The Social Responsibilities Round Table works to make ALA more democratic and to establish progressive priorities not only for the Association, but also for the entire profession. Concern for human and economic rights was an important element in the founding of SRRT and remains an urgent concern today. SRRT believes that libraries and librarians must recognize and help solve social problems and inequities in order to carry out their mandate to work for the common good and bolster democracy.
Learn more about SRRT on the ALA website.
Elizabeth Dorothy Futas (1944–1995) Elizabeth Dorothy Futas, the director of the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, died on Feb. 6 1995 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during an ALA Council meeting Dr. Futas took up her duties at the university in Kingston, R.I., in 1986 and during the next decade helped to train a generation of librarians. She also revamped the programs of the library school and within two years helped it to secure accreditation. Her early career included work as a cataloguer for the Ford Foundation in New York and as a reference librarian at Queens College. After receiving a doctorate from Rutgers she held faculty positions at Emory University and the University of Washington in Seattle. Elizabeth Futas was a founder of the New York Social Responsibilities Round Table and the SRRT and Feminist Task Force. Socially responsible library services and feminism informed her many interests; she worked, researched and taught in the areas of women's studies, reference and adult services, collection development, professional growth and ethics, social issues and cultural diversity. A passionate library advocate, she chaired ALA's national public awareness effort " Libraries Change Lives" in the early 1990s and was an active participant in library advocacy training and the Right to Know: librarians make it happen! Campaign Elizabeth Futas authored numerous articles and four books: Collection Development Policies and ProceduresDeveloping public library collections, policies, and procedures : a how-to-do-it manual for small and medium-sized public libraries. Library Acquisition Policies and Procedures. The Library Forms Illustrated Handbook She was a winner of the Beta Phi Mu Award, and is was memorialized by the American Library's "Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award." The award was discontinued in 2020.
Elizabeth Dorothy Futas (1944–1995)
Elizabeth Dorothy Futas, the director of the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, died on Feb. 6 1995 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during an ALA Council meeting
Dr. Futas took up her duties at the university in Kingston, R.I., in 1986 and during the next decade helped to train a generation of librarians. She also revamped the programs of the library school and within two years helped it to secure accreditation.
Her early career included work as a cataloguer for the Ford Foundation in New York and as a reference librarian at Queens College. After receiving a doctorate from Rutgers she held faculty positions at Emory University and the University of Washington in Seattle.
Elizabeth Futas was a founder of the New York Social Responsibilities Round Table and the SRRT and Feminist Task Force. Socially responsible library services and feminism informed her many interests; she worked, researched and taught in the areas of women's studies, reference and adult services, collection development, professional growth and ethics, social issues and cultural diversity.
A passionate library advocate, she chaired ALA's national public awareness effort " Libraries Change Lives" in the early 1990s and was an active participant in library advocacy training and the Right to Know: librarians make it happen! Campaign
Elizabeth Futas authored numerous articles and four books: