Miller, 'Introspection a la ALA', LITA Newsletter v15n02
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/lita/lita-v15n02-miller-introspection

V15N2.LITAPRES LITANEWS
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From the LITA President
Tamara Miller
 
Introspection a la ALA
 
WHAT DO WE, as LITA members, want ALA to become? Is ALA broken? Does
ALA Council serve a useful purpose? How can LITA best function under
the ALA umbrella? These and other questions have become the focus of
discussion as the ALA Self Study Committee, chaired by Bill Summers
(summers@lis.ssu.edu), moves through the process of evaluating the
American Library Association. A final report is expected at Midwinter
1995, six months ahead of schedule.
   The Self Study Committee commissioned a management study by Perloff
Associates before the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The Perloff report is
frank and to the point. It concludes that the chief problem with ALA
lies in its behavior, not its structure. While ALA's structure could
be improved, there is widespread acceptance that the organizational
culture of ALA needs drastic attention. The Perloff report points out
that a cadre of about one hundred member-leaders dominates the
organization, with little change in leadership over time.
   The Self Study Committee is surveying a large sample of ALA
members, all ALA state chapters, each ALA unit and each division. LITA
will submit its response in March along with the other ALA divisions.
   At open hearings during the ALA Midwinter conference, a cross
section of ALA members spoke in support of selected recommendations of
the Perloff report. Term limits for Council, the appropriate size for
Council, and the nature of the Council agenda were discussed. One
speaker echoed the complaint that ALA Council was "democracy run amok."
   Clearly, if ALA is going to serve its members well, it needs to do
its business in Council more effectively, focus more solidly on the
state of the library profession, and unify the divisions under a
shared vision. As some LITA members point out, ALA must make use of
technology to improve both conferences and communication with members.
In my view, too much of ALA's policy and practice promotes needless,
unproductive competition between divisions for revenues and members.
The divisions are beginning to work effectively among themselves, and
they should have a stronger role in the development of a less divisive
ALA.
   It is a healthy sign that ALA has undertaken this awkward and
sometimes painful self examination. Most ALA divisional issues were
placed at the end of the Perloff study on pages called the "parking
lot."      These were deemed outside the scope of the management phase of
the self study. Several speakers at the open hearings urged the Self
Study Committee to move those issues out of the parking lot and into
the main body of their final report.
   The Self Study Committee seeks to identify both problems and
potential solutions. You may wish to attend one of the self study
meetings scheduled for the annual conference. Please feel free to
contact the Committee directly or to send your concerns to me.--Tamara
J. Miller, millert @utkvx.utk.edu