I discovered today when renewing my ALA membership for 2022 that life members need to tell Membership Services that they are retired to get the lower rate from the divisions, roundtables, and perhaps other bodies that have a retired member option. The rates on my renewal letter didn't reflect the lowered retired rates because apparently my membership record doesn't include this fact. I intend to call ALA to see if my retired status can be added to my record.
My spouse did get the reduced rates on her membership letter because she retired and claimed her free basic membership because of her many years of being an ALA member. This step caused her to be listed in her membership record as retired.
I believe that both of us couldn't use online renewal because this system isn't set up to handle renewals when the renewing member receives a "free" basic membership.
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Bob Holley
Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University
aa3805@wayne.edu------------------------------