The ALA election season is upon us (electronic polls open and paper ballot mailing begins) on
March 16 and polls close on April 23, 2010. We wanted to find out a bit more about the two ALA
presidential candidates, so we asked them to provide us with an answer, for the PLA blog, to the
following question: “What two challenges are most critical to public libraries today and
how can ALA and PLA help public librarians meet those challenges?” Their responses are
below.
Sara Kelly Johns
http://www.skj4ala.com
TWO CRITICAL CHALLENGES TO PUBLIC LIBRAIRIES
The two most critical challenges to public libraries today are: adequate funding and
technology’s demands.
1. Adequate funding – It is critical for a strong and successful public
library to receive adequate funding. We all know the economy has gone sour. That puts libraries
in direct competition with all other government services. We need to create a strong core of
advocates to speak loudly for us through conscious, deliberate and continuous marketing and
public relations. Libraries, librarians and trustees need to be forceful in their efforts to
secure adequate operating revenues. It may mean placing a proposition on a ballot for a first
time, lobbying with elected officials, and/or organizing grassroots campaigns for support. ALA
and PLA have been in the forefront of working with librarians and trustees on advocacy. We must
strengthen our efforts as professional leaders and as the professional organization for all
librarians. We need to tell our stories about successes using libraries, the
“people’s university.” ALA and PLA need to be able to get down to the
grassroots – through regionalized programs, webinars, interactive learning via our
websites, whatever delivery method we can utilize. We need to make it easy for all libraries to
access the needed information to secure their needed funding.
2. Technology – Technology is a challenge that is both exciting and
frustrating. Libraries struggle to keep up with in-house needs and user demands. Insufficient
bandwidth issues are increasing as users place more demands on library service. New applications
give us pause – RSS feeds, blogs, Facebook and Twitter and whatever’s
next place – and place increased demands on staff. We must address basic
computer needs as well as services like Millennials and teens who want reference answers texted
to them. ALA and PLA can create organizational synergy so that each division can create
meaningful professional development, with LITA and LLAMA and other divisions to provide common
solutions. There are tremendous opportunities for cooperation and I believe it’s time to
work collectively to especially keeping libraries at the forefront with technology. The expertise
is there and ALA and PLA can deliver it.
Molly Raphael
http://mollyraphael.org/
What two challenges are most critical to public libraries today and how can ALA and PLA help
public librarians meet those challenges?
To address the two most critical challenges facing public libraries, we must transform the
public’s perception that libraries are “nice to have” to the perception that
“libraries are essential for learning, essential for life” (on par with police, fire,
education).
1. Funding. We face significant differences in funding challenges from previous recessions; many
believe we are seeing permanent changes in the availability of future tax dollars. Even when the
economy gets better, local and state governments’ efforts to raise revenue may never reach
previous levels. Some ways ALA and PLA can help include:
· Launch a national colloquy on funding models, by convening a national summit and then
developing strategies to replicate this dialogue at state and local levels;
· Partner with organizations like OCLC that report important research on public library
funding;
· Expand our efforts to encourage library users to tell their stories about the
life-transforming power of libraries;
· Develop and advocate for national library funding legislation, just as with the recent
funding efforts for broadband technology and jobs growth.
2. Managing in a rapidly changing environment (especially information and communication tools).
Libraries must move rapidly to stay relevant. Some ways ALA and PLA can help include:
· Help libraries build diverse staffs which reflect community demographics, by investing
in retention as well as recruitment;
· Continue investment in leadership development and change management, linking these
programs to diversity efforts;
· Promote innovative, forward-thinking solutions to technology challenges (e.g. new
service delivery models) and funding constraints (e.g. leveraging technology to increase
productivity and introduce new, powerful management tools);
· Introduce programs to facilitate the reconfiguration of staff to integrate the skills of
librarians with the needed skills from related professions;
· Promote professional education programs for existing staff to sustain proficiency in a
rapidly changing environment;
· Expand opportunities for information sharing with e-learning and social networking
tools;
· Build collaborative across ALA units and with external entities to assist libraries in
making difficult choices to discontinue services (e.g. PLA and LLAMA’s Public Relations and
Marketing Section for managing change). In closing, I ask for your vote.
Visit http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/alaelection/index.cfm
for more information about the 2010 ALA elections.
Recommandations
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and reject those that you are not interested in
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