Hello Councilors,
I'm writing on behalf of the Working Group to Finalize and Implement ALA's Online Code of Conduct. This standardized Online Code of Conduct will apply to ALA Connect, blogs and websites, social media, and other channels across ALA. This Code of Conduct will replace any and all existing codes/guidelines we use for our online channels.
The goal of this new Code of Conduct is to address incidents in a consistent and transparent manner, replacing the many existing codes and practices currently in place across the association. The Working Group has built the draft for the new Code of Conduct using existing sources within ALA (such as the Spectrum Scholars Guidelines) as well as examples from other groups (including Tor Project, Mozilla, and Geek Feminism). The Group now wants to collect community input in order to clarify and strengthen the Code before finalizing their draft.
Please give feedback in this Google Doc before May 21st: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mlhn2YJM7pwON9yxAwW23un1oHjoENtvUHFdjxRgi2Q/edit?usp=sharing
Comments may be posted anonymously (if you're not signed into a Google account) or publicly (if you're signed into a Google account).
The Working Group invites input from any library workers or users of ALA's online spaces. The group will use this feedback to finalize the new Code of Conduct prior to the ALA Annual Conference, where they will make a request to the Committee on Organization (COO) to approve the creation of a standing committee to oversee and implement the Code going forward, that will go to ALA Council for final approval.
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Marsha P. Burgess
Council Secretariat
American Library
Associationmburgess@ala.org------------------------------