ALA Executive Board,
Spring 2000 Meeting
Ambitious public-awareness campaign takes shape.
At its spring meeting, held April 29–30 in Washington, D.C., the ALA Executive Board got its first look at plans for a five-year campaign intended to educate the public about the value of libraries.
Jennifer Sosin of the Washington office of public-relations firm BSMG Worldwide told the board that after conducting market research to determine the public’s perceptions of libraries, her firm developed three main messages for the campaign: Libraries offer one-stop shopping where users can find virtually anything; libraries are part of the American dream, offering free access to all; and libraries are changing and dynamic places. The “brand” for the campaign is the tagline “@ Your Library.”
Although the board responded favorably to the campaign, there was disagreement over how to fund it. Although staff had recommended that $1 million of the proceeds from the refinancing of the mortgage debt on Huron Plaza go toward the campaign, the board’s Finance and Audit Subcommittee recommended that the entire $3-million windfall go to the ALA Future Fund ($2 million) and the Spectrum Endowment ($1 million). This approach, the subcommittee noted, was based on a 1988 board action committing Huron Plaza proceeds to the Association’s endowment.
However, board members voiced concern that finding alternate funding sources could fatally delay the campaign’s implementation, and Sally Reed worried that insufficient startup funds could prove crippling. The board voted to fund year one of the campaign with $340,730 from net unbudgeted revenue, and for staff to develop a plan to finance the remaining four years. F&A’s recommendation to direct the Huron Plaza proceeds to the Future Fund and Spectrum was then approved.
Healthy finances
When the board turned to consideration of the preliminary FY 2001 budget (EBD#3.12), ALA Executive Director William Gordon noted that the Association was currently in an excellent financial position: It’s mortgage-free with no outstanding loans, enjoys higher-than-average member retention, has a committed and involved membership, and possesses strong endowments and investments.
The budget proposes 7.6% growth in general-fund revenue over FY 2000, with projected revenues of $26.36 million, a $1.87-million increase. The total budgetary ceiling is $42.96 million.
New initiatives include the creation of a disabilities officer position as well as several other additional positions; implementation of a new staff compensation plan, currently in development; creation of an information policy for the 21st century; and, in response to member requests, a Web-based continuing-education initiative.
Approved by the board, the proposal now goes to the Budget Analysis and Review Committee for presentation at Annual Conference this summer.
Developing development
In the wake of the dissolution of the Fund for America’s Libraries, ALA retained consultant Sandra Danforth to make recommendations on the establishment of a new Development Office. Among her recommendations (EBD#1.14): that the office direct major campaigns to fund ALA’s strategic objectives; that it also manage planned giving, corporate sponsorships, annual giving, and coordination of fundraising by ALA units; and that it provide fundraising assistance to other ALA units, members, and libraries as requested.
The board voiced several concerns over Danforth’s recommendations, ranging from skepticism over whether the office should provide assistance to libraries to whether there would be sufficient staff for the office’s efforts to be successful. However, Gordon stressed the need to get the Development Office up and running “or our fundraising efforts are going to be extremely frail.” The board voted to move swiftly to hire a development officer and to endorse the advancement of a comprehensive fundraising program.
Noting member concerns over the latest draft in the ongoing effort to develop a Core Values Statement for the profession, voiced on the Council’s online discussion list and by the Intellectual Freedom Committee and the minority caucuses, the board questioned whether the document (EBD#1.17), intended to unify the profession, would end up being a divisive force. Objections have centered on the fact that the statement fails to specifically include intellectual freedom, social responsibilities, and libraries as a public good.
Reed stressed the need for consensus in adopting such a document, observing that even if it is approved by a majority vote in Council, “there’s a critical mass of objection” to it. Jim Neal agreed that it’s crucial to develop a consensus, stating that “even if it takes another Annual Conference to do that, we’ll be in a much stronger position.” Rather than vote to endorse or reject the latest draft, board members agreed informally to convey a desire for more consensus-building to the task force that’s developing the document. “Our goal,” said Neal, “is to extend and expand the discussion.”
Washington Office Director Emily Sheketoff gave the board an update on crucial legislative issues, notably the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act legislation currently being introduced individually in the states, which would threaten the fair-use and first-sale doctrines regarding the sale of computer information and software (AL, Apr., p. 37). She pointed out that since UCITA is not a federal issue, it’s up to the board rather than the Washington Office to develop a strategy to counter the efforts. “You need to decide soon,” she urged. “Every week it’s coming up in a new state.” The board voted to recommend that the Legislative and Chapter Relations Committees work with the Washington Office to provide UCITA education to state library representatives, and that the Washington Office continue its initiative with the coalition of groups that’s battling UCITA.
Following Sheketoff’s report, the board got an overview of activity at the Office for Information Technology Policy from Director Rick Weingarten, who focused on copyright issues, the e-rate discounts, and e-books and libraries; regarding the latter, he suggested convening a forum of representatives from the e-book industry—who are not the same players as traditional publishers—and the library community to see if concerns over copyright and other issues can be aligned.
Picking partners prudently
The two days of board meetings closed with a discussion of ALA’s partnerships with other organizations (EBD#1.16). President-elect Nancy Kranich, who led the discussion, pointed out that partnerships create conflicts as well as benefits, expressing the view that the Association has failed to pay attention to their more undesirable effects.
One of the more unusual aspects of partnerships was noted by Reed: “Sometimes the more unlikely the alliance, the greater opportunity for education.” Kranich agreed, citing the Association’s relationships with the Association of American Publishers: “We are best friends on intellectual freedom and enemies on copyright.”
Ken Haycock closed the session with the final word on partnerships: “Be careful who you sleep with, make sure you know what you get out of it, and always have protection.”
Action roundup
In other actions, the board:
- Received a report on the status of the Spectrum Initiative from President Sarah Ann Long (EBD#12.27).
- Passed a motion by Ann Symons that ALA use a portion of the revenue from the ALA/Bell and Howell Scholarship Bash for named scholarships in addition to Spectrum (EBD#8.5).
- Held a discussion on a fact sheet on the ALA Endowment Fund (EBD#1.15), which will be placed on the ALA Treasurer’s Web page.
- Heard an update from Neal on the second Congress on Professional Education (EBD#8.6), to be held November 17-19 in Chicago, with an emphasis on continuing education.
- Approved selection of sites for future Annual Conference and Midwinter Meetings (EBD#12.25). They are: Midwinter 2005, Boston; 2007, Seattle; 2008, Philadelphia; 2009, Denver; 2010, Boston; 2011, Chicago; 2012, San Antonio; Annual 2007, Washington, D.C.; 2008, Anaheim; 2009, Chicago; 2010, Orlando; 2011, San Francisco; and 2012, New Orleans.
- Received leadership reports from President Long (EBD#7.4), President-elect Kranich, and Executive Director Gordon (EBD#12.32).
- Was asked by Haycock to review and comment on materials he presented on executive board effectiveness (EBD#1.19).
- Heard an update from the Committee on Accreditation on the appeals of the denial of accreditation to the Universities of Arizona and Denver.
Other board members present were Treasurer Bruce Daniels, Liz Bishoff, Alice Calabrese, Julie Cummins, Martin Gomez, and Robert Newlen.
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