[Libs-Or] Should the Executive Director of the American Library Association Be a Librarian?

[Diedre Conkling]

 Should the Executive Director of the American Library Association Be a
Librarian?
(Direct link to the article: http://libr.org/srrt/news/srrt201.php#9 - the
links to more information work on the newsletter site.)


Should the Executive Director of the American Library Association Be a
Librarian?Submitted by Diedre Conkling, SRRT Member and Patricia Glass
Schuman, former American Library Association President

This November 2017, the ALA Council reversed this long-standing policy and
said: "Maybe not." Now we have a chance to stop this profoundly mistaken
policy change on the Spring 2018 ballot.

Many of us strongly disagreed with this drastic change in policy and were
shocked by this first ever and sudden email vote of Council reversing a
policy they had recently reaffirmed. We began a Membership petition to put
this issue to the entire ALA Membership and successfully garnered enough
signatures.

Here is the question that will be proposed to all ALA Members on the ALA
Spring 2018 ballot:

*Should the following policy be restored?*

...the ALA Executive Director should hold "an ALA-accredited Master's
Degree or a CAEP-accredited Master's Degree with a specialty in school
library media." (ALA Policy A.4.1.1)

It will take a majority vote of 25 percent of the membership to reverse the
Council vote. In other words, between 11-12000 people will have to vote,
and fifty percent of those voting will have to vote to reverse Council's
decision.

*PLEASE VOTE!!* We need the quorum and we need your vote!

This question is critical to the image and substance of our profession.

The ALA Executive Director (ED) is the continuing face of the Association,
regarded by many as one of the most visible librarians in the world. While
the President of ALA is a crucial spokesperson, the ED provides the
continuity of image. We have fought to have a librarian lead the Library of
Congress. We fought to install a librarian as the Public Printer. We are
dismayed when Directors of major libraries are appointed without library
degrees. ALA must set the standard.

ALA is the largest conference sponsor, publisher, lobbyist, think tank,
standard setter, and membership organization for librarians.

We have a librarian as the Librarian of Congress who demonstrates on a
daily basis the importance not only of the Library of Congress but the
importance of libraries and librarians everywhere. The other strong
national voice must be that of the librarian who is the Executive Director
of the American Library Association.

The Search Committee — after a short few months — declared the search
"failed" and asked Council to reverse itself. But a search for an Executive
of the caliber we need often takes a long time. Surely there are excellent
candidates from among the more than 100,000 librarians in the United States!

The latest ALA Council email vote eliminating the degree requirement is
technically legal, but highly unusual. Council voted in January 2017 to
retain the requirement after extensive discussion. Keith Fiels, outgoing
ALA Executive Director, stated that he felt the degree was essential to the
job.

After the first search for a new Executive Director did not produce someone
the Search Committee wanted to recommend for the Executive Director
position, ALA Council held its first-ever online vote on any subject. They
overturned this library degree requirement policy on November 20, 2017 and
changed the library educational requirements to preferred instead of
required.

Our December 2017 petition to reverse this vote was signed by many ALA past
officers: Presidents, Treasurers, Executive Board Members, and even several
Honorary Members.

Now it is up to YOU. Stop the devaluation of the library degree, our image,
and our reality. VOTE to restore the library degree and ask all of your ALA
colleagues to vote too. We must have a quorum.

Below are selected comments from leaders of our profession, including a
former Executive Director. The resolution may be found here:
http://connect.ala.org/node/270959. The discussion may be viewed here,
http://connect.ala.org/node/270833. Again, the discussion is worth reading.

*Robert Wedgeworth*, Ph.D., ALA Executive Director, 1972-85:
"I have watched with interest the debate over whether the next ED for ALA
should have an MLS degree. While I have always believed that talent and
experience are more important than credentials, there must be a reason that
the CEOs of the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association,
and the American Nursing Association all are managed by professionals in
those fields.

The ALA ED manages a sizable publishing house, maintains an influential
office in DC, and manages a sizeable staff and financial assets, but there
are specialists to Head each of those areas. While it is not required for
the ED to have an MLS to be successful, the members expect that person to
understand the issues, values, and concerns that affect their lives.
Without that credential there is just a higher hill to climb to be
successful.

Perhaps we are focusing on the wrong question. There are many reasons why
Executive searches fail. But we should be concerned with whether we
searched far and wide for viable candidates. It is hard to believe that
with all the talent in our field we cannot find an outstanding candidate to
be ALA CEO."

*The late U.S. Representative Major Owens (D-NY)*, our first librarian in
Congress, said:
"On more than one occasion I have dreamed that a spaceship from some
advanced civilization on another planet has landed and that the ship's
captain has disembarked uttering the words: 'Take me to your librarian.'
"In future civilizations," observes Owens, "the word 'librarian' just might
become synonymous with the word 'leader.' The assumption in Owens' dream is
that our visitors from outer space have already evolved to this point "and
have for a long time been guided by beings who know how to create,
maintain, and utilize a vast array of databases to solve problems of all
kinds; generalists who have mastered the encyclopedic approach to
problem-solving consistently have been the leaders of modern
societies."" (*What
Else You Can Do With A Library Degree*, Neal-Schuman)

*Madeleine Charney* <http://connect.ala.org/comment/84512#comment-84512>
said:
"How can we lose such faith in ourselves as a profession? Keeping the
requirement is imperative for maintaining integrity, holding to our deepest
values, and showing the next generation of librarians that there are high
places for them to strive toward."

*Bernadine Abbott Hoduski*
<http://connect.ala.org/comment/84545#comment-84545>:
"ALA accredits library schools and should honor those graduates by hiring
an accredited librarian for ED. Librarians have many skills and many have
managed large complicated organizations and are capable of managing ALA. We
will also not have to waste valuable time in educating a non librarian
about our issues. The next 4 years will be difficult and we need someone
who knows our issues and has worked on the front line in libraries."

*Carolyn Caywood* <http://connect.ala.org/comment/84573#comment-84573>:
"One point I have not seen is the trust that ALA staff and members must
have in the Executive Director in order for that person to be effective.
Having a MLS will not guarantee that trust, but not having the degree will
open every controversial decision to questions about shared values and
principles. I have certainly seen that happen in the 46 years I've been a
member of ALA and I don't want to see an Executive Director hampered by
constant questions because he or she is not really one of us. Therefore I
urge that the MLS remain required."

*Michael Gorman* <http://connect.ala.org/comment/84520#comment-84520>, Past
ALA President:
"I am strongly in favor of requiring an MLS (and actual library experience)
of an Executive Director. Making a requirement optional is, in effect,
abolishing the requirement.

The relationship between the ED and the Presidents, Executive Board, and
Council can be hard enough without having to deal with someone with a
completely different set of experiences, value system, and outlook. I
shudder to think of some non-profit corporate fundraiser, lobbyist, or,
even worse, IT person as ED."




-- 
*Diedre Conkling*




*Lincoln County Library DistrictP.O. Box 2027Newport, OR 97365Phone & Fax:
541-265-3066Work email**: **diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org*
<diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>
*Home email: **diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change
your attitude.”―Maya Angelou
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