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.

The Committee on Organization gave it’s report and noted that new Library Boing Boing member interest group has had an impact on ALA’s membership. I’ve got to admit I know nothing about this group per se, but it sounds different, so maybe I ought to find out. Anyway, things have been quite civil so far, but something tells me that the fun will begin tomorrow at Council III. There is a resolution on the Tucson Public School controversy about the removal of a program and it’s textbooks. Also, there is a resoultion on discrimination against libraries by publishers when it comes to non-book media. There could be some additional resolutions brought to us, that haven’t been mentioned, so we’ll see how it all goes. Anyway, I’ll continue to tweet at @rsruss67, for those that use Twitter, and I’ll try to update my blog, when I get a chance. Until next time…

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

Went to the Chapter Relations Committee meeting at 1:30PM. Some of the items that were discussed include the possibility of an ALA/Chapter membership renewal system. It was presented by John Chrastka from AssociaDirect. Ideally, the startup costs would be subsidized by ALA and the maintenace costs would be split between the chapters. This is still in its infancy, so there is more work to do before we have something definite to look at. They were just gauging interest for the project at this meeting. Hopefully, we’ll have something more concrete by ALA Annual. We also had a report from Kevin Reynolds, the Executive Board representative (as well as the ALA Councilor from Tennessee). He informed us about the registration numbers so far, which is 4,823, which is less than 5180 last year, in San Diego. He also mentioned that the Digital Content & Libraries Resource Group is working toward filling out their subcommittees. Some areas include Accessing Digital Content, Generating Digital Content, Accessibility Issues, among others. Hopefully we’ll see some of the results from this group in the months to come. The Associations of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations (ALTAFF), is working on a joint membership with chapters. I’ll report more once I have definite information. ALTAFF is also working on a campaign to publicize their grouop for Library boards and friends groups. More information can be found at www.ala.org/altaff or by emailing altaff@ala.org. The committee is encouraging state chapters to do a library snapshot day, in order to not just publicize library efforts locally, for advocacy, but also nationally, for National Library Legislation Day, which is April 23 & 24, in Washington, DC. Anyway, that was pretty much the gist of this meeting.

On another note, I did run into Bill Barnes, one of the Unshelved cartoonists, and he told me that he really enjoyed our Centennial conference and was treated quite well and would love to come back someday. Makes me proud that we did such a good job not just in having a good conference, but also in dealing with outside speakers and making them feel welcome.

At around 5PM I got into my room and I found only one light that was working. At first I thought that was strage, since everything was plugged in. But, as it turns out, you have to put your room key in a slot, in order to run most of the electricity. Besides the one light the TV and the clock/radio, do work without the room key, and the TV was on when I walked in. I admit, I’ve never had that happen to me before, although I got the imrpession that it wasn’t by accident. Talk about mixed signals. After unpacking, I did go to Texas Spice, one of the restuarants in the hotel. Food was pretty good, I had a half free-range chicken with dumplings. The dumplings did have a little kick to them, as I thought they might given the name of the restaurant, but it wasn’t too hot. There were probably other items that were spicier. Anyway, that’s it for now. Tomorrow, after breakfast, I have an Arkansas meetup to attend to (at 10:30AM at the Network Uncommons in the Convention Center). I may try to visit a few vendors tomorrow as well, if not, then maybe Sunday. I’ll see where it fits in best. Also have a Chapter Relations Committee meeting at 1:30PM as well. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway, that’s it for now.