ALA participation

[Dorothy Day]

On Thu, 17 Jul 1997, Burt, David wrote:
 
> I
> have been an ALA member since 1992.  From 1995-1996, I served on the
> LITA Research Committee as an Intern.  This experience of "contributing
> elbow grease " did not particularly impress me as a means of brining
> about global change within ALA.  The important committees usually take
> years to get on, and then, you only represent one single voice.
> 
> I don't have years to spare to work my way up the ALA pecking order.
> The filtering controversy is happening now, not slowly developing over
> years.  Sitting in a hotel conference room with 12 other people and
> complaining about filters does not strike me as an effective way to
> promote my agenda.
> 

Sigh. "I want to make a difference, and I want it now." Sorry, democracy
involves long participation, working with others, and accepting that we
all have a voice, but just one voice each. To make a difference, we have
to join with others and work for the desired change. If we can't
persuade enough others to bring about that change, maybe we aren't
listening ourselves. The notion that one impassioned person should have
the power to change things without building sufficient support is a
trifle self-important. I won't draw historical parallels...

*****
Dorothy Day			
School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University
day at indiana.edu	
*****
"I was brought up to believe that the only thing worth doing was to add to
the sum of accurate information in the world."  --Margaret Mead