (CD#71) that asked Council to censure the library administration for what they called “its infringements of Berman’s free-speech rights, for its retribution against him, and its overall violations of his professional rights.”

Calling the censure motion “inappropriate,” Councilor Stephen Matthews urged that “as much as we have liked and admired Sandy over all these years, I don’t think it’s Council’s business to get involved in individual personnel matters.”

Sensing that the motion was headed for defeat, Freedman moved to appoint an ad hoc committee to study the affair.

Speaking against the formation of a committee, Councilor Erlene Bishop Killeen suggested that anyone who felt as “violated” as Berman apparently did ought to “seek legal recourse.” Both the committee and the censure resolution were rejected.

Berman himself, with a second by Minnesota Chapter Councilor Gretchen Wronka, presented a resolution (CD#75) calling for ALA to amend the Library Bill of Rights by adding the sentence: “Libraries should permit and encourage a full and free expression of views by staff on professional and policy matters.”

Several councilors suggested that the proposed amendment was more appropriate for inclusion in the ALA Code of Ethics. Councilor Gordon Conable warned against changing the Library Bill of Rights without “a careful airing of the implications of the amendment” through ALA committees.

There seemed to be general agreement that the Library Bill of Rights addresses the relationship between libraries and their users, not the rights of employees. Trying to salvage his proposed amendment, Berman argued that “a muzzled or chilled staff is frankly unlikely to render the most effective service to library users.” After lengthy debate, the motion was referred to the Ethics Committee.

Another resolution (CD#72) stemming from the Hennepin matter was introduced by Rosenzweig; it called for the establishment of a standing committee “to deal with egregious violations of professional rights and responsibilities of librarians within libraries themselves.” Councilor Beverly Lynch cited the 1993 disbanding of the similar Standing Committee on Review, Inquiry, and Mediation and pointed out that because ALA is made up of personal and institutional members it was never clear whom the Association ought to represent when it was asked to investigate disputes between parties. Intent on not resurrecting SCRIM, Council also voted down this resolution.

Councilor and Executive Board member Charles Brown, director of the Hennepin library and target of the resolutions, endured the proceedings in silence.

Issues to agree on

Brought forward by Committee on Legislation chair and incoming ALA Vice-president/President-elect Nancy Kranich, several resolutions aimed at Washington met with overwhelming approval. Heeding research that shows the highest achieving students come from schools with school libraries, Council approved a resolution (CD#20.6) supporting passage of the Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Resources, Training, and Advanced Technology Assistance Act as a component of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization (AL, June/July, p. 23).

Council also approved a resolution (CD#20.8) calling for ALA members to lobby for passage of H.R. 1858, the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act. Kranich noted that the bill is the acceptable one of two currently in House committees. H.R. 1858 “is a responsible and balanced approach to protecting commercial databases against piracy while protecting future value-added uses of data,” her report said. On another resolution (CD#20.9) brought forward by the committee, Council voted to “oppose any attempt to restrict public access to Environmental Protection Agency off-site consequence analysis data by exempting this information from Freedom of Information Act requests,” as Congress is considering doing.

A resolution (CD#20.7) tactfully opposing the appointment of nonlibrarian Carolyn Staley (AL, June/July, p. 21) to a four-year appointment as director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was passed after some discussion. The appointment, to be made by President Clinton, by law must go to an individual who has “special competencies with regard to library and information services.” Since the law does not require a library degree, the language of the resolution does not object to Staley by name, but asserts that ALA will oppose the nomination of anyone but “a library professional who has demonstrated the ability and has the credentials and the library experience necessary” and who possesses “distinguished professional library qualifications.”

Professional education

Councilor Ken Haycock reported on the Congress on Professional Education (CD#61.1) (AL, Aug., p. 14–15), highlighting five central recommendations, which assert that the profession must:

define its scope, content, and values,
establish and apply standards for accreditation,
enable credentialing and continuing education,
position librarianship as the 21st-century profession, and
continue the dialogue between library and information science educators and practitioners.

Available on the ALA Web site, the report then suggests a half-dozen or so specific actions in each area.

Committee on Accreditation Chair James Baughman called the congress report “comprehensive and informative” (CD#64.1) and said COA would be working hard to implement its recommendations.

Because the ALA Executive Board is moving ahead with implementation of the congress recommendations, Connie Van Fleet, chair of the Committee on Education, recommended against adoption of the original resolution (CD#54) by Councilor Ruth Gordon that led to the congress. It had called for a revision of the 1992 Standards for Accreditation and a mandate for courses in special fields, along with a statement that “ALA accredits master’s degree programs designed to prepare students for careers in librarianship.”

