LISNews: Librarian News

Hi All,

Last week I vacationed at ALA prior to a visit with my Dad. I've written up a few sessions over at Free Government Information.

It was great to meet people and match names to faces and to hook up with people that I'd previously met at govdocs conferences that I don't get to any more.

But it was just so big! I missed so many people that I would have liked to have met. And then I had to pass up invites for things that would have involved 4 hours plus driving (hi Stephen K).

Will I spend another vacation at ALA? Perhaps, but not certain. Especially since I owe my VERY supportive spouse a traditional vacation (i.e. not programmed with colleagues) sometime soon.

Booker Prize winner Anne Enright is just one of the authors who talk about their favourite libraries on Library Ireland Week's website at www.libraryirelandweek.ie. Joseph O'Connor talks about his time at the NYPL while John Boyne says he prefers books to the net.

If you don't read LITA-L you've been missing out on some classic legal decisions. On Wednesday 2 list members posted links to pages about Lawrence Lessig running for congress under the subject "Lawrence Lessig for Congress?" One was Lessig's campaign page, the other, a pointer to the Facebook group "Draft Lessig for Congress." There were no follow-up messages, there was no discussion, nothing more than 2 list members pointing to a few web sites under a subject that ended with a question mark. 7 hours later, LITA-L readers were told to:

"discontinue this discussion. Our legal counsel has advised that "the Internal Revenue Code prohibits ALA from supporting or opposing a candidate for public office. Treasury regulations define the phrase "candidate for public office" as meaning "an individual who offers himself, or is proposed by others, as a contestant for elective public office.""

Most surprising, this message closed with this warning:

"I will be removing all messages on this topic from LITA-L. Please do not continue this discussion."

By now you're probably thinking of all the lawyer jokes you know, but don't finish that thought! The punch line came yesterday afternoon:

"And then in today's American Libraries Direct, which is surely more directly connected to ALA as an organization than lita-l, we see a similarly informational blurb, "Lessig considers a run for Congress" -- Read More

It takes a leader to face the reality of change; especially to face it, embrace it, and look for fresh views from people who might have some insights on how things could or should be - instead of being focused on how things are and why they should stay the same. A week or two ago, Jim Rettig — you know, the incoming ALA President — asked two sets of questions on NMRT-L. Leadership and Change is Aaron the Librarian's BIG answer.

Inevitably the people governing an organization are those who already know how to use the organization; just as we librarians are always trying to look at libraries with “new eyes” and make our libraries open and easy for the people coming in for the first time, its great that you as incoming president seem to be taking the time to try to step back and see ALA through the eyes of a “new user.” Like many a freshman student seeing a university library for a first time, I’m looking at ALA and seeing something that is enormous and filled with a lot of intimidating stuff that I really have no clue as to the value of, and very few clues on where to start trying to figure out how to make it most useful to me. So far, this NMRT list seems to be the closest thing to inviting and helpful signage that I’ve found!