For those not on the Council list: sending additional feedback that was shared on the ALA Council discussion list from Karen Schneider and registration fees.
Original Message:
Sent: 9/26/2022 9:44:00 AM
From: Karen Schneider
Subject: RE: REMINDER: ALA Bylaws 1st Draft - Member Leader Feedback by Sept 23
I appreciate the work of C&B on this round of revisions -- truly heroic! I was unable to attend the 9/23 session but having finally carved out time to review the document, I wanted to share my concerns about Article VII, Section 4: "Section 4. Registration. For all members attending any meeting or conference there may be a registration fee as fixed by the Executive Board."
I am personally fine with the idea that someone elected to Council should be expected to register for regular meetings in order to participate in the work of the association. But I am concerned about scenarios where special meetings are called for the purpose of voting on ALA matters, and registration fees are required to participate. This would be an unplanned expense for Councilors and could skew the vote toward those who can afford the registration fees. I'm not sure how to handle this in the proposed Bylaws, but I did want to bring this up.
Karen G. Schneider
ALA Councilor at Large
Original Message:
Sent: 9/21/2022 11:08:00 PM
From: Marsha P. Burgess
Subject: REMINDER: ALA Bylaws 1st Draft - Member Leader Feedback by Sept 23
Hello councilors!
Sending a reminder that the ALA Constitution and Bylaws Committee is seeking feedback from member leaders. See message below for further details. Due date is Friday, September 23. Thank you for your contribution in this historic project!
This message is being sent on behalf of the ALA Constitution and Bylaws Chair, Brian Schottlaender
September 6, 2022
Dear ALA Colleague,
On behalf of the ALA Committee on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B), I am pleased to share with you DRAFT 1 of the General Revision of the ALA Bylaws currently being undertaken by C&B. You may access the revision here.
Annotations have been provided for substantive revisions, recommendations, and language that has been moved from the ALA Constitution into the ALA Bylaws. Revisions made for purposes of clarity and/or organization have not been annotated as the intent of the language has not been changed.
Also provided is a document (Appendix A) that lists Articles and Sections from the ALA Constitution and ALA Bylaws not included in DRAFT 1 of the General Revision of the ALA Bylaws because, either, they are considered no longer relevant, or, because they are being reviewed for inclusion in the ALA Policy Manual.
During the Annual Conference this past June in Washington DC, the ALA Council voted overwhelmingly in the affirmative to rescind the ALA Constitution and tasked C&B with creating instead a thoroughly revised set of ALA Bylaws that integrates content from the Constitution into a single updated Bylaws document that reflects a modern, forward-looking Association. Almost immediately, C&B set about doing so. Included in this General Revision are any TAG recommendations that have thus far been approved by Council.
On Friday, 26 August, ALA Council conducted the required second vote to rescind the Constitution-again voting overwhelmingly in the affirmative to do so.
The current ALA Constitution and Bylaws can be found via these highlighted weblinks.
As noted, this is DRAFT 1 of the General Revision-the first of four drafts that we plan to share with you for comment and feedback between now and the ALA Library Learning Experience (LLX) event in January 2023 in New Orleans. There, we plan to host a face-to-face Bylaws Convention in order to put the finishing touches on the General Revision for Council approval. Following that, the membership will be invited to vote on both the rescission of the Constitution and the new Bylaws on the April 2023 spring ballot.
A feedback form has been created for you to share your comments and suggestions with the committee prior to the Feedback Hearing scheduled for September 23 at 11am CT. To register for this feedback session, please click here.
We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your engagement!
With my best,
Brian E. C. Schottlaender, Chair
ALA Constitution and Bylaws Committee
Attachments:
ALA Bylaws General Revision DRAFT 1
Appendix A: Articles and Sections Not Included in the ALA Bylaws General Revision DRAFT 1
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Marsha P. Burgess
Council Secretariat
American Library Association
mburgess@ala.org
(312) 280-3204
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