Campaign to Save America’s Libraries
Sets Stage for Midwinter Meeting
More than 500 people from across the country heard about the new wave of library budget woes January 24 in a rally that kicked off American Library Association President Maurice Freedman’s Campaign to Save America’s Libraries initiative. The event, complete with buttons and banners, set the tone for the Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, January 24–29, and included a number of speakers who addressed how budget cuts are affecting library operations in their communities.
ALA President-elect Carla Hayden urged the crowd to talk and write to their legislators, make patrons aware of library funding issues, and alert the media to what’s happening in libraries. “We have a right to mobilize,” she said. “We don’t have to be quiet any more. We have to make sure America’s libraries survive and thrive; it’s in your job description.”
Midwinter Meeting registration totaled 13,664 attendees and exhibitors, which included an increase in both categories from the 2002 Midwinter in New Orleans, where total attendance was 11,189.
The ALA Executive Board and the Association’s governing Council approved bylaws, a business plan, and a $250,000 loan from ALA marking the official start of the separate Allied Professional Organization. The APA, which will allow ALA to conduct activities that are prohibited under its current 501(c)(3) status, was formed to offer postgraduate specialty certification, to advocate for pay equity, and to address other issues related to the professional status of librarians.
The Philadelphia conference also featured the annual Newbery/Caldecott and other youth book and media awards, the Best-Selling Authors Forums with Arianna Huffington and Dava Sobel, as well as several Friends of Libraries USA events with prominent authors. Writer and performer Brenda Dixon Gottschild delivered the fourth annual Arthur Curley lecture on dance as a measure of culture.
The Midwinter Meeting brings ALA members together to plan the Association’s Annual Conference and to update librarians on legislative issues, current topics, and Association business. A full report will appear in the March issue of American Libraries and online at this site.
Posted February 3, 2003.
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