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Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

  • 1.  Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:02 AM
      |   view attached
    Hello Councilors,

    As Loida noted in her message yesterday, the ALA Executive Board met on July 20, 2018 and unanimously voted to allow an on-line vote of Council on the Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).


    Discussion of this resolution will now proceed in this ALA Connect space from Thursday, July 26 through Thursday, August 9. 
     

    On Thursday, August 9, discussion will close and the poll will open. ALA Council will then proceed to an electronic ballot and vote on the resolution via Connect poll from August 9 through August 16. The ALA Governance Office staff will provide a link to the poll which will only be open to Councilors. Please note that this is not an anonymous poll as people's names will be associated with their votes the way they are in open Council meetings. The results of the vote will be announced on August 17.


    As a reminder, for an on-line vote to be valid, at least 50 percent of Councilors must participate. According to the ALA By-laws, approval of the resolution in an electronic vote requires a 75 percent majority of those voting Yes or No.

    The resolution is attached here for reference.




    ------------------------------
    JoAnne Kempf
    Dir/Office of ALA Governance
    American Library Association
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    Attachment(s)



  • 2.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:12 AM
    Will Council have an opportunity to see the draft revision of the Interpretations by the IFC working group before we vote?

    Chris Corrigan
    Councilor At-Large

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    Chris Corrigan
    Digital Reference Librarian
    Library of Congress Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
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  • 3.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:15 AM
    Good point Chris.  Let's make sure we are all looking at the same document.

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    Christine Hage
    Director
    Rochester Hills Public Library
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  • 4.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:23 AM
    The vote would be on the resolution to rescind the 2018 interpretation approved at Annual. the IFC working group would not be bringing forth a revised document until 10/1/18 per the resolution and the announced timeline of the working group.

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    Ed Garcia
    Library Director
    Cranston Public Library
    ALA Executive Board
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  • 5.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:25 AM
    I still would like to see the exact wording of what we are residing.


    Christine Lind Hage
    Director, Rochester Hills Public Library
    Division Councilor, United for Libraries
    500 Olde Towne Road
    Rochester, MI 48307-2043
    248/650-7122

    The E's of Libraries®: Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Empowerment, Engagement






  • 6.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:25 AM
    The motion being voted on is to rescind and refer to IFC working group with an October 1 deadline. That's the text of the motion at the top of this discussion thread. The Draft Interpretation won't come out until October, so no we won't see the draft interpretation before the vote on this motion.


  • 7.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 08:41 AM
    Thanks for clarifying, Aaron. To be absolutely clear, this is the version Council approved at Annual 2018, which is currently in effect, and which the motion at hand would rescind:

    http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/meetingrooms

    If the current motion passes, we would revert to the 1991 version, which was in effect until Annual 2018:

    https://alair.ala.org/handle/11213/1622

    Then the IFC working group would draft their new revision and share it by 2018-10-01, which presumably we'll vote on at Midwinter after further revisions.

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    Tyler Dzuba
    Councilor-at-Large 2016-19
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  • 8.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 01:11 PM
    Is there a process in this electronic forum for proposing amendments? If so, what is that process. I wish to amend the second resolved.

    Thanks.

    Michael Golrick

    ------------------------------
    Michael Golrick
    ​​​ASGCLA Division Councilor, 2018-2021​
    ​ASCLA President, 2016-2017
    ​also, ALA CT Chapter Councilor (97-03), ALA EB (03-06), ALA Councilor at Large (06-12)​

    mailto:michael.golrick@gmail.com
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 01:39 PM

    I need to check with Eli on this. He's copied here.

     

    Eli – can you weigh in, please.

     

    Fyi – I will be on vacation tomorrow and unable to work with this until Monday.

     

    Thank you.

