I subject myself to these meetings so you don't have to!

Well, the time has come earlier than usual for another ALA Council Meeting (also known as stuff we never got to in January because Transforming ALA Governance is making everyone feel some kind of way). Now that people had a little over a month to breathe and recover from LibLearnX, we have our virtual meeting on March 10th, thus taking a snow day to 3 hours of Zoom. You all are so lucky because here are the highlights....

Resolution to Support School and Youth Services Facing Increased Intellectual Freedom Challenges

First of all, I am relieved to know and happy to announce that this was unanimously passed because if anyone voted against it there would have been at the mercy of Library Twitter. The resolution, I thought, was very well thought out and detailed many of the struggles faced by librarians these days due to the work that we have chosen.

This commits to ongoing support for all children's freedom to read and access diverse books and information sources and reaffirms support of school librarians who currently face termination and/or prosecution. It encourages all ALA members to become more involved with intellectual freedom efforts within ALA and states that though it upholds a parent's decision and input of what only their own children read, ALA does not support parents dictating what other kids and families read.

Say it louder for the folks in the back.

And ways that we are supporting those facing all this heat from groups of people that don't want to trust the librarians to library include condemning intimidation of librarians and library workers in or beyond their place of work (we really don't want to be called pornographers or accused of brainwashing children while waiting in a checkout line) and defending librarians' professional responsibility. Then there was a plug about donating to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund for those facing financial difficulties due to their support of intellectual freedom. This was probably the fasted resolution that was passed and for good reason. Let us do our jobs! Why?

Resolution to Promote Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion (EDI) Efforts in AASL While Addressing Historical Effects of Racism

This one goes back to recognize the less than pleasant parts of the association's past, which as someone from the BIPOC community, I really appreciate. It takes a significant amount of time and research for multiple people to put these resolutions together, for which I'm grateful for.

The resolution acknowledges past inaction within ALA and lack of effort in supporting black librarians within the American Association of School Librarians and within ALA itself. I've actually been reading Freedom Libraries and the lack of support was very real. The resolution also states its commitment to prioritizing using an EDI lens in all aspects of work within AASL and ALA and to commit to promoting diversity in school librarianship in undergraduate and graduate programs and at school recruitment fairs.

This was the apology that I didn't realize that I needed, and the fact that the first three things it states is admission of wrongdoing, followed by formal apologies to Black librarians and the BIPOC school librarians in general. (*For those who don't know because I have been asked, but it stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color) There may have been some uncertainty as to why this was brought to council, but it matters and the motion did pass, albeit not unanimously.

Resolution Calling on the US Executive Branch to Drop Espionage Act Charges Against Julian Assange

I had to read this resolution more than once, but once the debate got going it turned into a long, slightly heated debate that make ALA Council meetings entertaining (don't worry, that feeling didn't last). Assange, a co-founder of WikiLeaks, published secret government documents, some of which included identities of foreign sources aiding US military abroad. This has quite a few people and organizations speaking up about what this means about press freedoms and the freedom of information debate is likely what brought it to us.

In the discussion, there was concern expressed about ALA's involvement and what it will look like, namely that we support him personally and excuse all his wrongdoings (Assange was accused of raping two women in 2010 but never formally charged). It was argued that "with librarians being called pornographers and putting our efforts to speak in regard to someone who is seen as a sexual predator will muddy the waters." That part said out loud practically guaranteed that this resolution was doomed. There was a big worry that this will backfire and weaken our own efforts among ALA to protect intellectual freedom."

"We've got no dog in this fight," said one ALA Councilor-at-Large.

It was also noted that there was no input or collaboration with ALA's Washington Office, Committee on Legislation, or Office of Intellectual Freedom. A motion to refer to ALA's Public Policy & Advocacy Office and the Committee on Legislation was denied. Then after one councilor noted that the resolution was not specific to freedom to publish before a call to vote was made. The resolution was defeated by a majority vote.

And the resolution that made ALA Councilors want to throw their devices out the window... Transforming ALA Governance (TAG) Task Force Organizational Structure

The one task force to dominate all. The one to turn a three hour meeting into a cluster of strong, unpleasant feelings on all sides. And the 15 minute break was nowhere near enough to be ready to deal with TAG. But the silver lining is that once this is voted on we can finally be done. So I criticized TAG's entire resolution because it wasn't just a resolution but a series of action items that was like it tried to soften the blow of stripping councilors, including state chapters like myself who represents Kansas, of their ability to vote on issues that affect the Association and policy. LibLearn X had TAG's whole package broken into several parts and the last one, we had to put off until now. So here's TAG's final action item in a nutshell, which prompted a debate style discussion with pros, cons, and several behind the scenes WTFs:

• TAG called for arranging monthly virtual council meetings until ALA Annual in June to continue discussion of its recommendations. *So I'm not to mad about that because that would be easier than having to carve out an entire evening in my already busy schedule.

• Implementing "Taking ALA Pulse" (TAP) as a method of bringing feedback and issues from ALA members, units and affiliates for Council's consideration in its role as a Body of Knowledge *This should already be happening but again, this is a concept that would allow for members to be heard, which I support.

• TAG develop a reduced size of ALA Council, functioning as an advisory body and proposed composition of a new ALA Executive Board *What has been argued about for about a total of 5 hours and 10 years off all our lives.

• TAG's taskforce stated that they would present measures promoting the culture for effective functioning of Council. *It sounds good, especially the concept of Councilor exit interviews, but I feel like there could be a catch.

• An amendment was proposed making council the policy making body instead of advisory. This had a lot of pushback from people in the structure groups that came before TAG like SCOE and FTWG. After one Forward Together Working Group co-chair called council a "hot mess," ALA President Patty Wong had to call people to order and remind us to be respectful as it was clear people were losing their patience and quite possibly the will to live.

• A big problem is that council meetings go on for a very long time because people got a lot to say and some can be a bit long-winded. One councilor-at-large said as much and was for a more streamlined model so prevent "putting off or stalling change."

• Former ALA President Betty Turrock was also at the meeting and urged councilors "Not to sacrifice the democracy that we fought so hard for over the years."

The proposed amendment was voted down so the original motion with ALA Council as an advisory body only was to be voted upon, which was passed by a very narrow margin.

What does this mean?

Well it means more meetings for me. It also means the Committee on Organization review the standing committee structure and charges in light of the new ALA Governance function, culture and structure. This also means that my and other councilor's voting authority to create change and make policy is now reduced to recommendations. This is the beginning of great change and within another year or two, there will be new bylaws that will be brought to the greater membership. In the mean time, I will finish my term trying to do the best I can for KLA and our librarians while I still have voting authority.

Glad you didn't have to sit through that?

Just wait for my next meeting recap where I tell the details on what I'm sure is going to be a lively discussion on the reduced size of Council. The Councilors-at-large are already fuming with the idea of working themselves out of a position.