Kansas ALA Councilor: ALA Council III Seattle

ALA Council III – Seattle

Memorials, Tributes and Testimonials are as follows:

Memorials:

Audrey J Taylor

Phyllis Young

Tributes:

Honoring the Library Service Act

Honoring US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi

Dedicated to the American Institute of Architects

Appreciation for ALA’s Support of the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color 2006

Honoring ALA/AASL Member Pauletta Brown

Recognizing the Centennial of American Libraries

Honoring the 50^th Anniversary of YALSA

Honoring Spectrum’s 10^th Anniversary

A special resolution from the California Library Association recognizing Past President Michael Gorman for his long service and especially his leadership during the Katrina disaster was presented to a standing ovation.

There was significant discussion about a bylaws issue where there was a conflict in wording. The issue revolved around the ban of members serving on nomination/election committees while they were running for office. Council was not satisfied with the wording proposed as it raised more questions rather than answering them. Council is very concerned about the appearance of impropriety and conflicts with professional ethics. The wording was referred back to the committee for further work with the expectation that we would address it again at annual.

Kent Oliver reported from the Intellectual Freedom Committee with no action items.

Committee on Legislation reported on a number of items, perhaps most significantly that six EPA staffers spent four days at conference talking with different committees and groups of ALA to address concerns and issues of libraries. It was felt this was extremely productive discussion and hopefully will bring some positive resolution to this situation.

Resolution in support of “Orphan Works” legislation

Resolved, that the American Library Association urges members of the US Senate and the US House of Representative to introduce legislation to amend the Copyright Act to facilitate the use of “orphan works” if the user has made a reasonably diligent, good faith search to locate the owner of the work but was unable to find the owner.

I voted for this resolution. The resolution passed.

Resolution in support of Immigrant Rights

Resolved, that ALA strongly supports the protection of each person’s civil liberties, regardless of that individual’s nationality, residency, or status; and be it further

Resolved, that ALA opposes any legislation that infringes on immigrants’ rights to use library resources, programs, and services on national, state, and local levels.

This was amended to read: infringes on the rights of anyone in the USA (citizen or otherwise) to use library services…

I voted for the amendment. The amendment passed .

I voted for the resolution. The resolution passed.

Resolution affirming the Role of Libraries in Providing E-Government and Emergency services

Resolved, that the American Library Association urge governments at all levels to acknowledge and support the essential role local libraries play in providing e-government and emergency response/recovery services, as well as include libraries in relevant legislative or other policy actions; and be it further

Resolved, that the American Library Association encourage continued research documenting library needs and capacity to provide effective e-government and emergency response/recovery services, and help libraries develop best practices and train staff to deliver these essential services.

I voted for this resolution. The resolution passed.

We passed a resolution allowing the Executive Director to make grammatical and other cosmetic changes to resolutions once they have been passed. We had some cases where names of committees and offices were incorrectly cited.

Resolution to appoint ALA representative to US Committee of the Blue Shield

Resolved, that the ALA supports the appointment of an ALA representative to the US Committee of the Blue Shield.

I voted for this. The resolution passed.

As a point of information, the US Committee of the Blue Shield was established with the mission of protection of cultural property during armed conflict.

Report from Eli Mina, ALA Parliamentarian regarding evaluation of how the council is working and how we could improve.

The resolution regarding the relationship with the Boy Scouts of American and ALSC will be reviewed by the ALSC board and reported back to council at annual conference in Washington, DC.

Resolution on accessible digitization projects

Whereas, ALA Policy 54.3.2 states that “Library materials must be accessible to all person, including people with disabilities” Therefore be it resolved that the American Library Association strongly encourages all libraries engaging in digitization projects to create versions of all materials that are accessible to persons using screen-reader or other assistive technologies, based on Section 508.

Resolved that this resolution be forwarded to the Institute of Museums and Library Services, state library agencies, the Digitization Council and all ALA units and committees.

Motion to refer this resolution to ASCLA for a report at Annual Conference for a better explanation to help everyone understand the issue properly.

I voted to refer the document for improvement. The motion to refer passed.

There was discussion of the delay in receiving information about the extremely early bird registration issues for conference. They are looking at different arrangements and how to make the process easier.

Several councilors expressed frustration at the timing and process for everyone.

The Council was adjourned for this conference.

Kansas ALA Councilor

ALA Council III Seattle

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