     

    JoAnne Kempf

    Director, Office of ALA Governance

    American Library Association

    50 E. Huron Street

    Chicago, IL  60611

    312-280-3212

    1-800-545-2433 ext. 3212

    312-280-5014 (fax)

    jkempf@ala.org

    www.ala.org

     

    image001.png@01D2FA4B.95EA09C0

     

     






  • 10.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 01:56 PM
    Hi, all,

    Thanks, JoAnne, for arranging for the ALA Council community on Connect to be publicly viewable! For all: April Hathcock made a short link to this discussion. (And thanks to those who tested access!) Please distribute to any who would want to follow Council's discussion: https://tinyurl.com/Meeting-Room-Discussion

    I've seen so much engagement from non-Councilors and non-members on this topic, and I'm glad we're having this discussion in the open. Remember, this discussion and the way we have it isn't just inside baseball: it affects library workers in all corners of our field, and it also is informing whether non-members ever want to engage with ALA and whether members want to stay involved. (See, for a couple of examples, Kate Deibel and Amelia Gibson.) If we're serious about ALA remaining relevant, we need to embrace what we hear from all parts of the library community.

    Back on the topic of the resolution itself: I'm strongly in support of rescinding the new interpretation and letting the IFC working group bring back a new version that we can consider and debate properly. Like a lot of you, I missed the crucial change in the flurry of activity at Annual, and I'm sorry about that. Moving forward, I plan to be more careful and thorough in reviewing potentially-revised documents, even ones we expect to be straightforward.

    I hear what a lot of councilors and members have said in the last couple weeks: supporting free expression is important, and it's hard, if not impossible, to pin down an objective and universal definition of what hate speech is. Intellectual freedom is one of our profession's fundamental ideals.

    That's all true, but it's not the point here.

    When I talk about "hate groups" and "hate speech", I am referring to groups and speech that intend harm. (I'm trying to find the Twitter thread from someone a week or so ago who gave me that language, but it's evading me.) Hate speech isn't just words: words mean things. In this case, we're talking about words that threaten the physical safety and question the human validity of our patrons and our colleagues. That's not a well-intentioned disagreement about ideas. It's harm.

    White supremacist groups and other groups that intend harm are fundamentally antithetical to our patrons' and our colleagues' safety, and to our notions of intellectual freedom. They're not in our spaces or our social media feeds to have a friendly dialogue and exchange of ideas. They're there to assert their dominance and to enact exclusion and elimination of all groups that stand in their way.

    I'm a rule-follower. I like when we can set up structures that we all agree to and abide by. It comforts me to know what the system is and to navigate it, even if I disagree with the system. Most of our profession is this way, and members of Council especially. We'd like to think that if we set up a consistent system of rules and rights and interpretations that can't be used against us, then we're safe.

    But we are not safe. Groups that intend harm do not operate like that. The rules are less important than their mission, and we cannot believe they will operate nicely just because we let them use our spaces to discuss their plans and beliefs.

    The broader topic of intellectual freedom is complex and nuanced, sure. But the question of whether libraries should enable the endangerment of vulnerable segments of our communities is not complex. We should not, because we should value the safety and humanity of the communities we support, both among our patrons and among our staff.

    Also: while all this is crucial for us to consider, for the resolution at hand, this is still not the point right now.

    The issue at hand is whether to rescind the interpretation approved at Annual and to let IFC proceed with drafting a new version, which we (Council) will then debate and amend and hopefully eventually approve. The amount of debate that has happened after what we assumed was a routine vote proves that we as Council need to do better and give this interpretation the time and debate it deserves. I would urge all of you, whether or not you're OK with the interpretation as it stands, to vote to rescind so that we can all give this issue proper consideration and continue the conversation rather than shutting it down.

    Thanks, all.
    -td

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    Tyler Dzuba
    Councilor-at-Large 2016-19
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  • 11.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 02:02 PM

    I am in support of rescinding the initial interpretation and working on a rewrite. I wanted to share this morning's WaPo article of interest in this conversation in that it included wording that may be of interest in the meeting room rewrite:

    "Tinker leaves no doubt that this requires tolerance of 'controversial' opinions or 'unpopular' viewpoints," Barnes's lawyers wrote in the complaint. "School officials may not suppress student speech based on the 'mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint' or 'an urgent wish to avoid the controversy which might result from the expression.'" 

