Howdy RMRTers,
Sorry I will not make the 4/17 meeting. Here's a high level look at a few ALA governancey thingumabobs:
(wait, "thingumabobs" is a word and is spelled correctly on the first (and second!) try?! -- well, I'll be knackered)
Anyway, here we go:
- LibLearnX will run in 2025 -- but not in 2026
(I suspect this means 2025 is the end of Midwinter/LLX as we knew it)
- What? Why? -- Aaron's reading of the tea leaves suggests that a "second" national meeting (with less than ~7,000 paying attendees) is financially unsustainable (i.e. a negative amount on the ROI statement)
- ALA Policy Manual Revision Task Force (PMRTF or as I like to say "pmertiff" - say the p as in pterodactyl)
- Policy Manual Revision is a fraught thing, I don't know why)
- I was on the 2012 Policy Manual Revision Committee "pmerc" (the numbering system that everyone (except a few catalogers) dislikes is my fault, SORRY)
- The policies have been reordered to align with the new Bylaws order (for easier cross referencing)
- The Bylaws have Articles & the Policy Manual has Chapters (for easier differentiation)
- There are many, many policy updates to align with the Bylaws (and after the broad policies are completed there will probably be referrals to various committees for updates to relevant sections of the policy manual to be sure the Manual reflects current practices -- 10 year old practices are likely inefficient -- and I'm sure those changes will also be fraught because governance a drama are like a hand and a glove... or maybe a glove and a hand, you can decide) :)
- Note Bene: the timeline of reorganizing and updating the Manual says it will be completed by Jan 2025 -- pmertiff is barely through "Section A" (the internal-facing governance policies) and updating / changing Section B (the public facing ALA policy statements on various situations and events and the public good) will be even more fraught, since many are jot and tittle from the 1970s through the 2000-teens (with many people passionately invested in the exact phrasing and punctuation.
- Re the NB -- I wasn't trying to be snarky, but Section B needs a good review, updating, and general housecleaning (and whoever does the work will not please everyone)
Those are the two big things coming down the Pike in ALA governance that I see.
PS I've been invited to be PMC Chair for 2024-2025 & I'm thinking it's time for PMC to review all the ALA Unit policies (Div, RT, Offices, etc.) and get them ready to update to align with the new Bylaws and the Policy Manual revisions.
PPS If I suddenly disappear, I will likely be found hanging out with Jimmy Hoffa in the end zone of a stadium in New Jersey :)
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Aaron W Dobbs (he/him)
Library Support Staff Round Table, Chair, 2022 - 2023
Library Support Staff Interests Round Table, President, 2021 - 2022
ALA Council, Councilor for Small Round Tables, 2019 - 2025
Round Table Member: GODORT, GNCRT, LearnRT, LHRT, LSSRT (formerly LSSIRT & SORT), MAGIRT, NMRT, RMRT
Division Member: ACRL, Core (formerly LITA & LLAMA), RUSA, UNITED
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Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Professor & Library Department Chair
Scholarly Communication Librarian
Librarian Liaison for Business
Librarian Liaison for STEM
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Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties
Shippensburg University Chapter, President, 2022-2024; Vice President, 2016 - 2022
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