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  • 1.  Bylaws Amendment Questions - Articles V and XIV

    Posted Jan 21, 2023 11:33 AM
    Brian, Aaron, and other esteemed member leaders, I have two questions: 

    1. There are six comments within the PDF of the Bylaws draft 4, and the comment adjacent to the first section of Article V, Executive Board, states:

    "Composition of Executive Board revised per affirmative vote of Council CD#36 as amended, Transforming ALA Governance, Annual 2022.

    Changes to this Section should be raised at/with Council. It is not within the purview of C&B to change."

    Please confirm that proposed amendments to Section 1 regarding the size and composition of Executive Board should be submitted instead as a Council resolution. 

    2. I do not have recent experience with the online motion amendment form. I believe the last time I submitted a motion amendment, it was hand-lettered on parchment. The lone example within the motion amendment form itself is for deletions. Are there examples for how to present substituted language within the motion form? If, to use a hypothetical example, a Councilor were to propose renaming the Committee on Committees to the Committee on Board Nominations (Article XIV, Section 5, and passim), how would strikeouts be represented? I can wing it with a homegrown solution that should be clear enough, I just wondered if there were recommendations or examples. N.b. I did consult the guidance page on resolutions, https://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/council/resolution_guidelines , and also skimmed a couple of the instructional videos. 

    Finally, I note that the motion amendment form, pressed into use for proposed Bylaws amendments, puts submitters of proposed amendments at a slight disadvantage to the crafters of this draft (however fine a draft it is!). Unlike the resolutions framework, there is no place in the motion amendment form to provide justifications for the proposed amendment, which in a resolution would appear (sometimes at great length...) in the "whereas" clauses. There is nothing wrong with the motion form per se, because proposed motion amendments nearly always comes up in the context of live debate, where the context is clear. I realize a Councilor can work around this by sharing informal drafts of proposed language among likeminded colleagues (as can be inferred from Aaron's earlier guidance) as well as using the Council list and other Connect lists to share thoughts on proposed amendments. It's just something I have observed as I prepare my amendments (or one proposed amendment and one resolution, as I suspect is the case). 

    In advance appreciation of your response,

    Karen G. Schneider
    Writing strictly in my role as...
    ALA Councilor at Large







  • 2.  RE: Bylaws Amendment Questions - Articles V and XIV

    Posted Jan 21, 2023 05:08 PM

    'Afternoon, Karen and Councilors!

     

    1. No, this amendment process is what you would use to "raise with Council" changing V.1.  I.e., let us know specifically what you recommend  should be changed in the Bylaws.

     

    1. In the form, councilors have been stating [in brackets] what should be added or deleted. BTW, I know you were only speaking hypothetically about XIV.5, so just FYI, the Committee on Committees also advises on Council Appointments not just EB Nominations.

     

    Looking forward to seeing you next week! My best, Brian S.

     

    Brian E. C. Schottlaender

    Chair, ALA Constitution and Bylaws Committee

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    Principal, re:work library consulting

    University Librarian Emeritus, UC San Diego

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    BECS@ucsd.edu

    https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0011-8810

     

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    BecSceB@gmail.com

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  • 3.  RE: Bylaws Amendment Questions - Articles V and XIV

    Posted Jan 21, 2023 05:52 PM
    Brian, thanks so much for the additional guidance. 

    Karen G. Schneider
    ALA Councilor at Large