Seattle Fish Throwers Inspire ALA Midwinter-GoersThe rules of the FISH! Philosophy are: 1) Be there, 2) Play, 3) Make someone’s day, and 4) Choose your attitude. As delivered by motivational speaker and “FISH! Philosopher” Deena Ebbert, these simple suggestions resonated with attendees at the Seattle Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, as Ebbert tossed them toy fish and played with a concept developed by the city’s famous Pike Place Market fishmongers. With a sense of humor, these salesmen transformed their grueling 12-hour work shifts into entertainment for themselves and their customers; ALA President Leslie Burger urged librarians to “learn to FISH!” and similarly transform their own jobs and libraries.
When they weren’t catching fish, the 12,100 Midwinter-goers spent January 19–24 attending some 800 meetings, many of them planning sessions for the forthcoming ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Some 500 technology vendors and publishers filled the exhibition hall in Seattle’s convention center, enabling attendees to examine firsthand a wide variety of information-industry products. A highlight of the annual Midwinter Meeting is the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott medals, as well as other youth media awards.
The Midwinter Meeting also involves three meetings of the Association’s governing Council, where Treasurer Teri Switzer reported on ALA’s financial health. She noted substantial growth in revenue over the last 10 years and projections of even more rapid growth over the next four, but warned that revenue gain still lags behind inflation. Councilors later debated and defeated two controversial resolutions, one “to support efforts in the U.S. Congress to stop the Iraq War by withholding funds for military actions in Iraq, except for funds necessary for a safe, quick, and orderly withdrawal” and the other to impeach President Bush. The war resolution lost 98–48, while the impeachment resolution was deemed inappropriate by the vast majority of councilors.
Other highlights of the Midwinter Meeting included the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture by Joe Klein, author and senior writer for Time magazine, who offered provocative commentary on the Iraq War, the presidential candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the state of American politics. Mike Flynn and other representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency listened and fielded questions about the recent closings of EPA libraries in a forum sponsored by the ALA Washington Office.
A full Midwinter Meeting report is scheduled for the March issue of American Libraries.
Posted January 24, 2007.
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