Gordon agreed with the decision, on the condition that youth services be specifically mentioned in the report’s recommendation that ALA “develop strategies to address shortages in the field.”

Money where the mouth is

The presentation of the FY 2000 ALA budget (CD#13.5, #13.6, #13. 7) by Treasurer Bruce Daniels led to a discussion of how the Association’s key action areas, intellectual freedom in particular, are reflected in the allocation of financial resources.

Noting that $430,000 had been proposed for diversity efforts, Councilor Conable asked how much had been allotted for intellectual freedom. Told that all ALA units were instructed to hold budgets flat for 2000, he asked, “In other words, this key action area is receiving no new funding in the upcoming fiscal year?”

“That is correct,” Daniels said. Other councilors noted that intellectual freedom activity is spread throughout the ALA budget, especially in the Washington Office, but Conable said, “Our intellectual freedom positions are under significant fire nationally, and we need to act more strongly to get our message across and to uphold the trust which we have assumed as a profession. Without a budget which reflects that challenge and that opportunity, I can’t support the budget.”

Despite Conable’s objections, the FY 2000 budget projections totaling $41,870,000 were approved with the following ceilings: general fund $24,493,000, divisions $14,690,000, round tables $485,000, plant-fund income $169,000, grants and awards $1,500,000, and long-term investments $533,000.

Socially responsible investing

Council revisited the issue of socially responsible investing (AL, Aug. 1998, p. 97) (CD#13.6) at the request of the Executive Board, which asked that two specific issues be addressed:

If a conflict arose between a rate-of-return objective and proposed policies on socially responsible investing, which would take precedent? and
If specific investments were challenged by ALA members, what portion of a company’s activities would have to be in violation of ALA’s policies to require divestment?

Several councilors expressed their concern that an open-challenge process would mean that, as Councilor Sheila Intner put it, “challenges will come falling out of the trees like nuts in a hailstorm.”

S. Michael Malinconico asserted that in any challenge, “principles have got to take precedent.” He endorsed the use of “investment screens that can be employed by investment companies to help us manage our fund in accordance with our principles.”

Treasurer Bruce Daniels said the practice was doable. He said ALA members will be able to obtain a list of companies in which the Association holds stock by making a request in writing to the executive director. Daniels added that the discussion was just the beginning of the process and the Executive Board will further refine the details.

Micromanaging LC

Reporting for the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services Cataloging and Classification Section Subject Analysis Committee, ALCTS Councilor Alex Bloss said the committee had examined a resolution (CD#37) on subject-heading revisions related to ALA’s Poor People’s Policy and had discussed them with Library of Congress staff (CD#39). He said a special task force would present final recommendations at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting next year.

Councilor Sanford Berman, mover of the original motion, immediately asked Council to reject the ALCTS report and support over 30 new subject headings, including “corporate welfare,” “food shelves,” and “classism,” many of which the committee had found problematic.

Berman said he was infuriated by the report and denied its charges that he had sent “laundry lists” of subject headings to LC without research. He said that he had been offered no explanation for the rejection of particular headings, except for “corporate welfare,” which he said LC concluded was a “partisan editorial buzz word.”

“Libraries are regularly touted as bulwarks of democracy,” Berman maintained, “but how can they usefully contribute to public policy debates when such issues as classism, corporate power, corporate welfare, and living-wage laws can’t even be reached in library catalogs?”

Councilor Janet Swan Hill responded that “it is entirely inappropriate for Council to be in the business of writing cataloging rules and establishing subject headings and classification numbers. There are bodies within this organization that have been given the responsibility to do those things, and I believe we should let them do it.”

An exasperated Councilor Karen Schneider said, “Right now, we should be concerned about supporting the libraries under attack for offering open access to the Internet. And we should not be micromanaging minor things like subject headings and personnel decisions, and I encourage us to defeat this and get on to the real work of the Council of the American Library Association.”

Following several lengthy testimonials to Berman’s reputation as an innovative cataloger, the resolution on subject heading revisions was defeated.

New round table

During a report from the Committee on Organization (CD#27.2) Council approved the formation of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Round Table, the first new ALA round table in six years. Members of the former task force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table, in presenting petition signatures and other documentation in support of the new round table, say its purpose will be to “provide a forum for the discussion of activities, programs, and challenges” for gays in librarianship and other information professions.

In addition, Council authorized a name change for the Office for Library Personnel Resources to the Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment; and approved the designation of two liaisons to the Committee on Education, one each from the Association for Library and Information Science Education and the Continuing Library Education Network and Round Table. Council also reactivated the ALA side of the Association of American Publishers/ALA Joint Committee.

