[Publib] Library Education, was:Jobs and People

[Robert Balliot]

That is great marketing for ALA.  You can find those same arguments in many
pyramid <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme> schemes too.
Unfortunately, it is not 'simply' a choice.


R. Balliot
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com



On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 12:07 PM, Dale McNeill <dale.mcneill at gmail.com>wrote:

> What professional association doesn't require members to "pay" to be
> involved?  None that I'm aware of.
>
> ALA and most other library associations are a bit different from other
> professional associations.  In general, they're cheaper to join.  Membership
> is not required for jobs.  And anyone can join who is interested in
> libraries.
>
> But the association is nothing more than its members and their ideas.
> Sure, it takes time to make changes.  And, believe me, I can find plenty of
> fault with ALA.  For far more years than I've been in management, I was a
> librarian working on the floor providing direct service.  I didn't go to
> conference every year, but I did go many years.  It's quite possible to
> attend ALA, have a low-paying job, and have other financial
> responsibilities.  It's simply a choice.  Many of my friends and collegues
> choose not to be involved with ALA and that's fine.  Many others choose to
> be very involved and that's OK too.
>
> My basic point was that it will do more good to talk to the Office on
> Accreditation or to one's local library school dean about professional
> education for librarians than to *only* talk about it here on pub-lib.
> Naturally, it's usueful for us to discuss among ourselves as well.
>
> There's certainly no charge to comment on the Standards blog.
>
> And, while I have no doubt that there are library directors who can be
> characterized by the below, I'm happy to say that I'm not acquainted with
> any of them.
>
> Regards,
>
> Dale
>
>   On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Robert Balliot <rballiot at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ALA needs to do much, much more with activities that are not based on pay
>> to play.
>>
>> The cost of  ALA effectively gears the organization to the needs of
>> executives. If
>> you can get time away from work, afford housing, transportation,
>> membership fees,
>> committee membership fees you get to participate. So, the interests of
>> Directors
>> and Vendors are well represented in committees.  It really is a stretch
>> for everyone else.
>>
>> During the past ten years, the profession has steadily eroded. But, until
>> this budget
>> year it was not the executives or vendors facing cuts, it was everyone
>> else.  Snip
>> the budget here, cut a position or benefits there and you might even
>> receive a
>> bigger raise than the year before.
>>
>> First they came for the support staff, and I said nothing since I was a
>> Director
>>
>> Then they came for the catalogers, and I said nothing since I was a
>> Director
>>
>> Then they came for the reference librarians, and I said nothing since I
>> was a Director
>>
>> Then they started closing libraries down altogether, and I went to a
>> committee meeting since I was a Director
>>
>> R. Balliot
>> http://oceanstatelibrarian.com
>>
>>
>>
>>   On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Dale McNeill <dale.mcneill at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>>  Hello all--
>>>
>>> I would encourage any of you interested in the currently proposed new
>>> Standards for ALA Accreditation to visit
>>> http://www.oa.ala.org/accreditation/
>>>
>>> Also, the Office for Accreditation is always seeking public library
>>> volunteers to serve on External Review Panels for Accreditation.  You can
>>> volunteer at
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.ala.org/ala/educationcareers/education/accreditedprograms/resourcesforerp/index.cfm
>>>
>>> Panelists are not required to be ALA members.  There is training offered
>>> before each Annual Conference; however, you don't have to be registered for
>>> the conference to attend the training.  It's been very useful to me to learn
>>> more about the Standards, how they are implemented, and to be a voice for
>>> public libraries in the process of accreditation.
>>>
>>> Please note that because the Office for Accreditation must plan visits
>>> many months in advance and because each panel can have only one new member,
>>> volunteers generally don't serve right away.  So, it's well worth filling
>>> out the form even if you know you won't be available right away.
>>>
>>> Warm regards,
>>>
>>> Dale
>>>
>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/dalemcneill
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Publib mailing list
>>> Publib at webjunction.org
>>> http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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