ALA Council

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  • 1.  Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 07, 2023 02:49 PM

    On June 7, the American Library Association (ALA) announced that Amy Lappin and Karen Schneider have been named to the ALA Executive Board. The full statement follows:

    Amy Lappin and Karen Schneider have been appointed by the ALA Executive Board to fill two newly created board seats. The vacant seats were formed upon adoption of the recently revised ALA Bylaws, which allows the Executive Board to comprise itself of 15 members (previously 13) as stipulated in bylaws Article V, Section 1. Lappin and Schneider will each serve two-year terms beginning July 2023 and concluding June 2025, in alignment with the board-approved staggering sequence established for continuity.

    Lappin is deputy director of Lebanon (N.H.) Public Libraries and has served on ALA Council since 2010. She has served as chair of the Transforming ALA Governance Task Force, chair of the Chapter Relations Committee, and as a member of the ALA Nominating Committee. She is also a member of the Public Library Association, Intellectual Freedom Round Table, and Sustainability Round Table. Lappin is a past president of the New Hampshire Library Association (NHLA) and has held multiple other positions within NHLA. She is an active member of the NHLA Executive Committee; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee; and the Bylaws Committee. Lappin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University and master's in library science from University of Rhode Island in Kingston.

    Schneider is dean of the library and interim executive director of the School of Extended and International Education at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California. She has served on ALA Council since 1997. She has also served on numerous ALA committees and round tables and is an active member of the Association of College and Research Libraries and Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, and Futures. Schneider holds a bachelor's degree in English from Barnard College in New York City, a master's in library science from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master's in fine arts from University of San Francisco, and a PhD in managerial leadership in the information professions from Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts.

    The ALA Executive Board manages the affairs of the Association. It is composed of a president, president-elect, immediate past-president, treasurer, executive director, and 10 members from among ALA Council. Visit the ALA Executive Board website for more information.

    For a direct link to the press release, click here.



    ------------------------------
    Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada
    ALA President, 2022-2023
    Adult Services Assistant Manager, Palos Verdes Public Library
    She/Her/Hers
    lessaforlibraries.com
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 07, 2023 06:35 PM

    Most excellent appointments. Congratulations, one and all!

     

    My best, Brian S.

     

    Brian E. C. Schottlaender

    Principal, re:work library consulting

    University Librarian Emeritus, UC San Diego

    --------------------------------------------

     

    BECS@ucsd.edu

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

     

    -----------------------------------------

    CALENDAR INVITATIONS TO:

    BecSceB@gmail.com

    -----------------------------------------

     

    619.298.9921

    858.245.5356 (m)

     






  • 3.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 08, 2023 11:52 AM

    Thank you for the information Lessa. Can you please explain how and why these two people were chosen and why Council was not invited to vote for these seats during our meeting this month?



    ------------------------------
    Erin Berman
    Division Director, Alameda County Library
    she/her/hers
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 08, 2023 03:02 PM

    Hi Erin,

     

    Thank you so much for the question.

     

    As you know, adoption of the revised set of ALA bylaws, created two new vacancies of the ALA Executive Board. To first address your question of why there was not an election to fill these roles specifically: Article 5, Section 5 of the ALA Bylaws states that Executive Board vacancies are to be appointed by the Executive Board: 

    "A vacancy in the elected membership of the Executive Board shall be filled by Executive Board appointment, and the person so appointed will serve until the following election."

    This indicates that this is not under the purview of Council, nor is there language for a special election. The board appointed a shortened two-year term to ensure future EB terms are properly staggered.

     

    To the second question, on "why these two people": Although this was a closed session discussion, I think it's important to share that as we move through understanding the machinations of the new board composition, the board considered multiple options based on their broad skills, experiences, and memberships across the association that complement and enhance the reach and scope of currently elected board members before making a final decision.

     

    I look forward to welcoming them during our Council meetings in June and seeing you all very soon either virtually or in person.

     

    All the best,

    Lessa

    --
    Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada
    |2022-2023 President, American Library Association
    |Adult Services Assistant Manager, Palos Verdes Library District
    |My pronouns are she, hers, her









  • 5.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 08, 2023 03:30 PM
    Based on the phrase 'the person so appointed will serve until the following election,' it sounds like the executive board has authority to fill vacancies until the next executive board election, after which they can be elected by council as normal to serve the remainder of the term. This is very practical, because otherwise a vacancy that occurs just after an election could result in a long period with a vacant seat while we wait for council to select a new candidate, and vacancies can limit the executive board's ability to do its job.

