ALA Council: Part II

This was a long day, a very long day. Sure, there are some that will think, it's a library conference and a bunch of people sitting in a room talking. Clearly, those people have never been to an ALA Conference, let alone an ALA Council Session.

Thankfully, this conference has an administration that seems to want to mix things up and have a little fun, like with our test vote we do at the start of each session. Instead of the usual, "coffee is the preferred winter beverage," someone decided to keep yesterday's animal theme going with changing the vote to "counselors are strongly encouraged to share pet photos during meetings." I don't have pets, so I couldn't vote yes. (Ah, the sacrifices of being a renter).

Now onto the meeting...

Intellectual Freedom Committee

Being the first to speak that day, they acknowledged what they called "a tsunami of book challenges." Between June and December, over 1,200 book challenges were reported. Banned Books Week 2022 had unprecedented pushback, with the Office of Intellectual Freedom receiving reports of libraries and schools being discouraged from having programming on banned books on account of it being "too controversial." If the people making these claims bothered to look closely they would have found libraries celebrating community. The full Intellectual Freedom Committee Report can be found here.

Committee on Legislation

The committee gave an update on events since annual, sharing their public policy agenda pushing to secure continued federal funding for libraries, and encourage an increase in funding in the legislative spending bill. In October 2022, the Right to Read Act was introduced, which would ensure that students, school educators, and librarians would be protected from the dangers of censorship currently being faced today. The Adult Education WORKS Act would also help to increase funding for adult education and adult education programming in libraries.

While it still has to be voted on, it faces a few obstacles in 2023 including the Parents Bill of Rights and the Stop Sexualization of Children Act. This is both a direct violation to a patron's right to privacy and an attack on library programming. This committee expects these bills to gain traction and we have an uphill battle ahead. So if you haven't done so, sign up for ALA's Advocacy List and follow on social media @uabookbans and @librarypolicy

• Now, can someone do me a favor and make a post on Fake Library Statistics showing that the majority of people behind these bills also were reading Flowers in the Attic that they probably got from their own parent's collection?

Committee on Diversity

In their report, the committee spoke of their new subcommittee was formed on condemning white supremacy. It's still in it's beginning stages though. They are still seeking people looking to join, need to select a chair and establish an official charge.

ODLOS and Library Services to Special Populations (LSSPS) are updating the 2017 standards and Guidelines for Service for the Library of Congress Network of Libraries serving the Blind and Physically Handicapped. This will be a long process and collaboration with the National Library Service (NLS) that could take up to 2 years to fully implement.

Policy Manual Committee

A number of resolutions were brought to the council floor, including:

• A motion to insert to the ALA Policy Manual as The DEI Scorecard for Library and Information Organizations was passed.

• A resolution was also passed to insert into the policy manual language to support School and Youth Services librarians increased intellectual freedom challenges.

• Finally a motion to put in Policy Manual Resolution to promote EDI Efforts in the American Association of School Librarians while addressing historical effects of racism was passed.

ALA Treasurer's Report

The treasurer reported that the Association did better than expected in the last fiscal year, being able to pay out credit it had received. It provided the results of the first quarter of the 2023 fiscal year and Council took a vote and accepted the Budget Objectives as a basis for the 2024 Fiscal Year budget and planning framework.

Freedom to Read Foundation

This report like the Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Committee on Legislation shows just how much we have to fight against censorship.

• Next month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gonzales v. Google, LLC. This is a lawsuit claiming that Google played a part in the death of Gonzales's daughter through YouTube videos. The Freedom to Read Foundation has joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation in an effort to preserve the immunities provided by Section 230, which provide protection to libraries, archives, and educational institutions when they provide access to online resources that facilitate the free and open exchange of ideas and information on the internet.

• In Virginia Beach, an attempt to ban Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury from schools, bookstores and libraries failed as authors, booksellers, publishers and the Foundation came together in legal defense of the petitions, which the judge dismissed. I gotta admit, this is the first time I've heard of someone taking a book challenge so far to have it banned from Barnes & Noble.

The report ended with encouragement to join the freedom to read foundation and if possible, consider donating to the ALA Merritt fund as applications for financial assistance due to unemployment or legal action in direct response to censorship are higher than ever (in the past they received maybe 1 a year, right now we have 9).

Affiliate Request for LiteracyNation, Inc

The Executive Board forwarded the application for providing affiliate status to LiteracyNation, Inc. LiteracyNation Inc, is a membership-driven organization for diverse authors with a focus on self-published authors and their networks. Several councilors came to the floor in support of this action, some with direct experience with the organization. The motion passed.

Resolution on Human Rights & Freedom of Speech and Expression in Iran

Two words...morality police. Once I heard that, I was up for supporting in any way I could.

The resolution would, among other things, support efforts providing resources, tools, educational materials, and other forms of assistance that help Iranians and Iranian librarians. It's a lengthy one but there was no debate, the motion passed. For the full details, see the resolution here.

Resolution on Revising the Code of Conduct to Include Online Activity

Technically there's already a section on online conduct, but this one refers more towards ALA Connect, not specifically conferences or meetings, which is what this covers, specifically online bullying. This resolution would make changes for conferences and meetings to include harassment towards participants. A small amendment was made and after some discussion because there's no way we could have a council meeting without a debate, the motion was referred to the Executive Board to review.

New/Additional Business

Finally a motion to refer was made so that the Committee on Organization (COO) work with past ASGCLA Board members and the Constitution and Bylaws Committee to review an error is the dissolution of the group (apparently the order of the votes was wrong). I would like someone to explain to me what's the big deal and why it matters so much. This is yet another problem of not being there in person. Nobody to answer my dumb questions. Anyway, they will review and report back at Annual 2023.

The Council meeting ended reasonably on time and with a final count of LibLearnX attendees at 2,653, of which 1,711 were regular, paying registrants and the rest vendors, exhibitors, press, staff, etc. How many like me attended virtually, you ask? 190 signed up for the digital experience. I don't know how significant that is in the grand scheme of things, but was it worth the almost $400 price tag? I'll let you know in a few days when I have my digital experience recap.

Spoilers: It was not. I watched a few recordings that were posted over a month after the conference but haven't touched that link since, whereas I would have pages upon pages of notes from sessions if I was in person. It was a blip in my professional development experience and confirmed I just paid for the Council voting access.