Sorry that I’m posting this a little late. By now, you probably have some of this information in AL Direct, but, I’ll do my best to provide what I can, nonetheless. Council III was surprising in that it eneded two hours early. As a matter of fact, this was about as civil as I can remember Council being since I’ve been a member. That’s OK though. I’m not looking for conflict, so for the sake of conflict.
We spent the most time on the “Resolution on Publishers and Practices Which Discriminate Against Library Users.” This was adapted from a resolution that was passed by the New Jersey Library Association, and is based on the fact that some publishers are either not selling e-content or non-book media to libraries, or some are selling stripped-down content to libraries, or telling libraries how long an eBook can be checked out. There are many of us who noticed that this is a disturbing trend and felt like the American Library Association should take a stand. Some of the debate was on the language of the resolution and felt it was too strong and would hurt our standing with the publishers, since ALA Leaders are meeting with some of the larger publishers next week. Others, like myself, felt like the resolution said what needed to be said, and that the publishers should know how we feel about the situation, and we’re not happy with it, since it adversely affects our users. In the end, the original resolution passed, and President Raphael, will be able to address this next week with the publishers that they are meeting with.
The removal of educational materials in connection with the elimination of Mexican American Studies classes in the Tucson (AZ) Unified School District, was the subject of an action item in the Intellectual Freedom committee report. The resolution had the support of the five ethic cacuses as well as other ALA groups, and condemned the action. Most of the debate happened in various forums, so by the time it reached the council floor, it passed pretty easily.
There were several other reports heard and we did pass resolutions against the Research Works Act, SOPA and PIPA, and on the loss of crucial government information. We also elected three new people to the ALA Executive Board: Rob Banks, Kansas Chapter Councilor, Alexia Hudson, Pennsylvania Chapter Councilor (and an Emerging Leader alumna), and John Moorman, Councilor-at-large. All in all, I think we had a good meeting and I look forward to ALA Annual in Anaheim, CA.
