Al's approach seems the most pragmatic to me in terms of the current situation. He says, "...we find ourselves in a bind. We will not be able to run an election as we did in the past. If we want to have an election at all, we will have to do what we were told to do. In fact, there is no cart and there is no horse. There is only power above us. So given the situation it behoves us to think clearly about how we want to run the election within the mandated framework. And then SRRT will have to change its bylaws through a membership vote ."
Original Message:
Sent: Feb 01, 2026 03:04 PM
From: Al Kagan
Subject: NEXT WEEK: Wed., Feb. 4, 2026 Action Council Special Meeting
Mark, I agree with you in principle and I raised this very issue some months ago. How can SRRT follow the new election mandate which is in contradiction to its bylaws, and new bylaws at that? We appealed to the ALA Executive Board to pause implementation of the mandate because the round tables were not consulted. Any reasonable policy would have provided time for the round tables to change their bylaws before implementation of the new mandate. But the Executive Board refused our request. They answered that the Council was the governing body and that it had higher authority than round tables. Therefore the mandate stands. This is one more example of many that democracy has broken down within ALA, a very sorry state of affairs.
All that said, we find ourselves in a bind. We will not be able to run an election as we did in the past. If we want to have an election at all, we will have to do what we were told to do. In fact, there is no cart and there is no horse. There is only power above us.
So given the situation it behoves us to think clearly about how we want to run the election within the mandated framework. And then SRRT will have to change its bylaws through a membership vote. That is why I raised those questions now before our special meeting.
Let me say that I am partial to the way ALA treats its president using the 3-year cycle of president-elect, president, and then past president. But how can we make that happen when we currently have no coordinator-elect? It seems we would need to elect both a president and a president-elect to put that process in motion. But this seems outside the new mandate. Since we are braking all our own rules anyway, under our current bylaws the Action Council elects the Coordinator, we might do that one last time before the election, and then elect a coordinator-elect on the ballot.
We are in an untenable situation and I think the ALA Executive Board and Council did not seriously think through the complications of their mandate. But they don't seem to care.
Al
Original Message:
Sent: 2/1/2026 2:50:00 PM
From: Mark Rosenzweig
Subject: RE: NEXT WEEK: Wed., Feb. 4, 2026 Action Council Special Meeting
Colleagues,
I need to step back and ask a more basic procedural question before we move any further down this road.
Why are we proceeding as though SRRT's existing bylaws on elections have already been negated, when SRRT itself has not voted to amend them?
Al's message, valuable and thoughtful as it is, assumes that the ALA Executive Board and Council mandate automatically overrides SRRT's bylaws, and then moves directly to questions about what new terms and structures we should adopt. That strikes me as putting the cart before the horse.
Whatever pressure or directive is coming from ALA, SRRT's bylaws are still the bylaws unless and until SRRT changes them through our own democratic process. We cannot simply treat them as void by default.
If changes to officer structure, terms, or positions are required, then the proper sequence is clear: SRRT must debate and vote on proposed bylaw amendments, and that decision belongs to the membership, not just Action Council acting under time pressure. Otherwise we are normalizing a situation in which external mandates are treated as self-executing, and SRRT's internal democracy becomes procedural window dressing.
So before we spend time designing new election frameworks, I think we need to answer this explicitly: has SRRT, as a body, agreed that its bylaws are being superseded, and if so, when and how did that vote occur? If it has not, then we should pause and address that question directly rather than assuming the answer.
This is not about resisting discussion or delaying action. It is about maintaining the basic principle that SRRT governs itself through its own bylaws and membership decisions, especially when those bylaws are inconvenient.
I would appreciate hearing how others see this, because proceeding otherwise sets a precedent that goes well beyond this particular election cycle.
MarkR
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Mark Rosenzweig
Original Message:
Sent: Jan 29, 2026 06:02 PM
From: Olivia Blake
Subject: NEXT WEEK: Wed., Feb. 4, 2026 Action Council Special Meeting
Hello,
During yesterday's (Jan. 28, 2026) Action Council meeting, a special meeting was approved to further discuss upcoming ALA elections and potential write-in candidates for SRRT's ballot.
Additionally, time ran too short to give the 3 resolutions on the agenda their due, and a special meeting was discussed for the purpose of voting on said resolutions.
In consideration of the timeliness of these two important subjects, Rachel and I made an immediate effort to confer on next steps. In the interest of time, and out of respect for the urgency that Action Council members have expressed, we have jointly decided to move forward with scheduling a 90-minute special meeting that we hope will afford the necessary time to address these subjects in greater depth.
With that in mind, a Special Meeting of SRRT's Action Council meeting is set for NEXT Wednesday, February 4, at 2:30 PM Atlantic / 1:30 PM Eastern / 12:30 PM Central / 11:30 AM Mountain / 10:30 AM Pacific.
We hope that as many of you as possible are able to attend, and hope you will understand the need for making this meeting happen sooner rather than later.
The DRAFT agenda for Wednesday's Action Council Special Meeting is linked here. Please be sure to review the agenda for links to other documents pertinent to the upcoming meeting.
>> Agenda URL: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FJBaS0zznN2OGCadQaYsCc7cgN12a3hWJQhumLLBIdc/edit?tab=t.0
This special meeting will NOT be recorded.
Meeting Details
Who: All SRRT members are welcome to attend. Only Action Council members may vote, per SRRT rules.
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Time: 2:30 PM Atlantic / 1:30 PM Eastern / 12:30 PM Central / 11:30 AM Mountain / 10:30 AM Pacific
Zoom link: https://ala-events.zoom.us/j/98900825022?pwd=BGVV2DkPKnlmxLokfOKEU2Y9K8oyEy.1
Meeting ID: 989 0082 5022
Passcode: 871007
NB: This Zoom link is different from our regular recurring bi-monthly AC meetings!
See you Wednesday,
Olivia & Rachel
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Olivia Blake (she/her)
orhysb@gmail.com
Systems & User Services Support Librarian, Library Connection, Inc.
SRRT Action Council Co-Coordinator (2025-2026)
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