[WEB4LIB] Resposne to American Library Association = Worthless! (LONG)

[Sue Kamm]

I've been an ALA member since 1976, and like GraceAnne, I am on Council.  There
was a time when I felt the local library associations were more worthwhile than
ALA.  Not anymore, at least in California.

With ALA, I get a well-written, well-edited professional journal; a conference
whose programs address issues that affect front-line librarians; and the
opportunity to see a broad range of new products and services from vendors.
(Betty Rosenberg, who taught acquisitions at the UCLA School of Library
Service, stressed the importance of exhibits to her students.)

When you say you want ALA to be more proactive in helping Joe and Jane
Librarian, do you envision the association as a collective bargaining agent,
like the National Education Association?  We can look at other professional
organizations such as the American Bar Association and the American Medical
Association.  I don't believe either of them acts as a bargaining agent for its
members.  (IIRC, the AMA recently came out in favor of having doctors join
labor unions, but not that the AMA fulfill that function.)

The association is working on defining standards for professional competence,
including new definitions for accreditation.  I think it is perfectly
reasonable for ALA to say, for example, that librarians should know how to
catalog materials using the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules; they should be
able to develop selection and acceptable use policies; and they should be aware
that the profession has a code of ethics and a bill of rights for librarians
and library users.  These standards could form the basis for a local collective
bargaining contract.

If your state or regional association provides a good journal, relevant
conference programs or continuing education activities, and access to a broad
range of exhibitors, great.  Everyone needs to consider where s/he gets the
most bang for their buck.  Mine happens to be ALA.

--
Your friendly CyberGoddess and ALA Councilor,
Sue Kamm
email:  suekamm at class.org
If this Nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our
destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good
books in more public libraries.  These libraries should be open to
all--except the censor. ... For the Bill of Rights is
the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.
--John F. Kennedy.