Since I’m between meetings, I thought I’d take some time to add to my blog. My next meeting is at 8:30PM, so I have a little time to write. Last night’s dinner was a ribeye steak and Bob’s Steak and Chop House, tonight it is texas wrap sandwich. After yesterday, I feel like I needed to consume less food, so I went a little lighter. The steak was quite good, but I can’t afford to eat that every night. 
While I was buying my sandwich, two ladies, who seemed quite inebriated, asked for my sandwich. But, I told them that this is my dinner and I can’t afford to give away my food on a librarian’s salary. While I thought of saying some other things, I felt as though I should just leave it at that. Oh well, I guess it could be worse.
Today was the Information Meeting for the ALA Executive Board and Council followed by the ALA-APA Council meeting, and finally Council I. There is a White House School Libraries petition and we need to get something like 14,000 more signees by Feb. 4. If you’re the type to support school libraries, please sign the petition. You can find it at http://wh.gov/Wgd. It is a good opportunity to keep school libraries in the national consciousness. Attendance at MW among attendees are slightly lower than in San Diego, 6288 this year as opposed to 7194 in San Diego. As far as the ALA budget goes, total revenues are at 9.7 millon dollars, while expenditures are at 10.4 million, for a variance of $747,715. I guess this is not unexpected and is consistent with revenue projections and how things have gone since the 2008 recession. You can find out more about the buget cycle and ALA finances on the ALA YouTube Channel. Just look for the ALA Financial Learning Series set of videos. ALA election time is coming up soon, and the ballots should be available online by March 19. The balloting will close on April 27 and the results should be available May 4. I always implore people to vote, since this is your Association. There will be plenty of biographical material available, once the voting starts. Anyway, I’ll step down off my soapbox now
