2008- 2009 ALA President
Jim Rettig
I believe that the biggest challenge that all libraries today face is getting people’s attention. We operate in a very competitive environment for what the 2005 OCLC Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources report calls “mindshare.” Think of all the stimuli that have sought your attention since you got out of bed this morning—radio, television, Web sites, Web pop-ups, telephone calls, text messages—to say nothing of face-to-face interactions with family, co-workers, friends, and others. Your library and mine are competing for the attention of people who are making choices where to put their attention in response to all of those competing stimuli.
How long did it take for Google to become a verb? What can we do that will result in people using “library” as a verb the same way they use Google as a verb?
We need to be where are users are. For my academic library that may mean being in their earbuds and on their cell phone screens. We have accomplished the latter for access to our catalog and to a tool that lets student see which PCs in the library are in use and which are available. Surely we need to do more and we are looking for ways to do more.
We have a lot to offer the members of our communities. But if we can’t get their attention, we can’t engage them. If we can’t engage them, we can’t demonstrate to them how our services and resources can add value in their lives. If we can’t engage them, we won’t hook them on their libraries, won’t win them as users and advocates.
We need to sustain and strengthen our advocacy efforts on behalf of all libraries. The newly created ALA Advocacy Office gives ALA an opportunity to integrate the diverse advocacy efforts of the Divisions and the Public Information Office.
I think of our school, public, academic, and other types of libraries as parts of an integrated library ecosystem. If one part of the system is threatened or suffers, the entire system is threatened and suffers. Libraries offer incredible lifelong learning opportunities. No one type of library can deliver learning opportunities from cradle to grave. But through our library ecosystem we offer these opportunities in abundance.
Building on the strong existing ALA advocacy programs, how can we develop sustainable initiatives to strengthen and integrate those programs? In other words, how do we strengthen our outreach efforts for the benefit of every type of library?
How can we demonstrate to the myriad communities we serve the contribution libraries and library workers make to those communities? How do we help them recognize the even greater contribution libraries and library workers can make to their communities? What alliances can help us succeed in this? What approaches will resonate with policy makers and funding decision makers? How do libraries and our profession resonate with their values?
Rather than debate the reasons that library workers’ salaries are not comparable to those of workers in other fields requiring similar education, talents, skills, and knowledge, let us just take as a given that our salaries are not comparable. Several years ago ALA created that ALA-Allied Professional Association: The Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees. One of its purposes is to advocate for better compensation for library workers. Success in this effort depends, in part, upon getting ALA-APA on a stable fiscal footing. It depends ultimately upon the recognition by policy makers and budget decision makers at all levels of government and at all levels of our educational system that libraries and their employees make a significant contribution to the vitality, future prospects, and economic prosperity of their communities.
The need to get people’s attention so we can engage and hook them on the value of libraries and the effort to improve compensation for library workers are inextricably linked.
Please visit www.jimrettig.org for more information. | 
