RUTGERS
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
School of Communication and Information
4 Huntington Street • New Brunswick • New Jersey 08901-1071
Betty J. Turock, Ph.D., Professor, and Associate Dean Emerita
September 29, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
SRRT's request to the Board asking Council to delay the changes to Round Table elections has my support. My understanding is that no cost cutting savings or analyses have been done and no reliable or valid information is available on what the impact on ALA, a member driven organization, might be. Even more important the effect it would have on the regrettable fiscal picture of our Association remains unknown.
RENEWING ALA AT 150 Years
As we debate the future of ALA, our Association faces a fragile trajectory to restore it to fiscal stability. A spate of viewpoints have arisen. Needed change cannot be denied. At the same time, we are barraged from myriad sources with the wisdom of more than casual attention to history as a cornerstone for broad scale change. Whatever your point of view we must make certain that member rifts do not overwhelm our discussions. ALA can grow from civil debates conducive to improved decision making even when they are heated, while condescension and hostility seldom lead to the unification of disparate voices seeking a creative future that meets today's needs.
HISTORY
Among the many values of an exploration of history is its ability to provide a strategic framework for reorganization and change by combining worthy innovations with recommendations from effective practice. Over the years ALA has supplied us with an example by moving from a hierarchical organization to one with democratization as its primary goal. Prior to this shift, meetings at which the highest level of decision making occurred were often closed. Past Presidents were on Council for life. Committee memberships were tightly controlled. Positions of leadership were centralized in a small core of decision makers and occupational segregation was the order of the day-that is, the concentration of 70 percent of one gender comprising the workforce with power and position seldom accorded to that majority. This was the case not only within the field of librarianship but also within ALA.
Democratization brought distributed decision making that superseded hierarchical, centralized power. Top-down approaches were supplanted with representative input. A member driven organization with meaningful broad scale involvement made leadership available to more than a powerful few. Opportunity for leadership at the highest levels replaced the previous power structure. Equity, diversity, and inclusion became core values of the Association. Its leadership developed the increasingly diverse face of the demographic changes arising in our democracy and Spectrum became one model for productive change built from a worthy objective that responded to the demographics of a changing society seated in a morally sound objective that was previously unmet.
SEEKING POSSIBLE ANSWERS
Saving money by cutting down or cutting out services to members with few or no representatives of the groups affected included in the decision making is never democratic and seldom easy to put in place without leaving rifts. Nor is invoking the same responses for all situations even when action agendas of the groups under consideration can point to success from other democratic responses already in place. A takeaway review of prior successes entwined with creative new ideas that include decision making representatives from members groups affected by the change demonstrate continued dedication to the principle of democratization. As recommendations for the future are considered we must always question whether we are meeting the broadened criteria for member participation and providing new members with opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the work of the Association.
Additionally, no reasonable process for cost cutting can be brought forward that does not include fact finding and comparative cost analysis of ALA's ongoing fiscal operations. Decisions on cost cutting cannot be advanced without supporting data detailing the advantages they carry with them. The statement or, more precisely, the notification released by the Executive Board to members as late as February 4, 2020, did not inspire confidence that transparency existed about the dire financial condition of the Association nor that this was widely communicated in a timely fashion. It revealed a general disarray in budgetary forecasts, management oversight, and accountability with a continuing deficit that made clear earlier plans to ameliorate the crisis,(stabilize shrinking revenues and mounting deficits) were not affectively addressed.
In a time of urgent financial concerns these are conditions that speak to funding agreements reached between ALA and its units more than 30 years ago, officially titled the Operating Agreement. These are not the conditions in which ALA operates now. The Agreement can no longer be maintained without review. Reference to the term Operating Agreement should not continue in use since it will recall conflicts that might still carry emotional connotations that interfere with rational discussions about the existing official relationship between the financial relation of the parent organization, ALA, and its units-Divisions and Round Tables and even] selected Affiliates-that allow ALA and its units to operate fiscally as though they are separate organizations. If that continues it is possible that neither will survive.
Communicating issues between leaders and members can be widely facilitated in the Association since the opportunity to virtually connect rapidly, conveniently, and over long distances has existed. A second model for conferences attendees might be proffered-introducing new and urgent subjects to the Association by going to meetings, instead of asking members to come to meetings scheduled at specific times, which in the past have attracted small audiences. Attending Board sessions of the Divisions, Affiliates, and Round Tables to describe the reasons for the visit and gather input from the group on what they suggest would not only bring democratic small group decision making into play but as research has shown also will help build support for reorganization initiatives on the Association docket.
FOCUSING ON ROUND TABLES
At this moment our attention is focused on Round Tables (RT). In ALA's recent history their members shared personal stories of their importance, especially when they first enter our Association. A synthesis of the stories was compiled into themes that formed a common narrative. To many, RTs were their introduction to the open ALA they were hoping to find. Newcomers were advised to pick the RT closest to their professional passions, walk in, and declare their interest. A warm welcome awaited them, and immediate, meaningful work was available to challenge them. RT members are perceived as incubators for enthusiasm and new ideas. Let's send them a message of their importance to the programs and services that ALA mounts. Let's ask them to help us recruit more members just like themselves to ALA.
Today I send my comments to you as a former leader at the highest levels of the American Library Association. Our Association gave me a home to realize a career worth dedicating a life to and opened doors to change it, the discipline, and the profession. I want ALA to be with us long past its 150th anniversary. Don't ponder the questions before us too long. Restorative action is needed now!
Respectfully submitted,
Betty J. Turock
ALA Past President and Honorary Member