Unfazed by the SARS outbreak, keynote speakers including U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Canadian author Margaret Atwood, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and journalist Naomi Klein addressed issues key to the library profession—among them threats to privacy posed by the USA Patriot Act, which Sanders characterized as “an extremely dangerous piece of legislation that strikes at the heart of what freedom is all about.” Klein called librarians “beacons of sanity in an increasingly insane world,” and Nader said librarians must fight the current wave of funding cuts. “Once the libraries go, there goes democracy,” Atwood observed. Conference spirits were dampened less by SARS than by the news that the Supreme Court had ruled June 23 against ALA in its challenge to the Children’s Internet Protection Act.
The more than 2,000 programs and meetings that made up the conference were “tracked” by general themes: administration; children and young adults; electronic and digital information; issues and updates; literature, cultural heritage, and public programming; staff development, recruitment, and education; technical services and collection management; and user services and outreach. Despite many cancellations, the exhibit halls and most programs enjoyed solid attendance, which totaled only about 3,400 less than last year’s ALA conference in Atlanta.
Posted June 30, 2003.