[Publib] ALA Annual Conference 2007 -- Notes (Part 1)

[Mary Donley]

James,

Just curious, why do they always have midwinter in
cold places, and annual in hot places?  I went to
midwinter once in San Antonio and the weather was
nice.  Who would want to go to Philadelphia, Boston
or Chicago in January?!!  Not this Texan anyway.

Just wondering who figures these things out.  Maybe
the same people who name the hurricanes!  I am
currently not a member of ALA so I enjoyed your
report.

Mary

--- James Casey <jcasey at oaklawnlibrary.org> wrote:

> (I can send it as an attachment in Word on request.)
> 
>  
> 
> AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE -
> Washington, D.C. June
> 20-27, 2007.  Notes by James B. Casey
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> This Annual Conference in our nation's capitol set a
> record attendance.
> Registrations for this ALA Annual reached 28,635 and
> surpassed even the
> previously established high of 27,962 set in Chicago
> in 2005.
> Washington more firmly outpaced the three other
> recent Annual
> Conferences --- 2006 in New Orleans (16,964), 2004
> in Orlando (19,731)
> and 2003 Toronto (17,482).  This is the first time
> since January 2001
> that ALA has held a Mid-Winter Meeting or Annual
> Conference in our
> nation's capitol and it will not be returning until
> 2010.  Future
> Mid-Winter Meetings (January) will be held in
> Philadephia (2008), Denver
> (2009), Boston (2010), San Diego (2011), Dallas
> (2012) and Seattle
> (2013).  Future Annual Conferences (June) will be
> held in Anaheim
> (2008), Chicago (2009), Washington, D.C. (2010), New
> Orleans (2011),
> Anaheim (2012) and New York City (2013)  
> 
>  
> 
> Oak Lawn Public Library Trustees Marian Sullivan and
> Rich Gast continued
> their active service on ALTA (Association of Library
> Trustees and
> Advocates).  Technical Services Department Head
> James E. Baker gathered
> information on innovations and procedures through
> attendance at valuable
> LITA and ALCTS programs during the conference. My
> wife, Diane Dates
> Casey, finished the second year of her three-year
> term as Division
> Councilor for the Association for Library
> Collections and Technical
> Services (ALCTS) and participated actively in
> Council Sessions as well
> as attending a special ALCTS National Conference
> concerning trends in
> Technical Services on the 50th Anniversary of the
> establishment of ALCTS
> (1957-2007). As Division Councilor, Diane sits on
> the ALCTS Board of
> Directors and its Executive Committee.  I completed
> my third term (and
> tenth year) as a Member At-Large of ALA Council and
> began my fourth term
> (2007-2010) at the end of this Conference. 
> 
>  
> 
> TOUR OF THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL
> LIBRARY.   I was pleased to
> receive a very thorough tour of this facility by
> Department Head Paul
> Mills.  This building serves as the "main library"
> for the huge District
> of Columbia Public Library and its dozens of
> branches.  I was especially
> interested in observing the steps taken by the
> Librarians in the Popular
> Library and Youth Services Departments to market
> their collections and
> make the spaces as "user friendly" as possible.  I
> noticed that the vast
> majority of shelving in the Youth Services
> Department were no higher
> than 4' and thus reachable by the youngest of
> patrons.  Although
> challenged for space and suffering declines in
> circulation, the
> Librarians are working very hard to correct the
> problems and may be
> looking forward to a move to a new facility in
> downtown Washington in
> years to come.
> 
>  
> 
> VISITING CAPITOL HILL:  Locating the Congressional
> Offices proved to be
> fairly simple and the Metro System was both fast and
> inexpensive.
> Congressman Lipinski's office was kind enough to
> arrange a tour of the
> House offices and the chambers of Congress for me. 
> Interns Carrie
> Gilbert and Sarah Pittenger were ready for my
> arrival at the
> Congressman's Washington Office (1717 in the
> Longworth House Office
> Building).  I also visited the Offices of Senators
> Durbin and Obama in
> the Hart Senate Office Building.  I left my card at
> these offices and
> was told that aides specializing in education and
> library legislation
> will be in touch.  
> 
>  
> 
> ALA WO (Washington Office) ALA COL (Committee on
> Legislation) Assembly:
> Although not a member of this Committee, I was
> permitted by Molly
> Fogarty (Chair of COL) to sit in and listen to
> updates on key issues
> facing the Library community during the 110th
> Congress. --- First,
> however, it was announced that the veteran ALAWO
> Legislative Counsel
> Miriam Nisbet is leaving ALA to assume a major
> leadership position at
> UNESCO and will soon be moving to Paris, France.  We
> were sorry to lose
> her services, but pleased at her promotion.  - 
> 
> The FY 2008 Labor/HHS (Health & Human
> Services)/Education Appropriations
> have received much support in Congress, but some
> provisions could face a
> Presidential Veto if funding for Stem Cell Research
> is included.  LSTA
> (Library Services and Technology Act) State grant
> program funds had been
> restored to the $171.5 million originally set by
> President Bush.  ---
> Rep. Grijalva (D-AZ) has added language to a House
> Bill that would
> include include MLS librarians along with teachers
> under a provision for
> $5,000 in "discretionary loan forgiveness" for
> Perkins educational loans
> as long as the librarians in question are serving in
> a poverty area
> (designated "area of national need".  --  NCLB (No
> Child Left Behind)
> reauthorization has seen efforts by library
> supporters in Congress to
> establish a definition for "Highly Qualified Library
> Media Specialist"
> and set a goal for at least one such media
> specialist to be employed in
> every single public school receiving assistance
> under this act.  
> 
>  
> 
> Among the many legislative initiatives reported at
> this meeting were two
> bi-partisan bills that would enhance important open
> government laws,
> including the Freedom of Information Act, the
> Presidential Records Act
> and whistleblower protections.  ---  The Freedom of
> Information Act
> (FOIA) Amendments of 2007 HR 1309 introduced by Rep.
> Clay (D-MO) with
> two co-sponsors, includes reforms to reduce backlogs
> and delays in
> responding to FOIA requests; provides incentives for
> agency compliance;
> and in general, strengthens FOIA.  (Passed 308-117).
>  The OPEN
> Government Act of 2007 (S. 849), introduced by Sen.
> Leahy (D-VT) and
> Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) with nine co-sponsors, is similar
> to HR 1309 and was
> reported out of the Judiciary Committee in April
> 2007.  
> 
>  
> 
> Librarians wishing to keep up to date on the latest
> issues before
> Congress should note the following sites:
> http://www.ala.org/washoff
> for ALA Washington Office.    http://www.ala.org/ogr
> ALA Office of
> Government Relations.  http://www.ala.org/oitp.  For
> the Legislative
> Action Center updates and to learn how to help ALAWO
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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