    I like that there is no use of the "hate speech" related terms. 

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/07/25/a-student-was-suspended-for-wearing-a-border-wall-shirt-it-cost-the-district-25000-and-an-apology/?utm_term=.82c9c409924d&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

    Dorcas Hand
    Councilor at Large



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    Dorcas Hand
    School Library Advocate
    Houston TX
    www.studentsneedlibrariesinHISD.org
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  • 12.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 01:58 PM

    Dear colleagues and comrades!
    I appreciate that we are having this discussion and hope that Councilors will vote to rescind the interpretation approved in New Orleans and affirm the IFC's formation of a working group to collaboratively address the issues with language that have emerged since Annual. I will be voting in support of the resolution.

    I think it is important to note the IFC's interest in working toward a new draft for Council to review. The committee has heard concerns from some Councilors and from many in the membership that the language needs review, and has agreed to work toward this revision. We are not being asked to vote on the particular language right now--that will certainly require more deliberation. Voting YES on this resolution allows the IFC to move forward with a working group that has already been developed. 

    I hope you'll join me in voting YES on this resolution. 




    ------------------------------
    Emily Drabinski
    ALA Councilor at Large
    Coordinator of Instruction
    Long Island University Brooklyn Campus
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  • 13.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 02:38 PM

    I will be voting yes.
    JP, NMRT councilor.

     

    JP Porcaro, MLIS

    Director, Free Public Library & Cultural Center of Bayonne

    697 Avenue C, Bayonne NJ, 07002. Office: 201.858.6972

    American Library Association
    Presidential Candidate,
    2016-2017


    EveryLibrary Senior Advisor

     






  • 14.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 02:13 PM
    I too speak in favor of voting YES for this resolution. Its scope is intentionally very narrow, focused only on the rescinding of the meeting rooms interpretations passed by Council in June 2018. Voting YES will not be to accept a new revision. The new language is still being worked on by the IFC's working group. They will present us with new language that we will discuss and vote on at a later time.

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    Melissa Cardenas-Dow
    Sacramento State University
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  • 15.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 02:30 PM

    Many Councilors have seen this blog post regarding the resolution. I am reposting here since the discussion is available to non-councilors as well: https://katieanderson.camden.rutgers.edu/2018/07/16/remove_hate_from_interpretation/



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    Julie Dietzel-Glair
    Freelance Writer and Library Consultant
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  • 16.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 02:51 PM
    I echo Emily, Melissa, and others in speaking in support of this resolution. It is narrow enough to allow us to start over and have an in-depth discussion of new language that better reflects all of our values.

    And as a note, I didn't create the tiny url for the discussion, that was all JoAnne. Thanks, JoAnne and Executive Board for making a virtual vote possible. And thanks to IFC for responding so quickly and working so diligently on this issue.

    April Hathcock
    Councilor-at-Large

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    April Hathcock
    Scholarly Communication Librarian
    New York University Libraries
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  • 17.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Jul 26, 2018 05:11 PM
    DISCUSSION HAS BEEN MOVED HERE: 

    https://tinyurl.com/Mtg-Room-Discussion-new-URL



    ------------------------------
    JoAnne Kempf
    Dir/Office of ALA Governance
    American Library Association
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  • 18.  RE: Resolution to Rescind Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2017-2018 ALA CD#19.6_62617_act).

    Posted Aug 09, 2018 11:44 AM
    Hi, all,

    Before this thread is closed, I wanted to make sure that there was a publicly-accessible version of the discussion on this resolution. Since the ALA Members community is restricted to ALA members, but the ALA Council community was opened up so it can be viewed without a login, I've attached PDFs of the two relevant discussion threads that weren't publicly available; that way, any interested parties can see the discussion that happened there. (Apologies for the wonky formatting!) 

    Thanks, all!

    -td

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    Tyler Dzuba
    Councilor-at-Large 2016-19
    ------------------------------