Action wrap-up

In other actions, Council:

Approved a resolution from the International Relations Committee (CD#76) asking that a letter from the president of ALA, in cooperation with the president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, be sent to the U.S. State Department and President Clinton expressing the concern “that any provision for reconstruction to be undertaken in Yugoslavia and in Kosovo include resources ample for the construction of new public, school, and academic libraries, the replacement of library collections, and assistance in providing university education for library professionals.”
Supported the IRC’s proposal (CD#18.3) that ALA appoint a liaison-trustee to the board of the American Library in Paris, which ALA founded in 1920. Requested by the library, the post will include no financial support and is intended to reestablish historical ties.
Adopted definitions and recommendations from the Publishing Committee (CD#14.1, #14.2, #14.3) concerning electronic publishing and a resolve that ALA will archive all electronic publications.
Received a report (CD#33.1, #33.2) from the Budget Analysis and Review Committee expressing BARC’s concern over unbudgeted expenses such as the Congress on Professional Education and over the revenue shortfalls expected from the Fund for America’s Libraries. The committee did concur with a management decision to set aside $10,000 and release a request for proposals seeking a library school to conduct a study of current outsourcing practices of libraries.
Soundly defeated a resolution (CD#25.2) to reconfigure the composition of the Endowment Trustees (CD#16.2) to “such number” as is recommended by the Executive Board. The proposal was approved at the Midwinter Meeting (AL, Dec. 1998, p. 67) and would have gone to the membership ballot after a second approval. But councilors apparently were persuaded that the plan would, as Councilor Gordon Conable said, reduce accountability.
Got a report (CD#23) from the Committee on Minority Concerns and Cultural Diversity recommending that ALA institutionalize its commitment to a more diverse profession by supporting the Spectrum Initiative beyond its first three years. Committee Chair Betty Tsai also called for funds to support a planning retreat.
Approved a recommendation presented by Chair Steven Herb in a report from the Intellectual Freedom Committee (CD#19.1) that the committee preferred to address the impact of outsourcing on libraries by preparing a guide to library choices, rather than an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights as had been suggested. The report also indicated that an IFC statement “to help explain” the filtering policy Council adopted in 1997 (AL, Aug. 1997, p. 74–75) is now in draft but requires more time “to ensure that it will both help our members and affirm ALA’s position on Internet filtering.”
Voted to adopt the recommendations (CD#25.3) of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, presented by Chair Nancy Davenport, for the election logistics of round table representation on Council.
Approved two motions by Councilor Karen Schneider: one asking the Library and Information Technology Association and other appropriate units to examine the impact of new technologies on patron privacy and the confidentiality of electronic records and report back in 2000 (CD#78), the other calling for the ALA president to form a Task Force on Electronic Meeting Participation to explore ways in which technology can be used to enhance participation in Membership Meetings and report back at Midwinter 2000 (CD#79).
Received a report from the Awards Committee (CD#10.1), which included approval of the new $10,000 annual Leader in Library Technology grant proposed by Sirsi Corporation. a
Received reports from President Ann Symons on her presidential theme of “Celebrating the Freedom to Read! Learn! Connect! @ the Library ”(CD#21.1) and President-elect Sarah Long ( CD#29.1) on her forthcoming theme, “Libraries Build Community.” They also prepared a planning document (CD#21.2) for division presidents and presidents-elect.
Heard from Freedom to Read Foundation (CD#22.1) President Candace Morgan that “the biggest challenge that we are facing for freedom of speech is public understanding of the constitutional framework within which libraries operate and how that framework relates to basic American values.” In addition to providing updates on litigation in which the foundation is involved, her report advised that general guidance for libraries that are receiving open-record requests from Filtering Facts’ David Burt (see News Fronts USA) is available on the Web.
Defeated another attempt to call for a ballot vote to lower the quorum required for Membership Meetings from 1% of the current ALA membership to 100 (CD#73).
Defeated a motion (CD#77) by Arkansas Chapter Councilor Janet Parsch to permit the appointment of temporary division and chapter councilors to replace those unable to attend conferences. a Approved the review of Council actions taken at the 1999 Midwinter Meeting presented by the Policy Monitoring Committee (CD#17.1).
Elected Councilors Therese Bigelow, Naomi Caldwell, Judith Meyers, and Barbara Stripling to the Committee on Committees and Catherine Wojewodzki, John D. Hales Jr., Marilyn Lutz, GraceAnne DeCandido, and Peter Graham to the Planning and Budget Assembly (CD#12.2).

ALA Council, 1999 Annual Conference