ALA Bylaws Convention

hpvandyne
Jan 28, 2023
4 min read

Updated: Apr 6, 2023

Now this meeting was dedicated to one thing and one thing only, hammering out the details of the fourth and final draft of the ALA Bylaws. I have to say, even over Zoom you gotta hand it to President Pelayo-Lozada for trying to get people pumped up for such an unexciting task.

The Constitution and Bylaws Committee chair shares the final changes. Of which the main issues are the executive board composition and council authority. There are two amendments, which proposes either specific appointments of representatives designated by different areas of the Association and its affiliates, or a different model that has spots for ALA Councilors and staff only.

Executive Board

After they went over the articles that nobody seemed to have a problem with, probably just to say "we talked about it" and get it out of the way, we moved onto the debate:

When the Executive Board composition article was brought up, the reasoning by those who submitted the amendment believed in having appointments outside councilors "to ensure we're not an echo chamber."
There was a recommendation to remove the last sentence as Executive Board members aren't there to represent their round table or division, but the overall Association. This seems like it would be a direct election from those groups though, just like a chapter councilor is chosen by their state.
- One thing to know, whenever a council member speaks, they really take their time figuring out what to say before actually taking to the mic or even unmuting on Zoom. If you look closely in the recording, you'll see them reading notes from one device or another.
This concerns some that see the possibility of an executive board full of people who wouldn't have any experience of how ALA governance works. Executive board members become automatic councilors upon election. If they were already on council, then their term is extended.
- A little background: ALA has around 50,000 members. The executive board has fiscal responsibilities and policy implementation.
The motion got defeated.

Sidenote: During the vote there was technical difficulties, which Lessa killed time by talking about her dogs, cat and chickens. Many chickens, which I now consider anyone with a bunch of chickens to be 2023 rich.

Once that got rejected, council moved onto the other amendment, which would have 4 officers, the immediate past president and 8 councilors on the executive board. I shared the concerns of those that spoke up, which is that it doesn't allow for the diverse representation that we want to see in the association and only offers opportunity for current ALA councilors.

The motion got defeated, therefore the amendment will be presented as originally written.

Article 6

Section 2A talks about council's authority to monitor and enforce all Association policies.

There's a concern that this is too big for council to take responsibility for and to take on. A councilor stated that charge belong in the policy manual but others are fully in support of this. It gave an impression of "we'll figure out the 'How' later."
- The motion passed.

Section 2E's proposal was that 50 Councilors-at-large shall be elected directly by the Association at large. The original version had the number down from 100 to around 18. This amendment changed the reduction of CaLs down from 80 percent to 50 and have a total of 148 in ALA Council.

A former Louisiana library association president in favor of the amendment said that many chapters have to find people and talk them into it whereas CaLs want to serve.
- A newer councilor came up, saying "this is why people don't want to be part of council because they'd hear this and think 'couldn't this time be used to fight for intellectual freedom or something?'"
- Shout out to newer councilors going up to the mic and doing it scared. I love it. Speaking up and making voices heard (even if its 185 of them) is what we need more of.
There was a small change where the number was brought in as a follow up amendment, 36 instead of 50. Meet in the middle. The reasoning being that it would be easier to rollout implementation as it's divisible by the 3 years it would take to make that shift and terms are also 3 years.
The section was passed with 36 Councilors-at-large, as amended.

Article 7, Section 5

This proposed changed would have all future meetings held virtually or in hybrid format (in-person and online).

There is concern on the financial impact of this and legal implications of the word "shall," which makes it mandatory. (The original version in the draft says that any meeting can be virtual, but doesn't mention hybrid meetings whatsoever).
Personally, I want all meetings to be hybrid so I can be there to serve even if I can't travel because of various reasons. Sadly, though, the motion was defeated, so now I will need to await to see what is decided about Annual.

Article 8

In section 1A, which talks about standing committees, this is a minute change to include the intellectual freedom committee. The motion passed.

I'm not going to lie, I missed most of the discussion surrounding this amendment because it was at that exact moment that everyone came home and decided they just had to talk and interrupt me. So this is one point against virtual attendance.