Hundreds of programs and speakers, combined with the charm of the City by the Bay, drew a record 26,542 librarians and library supporters to San Francisco June 14–19 for the American Library Association’s 120th Annual Conference. Author and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich, Harvard Professor Robert D. Putnam, and singer-songwriter-educator Buffy Sainte-Marie headlined the conference, which also featured dozens of nationally known writers and poets celebrating “Libraries: Cornerstone of Democracy,” the theme selected by ALA President Nancy Kranich.
“Any mayor in the country would like to get 20,000 librarians with credit cards into his city,” San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown joked at the opening session, then added that anyone who seeks elected office in San Francisco has to support the public library and “know where every branch is and every language spoken there.”
Many conference-goers faced picket lines when they tried to attend meetings at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel, as Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, Local 2, tried to garner support for a boycott over a long-standing labor dispute. Mayor Brown was among those who had urged the Association to withdraw from the hotel. However, ALA’s hotel contracts include a strike clause but not a boycott clause, and the Association’s Executive Board decided to honor its contractual obligations. Nevertheless, ALA President-elect Maurice J. Freedman and a handful of attendees joined the picketers and refused to go to meetings in the Marriott, where the inauguration of incoming ALA President John W. Berry was held.
Complete coverage of the conference, including the actions of ALA’s Council and Executive Board, is scheduled for the August issue of American Libraries.
Posted June 25, 2001.