Dear Council Members,
As you may be aware the Transforming ALA Governance Task Force was appointed by President Patty Wong in August of 2021 following on the work of the Forward Together Resolutions Working Group which disbanded at the end of ALA Annual in June of 2021.
Our charge: To a) indicate and operationalize the culture changing principles of the Avenue M report, SCOE recommendations, the Forward Together work, and a new governance landscape, b) establish a regular governance review process, and c) assess the larger governance change-management projects and tasks that need to be addressed and create a plan to address them.
The TAG Task Force has been meeting regularly since late August. Our mission is to identify the work that needs to be done to transform governance based on the feedback from ALA members, Council, and ALA leadership over the past 4 years. We are approaching the charge by taking a high level look at governance from structural, functional, and cultural perspectives. Our mission is driven by a desire to make ALA governance more effective, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of libraries and library workers.
Much of the work is not easy to capture in a few paragraphs in terms of "what we've been up to." But, please know that we are working away. By LibLearnX in January, we will be bringing you a timeline for moving ahead in the transformational process including procedural considerations and a plan for better membership engagement in governance. We are also working on recommendations regarding the culture and effectiveness of Council that can begin immediately regardless of Council's future make up or size.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have at this time. I look forward to communicating with you as the process evolves.
Best,
Amy
Amy Lappin
Transforming ALA Governance Task Force Chair
ALA Councilor-at=Large
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Amy Lappin
Deputy Director
Lebanon Public Libraries
She/Her/Hers
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