I have been an ALA member for more than thirty years. During that time I have had the privilege to serve ALA and three of its divisions through various committee assignments and elected positions.
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| My most significant contributions to ALA have been: | |
| Expanding participation opportunities for members | |
| • | While I chaired the Committee on Organization the committee examined opportunities and policy implications for members to participate in ALA electronically. We held open hearings and brought to Council a series of policy recommendations to expand opportunities for members to serve on committees as “virtual members.” Council adopted these recommendations. I was never sure whether or not these issues were in COO’s purview, but somebody in ALA had to address them—and we did! Work remains to be done to expand meaningful opportunities for members to participate in ALA. Expanding opportunities for ALA members to participate in and contribute to ALA will be a major emphasis of my presidential initiatives. |
| Positioning ALA publishing for the future | |
| • | While chair of the ALA Publications Committee I developed policy proposals to assure that ALA is a player in electronic publishing and that ALA will archive e-publications created throughout the association. Council adopted these policies. |
| Transparency in governance | |
| • | As a member of the ALA Executive Board I assured that every meeting concludes with a review of actions taken and a plan to communicate those promptly to the Council and the membership at large. |
| • | As a member of the ALA Executive Board I proposed that ALA’s contracts for professional services be formally reviewed annually. As a result, the Executive Board annually evaluates arrangements such as ALA’s contract with its legal counsel. |
| • | As a member of the ALA Executive Board I drafted a report identifying options for new procedures to bring recommendations of candidates for Honorary Membership to the ALA Council. The new procedures, first followed for 2007 candidates, grew out of this report. Council now learns the candidates’ names prior to the Midwinter Meeting and has the opportunity to submit additional information about the candidates before voting on them. |