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Barb Stripling for ALA President

http://www.barbstripling.net/

We are very fortunate to have two very highly qualified candidates running for ALA president. ALA has benefited from the many contributions of both Michael Gorman and Barbara Stripling. Both of them share core values I can identify with.

However, it is Barb’s candidacy I am excited to throw my weight behind. Barb Stripling has the poise, presence, and just-in-time ability to articulate ALA positions, we need in an ALA president. I think of this year, when ALA president Carla Hayden so ably responded to Patriot Act issues. Barb inspires a similar confidence in her ability to handle hot-button issues, from digital rights to classic censorship challenges.

It’s also good to see an ALA presidential candidate who is so up on technology. Barb is the first-ever ALA candidate to have a blog (and if the library press doesn’t pick this up, fie on ’em–this is a red-hot scoop). This means Barb understands the Web is a place not only for posting positions–which she does quite well–but for interacting with people. She “gets it” in a way we haven’t seen yet. Go see her blog, and post a greeting or question!

It’s almost funny to say this–because school librarianship is one of the few places I’ve never worked–but it’s also time we had someone with school library background in the ALA presidency again. Barb has a long background in this area, and it shows not only in her platform, but in her ability to connect with people and articulate issues related to young people and information access.

Barb Stripling is running on a platform called “Building Community.” This is a natural concept for her. She has an innate ability to cross type libraries and move across issues with grace and articulate diplomacy. We need her leadership! I hope you will join me in supporting Barb Stripling for ALA President.

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This was written by K.G. Schneider. Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003, at 10:33 am. Filed under Librarianship. Bookmark the permalink. Follow comments here with the RSS feed. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.