They say Council I, but technically it's day 2 (or 3)

Between the bylaws draft informational meetings, the membership meeting, the bylaws convention, and now Council I, it feels like I'm being gaslit into believing this is the first "real" meeting of ALA Council. They act like if you don't vote on something, it doesn't count. My calendar and hours I've had to block off says, yes, ALA, it does.

Now for a brief overview of the meeting before the meeting that's they're still trying to call the first meeting (we're up to 4 now).

ALA-APA Council Meeting

I feel like each time APA starts their report they spend the first two minutes reminding everyone they exist and what they do. Now I gotta say it. APA (Allied Professionals Association) is technically a separate entity from ALA. And it's separate in the legal and business sense but really they're like an offshoot or extension. APA develops the Librarian Salary Survey that is free to all ALA members and library workers. They have a post-MLS certification program and library support staff certification program which you can learn more about here. There's also of course their social media pages, but honestly their last Facebook post I found was from 2018 and their Twitter feed is no better. I actually forgot I followed them. Granted most of the organization is made up of volunteers and one staff member, so if you want to help, I'm sure they'd appreciate you reaching out.

Now onto the official Council I meeting

• ALA Executive Director Tracey Hall gave a breakdown of the Executive Board's actions since ALA Annual last year. This included:

  • A clause added to the Resolution in Support of immigrant rights to include undocumented immigrants and refugees.

  • A subcommittee of the Committee on Diversity was created called the Working Group to Condemn White Supremacy and Fascism as Antithetical to Library Work was created (geez that's a mouthful).

• The Executive Board candidates were announced and will be speaking Sunday at the Executive Board Candidates Forum.

Membership Committee

• The membership committee worked on a newer model of membership, which they presented to Council with the additional market research. This was interesting because it allowed for the cost of roundtable dues to be determined by your ALA membership type. I also found out that each spring the membership committee does a review and recommends any possible increases to the Executive Board as long as they don't exceed the consumer price index. The motioned for this practice to continue for the next 5 years, to which Council agreed.

• They said that they would need more time than expected to implement this, so Council voted to approve a timeline extension to the 2025 fiscal year.

• The Round Table dues structure is as follows:

  • All personal members $15

  • Student memberships $5

  • Organizational/Corporate memberships $30

• Many shared concerns about retirees and international members, which prompted an amended proposal which would make the cost free for students and international members and small increases for other member types. Others worried it would financially damage roundtables who use their dues to pay for things like journal publications and scholarships.

This discussion is a very long debate of whether a person is for or against something and their reasoning why. It's one of the things that makes council tedious because, depending on the motion, there has to be someone to say "enough" and call the question (end the debate and force a vote).

• That was shot down and so was the amended proposal, however there was an adjustment to offer free International Relations Roundtable membership to international members. The motion was passed.

• There was also a motion passed that among this change, that ALA assist with transition to the new roundtable structure with a subsidy if there is over a 2 percent loss in revenue (they would lose their spot on council though. On the flip side if there's significant membership growth in membership, they gain an additional spot on Council).

Committee on Organization

• An motion to modify the charge of the Information Technology Advisory Committee was passed. As well as a motion to modify the composition of the Code of Conduct.

BARC (Budget Analysis Review Committee)

• A formal vote to provide virtual access permanently to all during membership meetings.

Committee on Education

• The Committee presented a revised ALA Core Competencies, taking into account recommendations from American Association of School Libraries as well as webinars for additional input.

Then the meeting came to a close with an updated registration count of 2,622, with 1,700 registered (I assume that's the in-person count). Not a bad day 2, but don't fret. There's one more day of Council, so check back soon.