    If the executive board were intended to have the authority to fill seats long-term even beyond the next executive board election the wording would have been 'shall serve until the end of the term' or something similar. Based on my reading of the bylaws these terms should end at the same time as all other seats that are being filled at the next EB election and be filled with council-elected candidates at that time.





  • 6.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 08, 2023 04:28 PM
    Hi Tara,

    Thank you for the opportunity to discuss!

    Under advice of our parliamentarian we interpreted "until the following election" to mean the following election that aligns with the end of the term for the vacant seat being filled. 

    Since the Executive Board terms are staggered and these seats were created upon adoption of the revised ALA Bylaws the shortened appointed terms will be normally elected in 2025. 

    Lessa

    --
    Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada
    |2022-2023 President, American Library Association
    |Adult Services Assistant Manager, Palos Verdes Library District
    |My pronouns are she, hers, her









  • 7.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 09, 2023 02:58 PM
    Lessa,

    Thank you for continuing the discussion and providing further info. I love the choices. Amy and Karen are well suited for positions on the Executive Board. However, I don't agree with the start or ending date of their terms.

    These are Vacancy appointments. By definition those are temporary to fill a hole that couldn't be filled before the next election. They should start immediately upon appointment. (You wrote they would start at the conclusion of Annual with other newly elected Board members.) I believe Amy and Karen should attend and vote in EB meetings at annual and the Quorum count should include them. In other words, if these are vacancy appointments then the EB is incomplete without them.

    As for the end of the term, the Bylaws state, "A vacancy in the elected membership of the Executive Board shall be filled by Executive Board appointment, and the person so appointed will serve until the following election. " The Committee on Committees presents a slate of EB candidates and Council votes at LibLearnX. Those elected start their terms at the conclusion of Annual. Since Council elects the Executive Board, I believe it's council's responsibility to approve a staggering plan and not EB's. The Committee on Committees should present to Council at Annual a plan to fill Executive Board positions during the transition to the new Bylaws. We can elect new Board members to 2, 3, or 4 year terms as a one time exception in order to make the necessary stagger during transition. It's up to CoC to meet and decide on the best plan of action. Council can then debate the CoC plan in open council. This isn't a change to the bylaws; simply a plan for transitioning to these new bylaws.

    I interpret the bylaws to say these vacancy appointments should run until the end of Annual 2024 at which time the Board members elected at LibLearnX 2024 will be seated.

    Since the appointments have been announced I suppose the only way to make this change is a Resolution presented at Annual. (Councilors - I'm looking for a second.) 

    Regards,
    Jules Shore
    Councilor-at-large
    7shore@gmail.com





  • 8.  RE: Lappin and Schneider Appointed to ALA Executive Board

    Posted Jun 10, 2023 12:07 PM
    Hi Jules (and all!)

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for a suggested path forward.

    After consultation with our Parliamentarian, a resolution to overturn and modify this appointment is not permitted per the bylaws and rules. As we know, the Executive Board determines how/when they fill a vacancy. The current vacancy is for an unexpired term of a newly established seat. So any motion to challenge is not in order.

    That being said, we understand there is a lot of nuance and some disagreement around these appointments/changes as outlined in the new bylaws which are less prescriptive than our old bylaws. There are many more points to make in the conversation, but doing them via email may complicate/create more confusion and we would love to have devoted time in Council to work through the changes and nuances for Council and the Executive Board to come to a mutual understanding of how we got here and how we can move forward. We can hold this session as one of our first agenda items so that we have ample time throughout the conference to continue discussions and continue if necessary throughout the weekend

    Our parliamentarian Adrian will be available for consultation during and after the session should individuals have questions. He is also available now, and is a member of our Connect group, but as I suggested, the conversation is nuanced and I would love for us to hash this out verbally in our hybrid environment so we can ask questions and respond in real time. We'll try to put together a document for review based on the questions coming forth as well.

    All the best,
    Lessa
    --
    Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada
    |2022-2023 President, American Library Association
    |Adult Services Assistant Manager, Palos Verdes Library District
    |My pronouns are she, hers, her