I’ve been explaining for years that ALA Council is broken, and even suggesting how to fix it. If Council is too darn busy to hear from a member on an issue he knows something about, that just underscores everything I’ve been saying.
Aaron Dobbs has run for Council twice, and lost. I look at some of the people who won, and I am sorry, it must be said: it is time to move aside and let some new voices be heard. Aaron has established a wiki to change ALA, and he is planning to run for Council again. I endorse his candidacy for ALA Council and only wish I could run with him.
I have some other comments about ALA this-and-that but I’m waiting for a report back. I also have a conference “best and worst” post, but today I was working on deadline, and it had to wait. Soon, soon!
Posted on this day, other years:
I’ve voted for Aaron twice. Don’t give up, man. I’ll vote for you next time, too!
–Annie
Hi Karen, thanks for the plug. In case folks haven’t seen a link to the Improve ALA wiki, here it is: http://improveala.pbwiki.com/
Annie, and all of you fabulous folks who’ve cast a ballot for me in the past, thanks for your vote. I’m told I’ve been nominated to be a candidate in 2008 and if successful this year, I will work to Improve ALA by implementing fixes to what’s broken.
If you have opinions on what needs fixed with ALA, let the world know on the Improve ALA wiki!
ALA Council’s voting process is broken: people vote for candidates from the long, long list only because they recognize their names. It’s no longer based on who is more qualified, but rather who is more known. And if ALA Council is broken, it is only because ALA as an organization on the whole is broken. It needs to be fixed, and some of those of us who want to fix it are just too tired of trying with no results.
Sarah, it sounds as if we’re on different bandwagons… mine is “ALA will change whether it wants to or not.” I respect your decision not to get involved, though it would be very helpful to know where your own efforts yielded no results, so we can push harder with renewed vigor.