ALA Tackles Some Tough Issues

The American Library Association's (ALA) midwinter meeting was a balancing act between national issues and those hitting closer to home. Librarians focused on how to comply with new laws related to the September 11 terrorist attacks, as well as subjects that typically affect the profession: better salaries, staying on top in the digital age, and keeping track of ongoing legislation.

Perhaps the most pleasing news that emerged from the January 18–23 meeting in New Orleans was that ALA would take a more active role in lobbying for higher pay for librarians. ALA's Council approved a new organizational structure, consisting of two allied organizations called the American Library Association/Allied Professional Association (APA). That means ALA will keep its 501(c)(3) status as a nonprofit, tax-exempt association devoted to charitable and educational efforts, and the new APA will have a 501(c)(6) status, which permits previously banned advocacy activities. Mitch Freedman, president of the Status of Librarians Task Force, has created a Better Salaries Task Force. The average starting salary in 2000 for librarians was $34,871.

Librarians turned up in droves to hear FBI official Michael Woods, lawyer Kate Martin, and librarian Gary Strong discuss privacy issues. Soon after the September 11 attacks, Congress passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act, which gives law enforcement officials broader authority to investigate domestic terrorism. The act, signed into law by President Bush on October 26, 2001, gives the government access to a library's business records, including patrons' e-mail messages and other electronic communications.

The move raises a lot of questions about the protection of civil liberties and the need for government oversight, says Martin, director of the Center for National Securities Studies, a Washington, DC–based think tank. But Woods, chief of the FBI's national security law unit, says libraries must comply with the law. Strong, director of the Queens Borough (NY) Public Library, has advice for librarians: Be prepared before being approached because officials won't warn you that they're coming and make sure you talk to your board and obtain legal counsel.

ALA's top awards in children's literature for 2001 included one surprise winner and one shoo-in: Linda Sue Park won the John Newbery Medal forA Single Shard (Clarion), and David Wiesner received the Randolph Caldecott Medal forThe Three Pigs (Clarion). For more awards, see "The Best of the Best," p. 20.

Other newsworthy events at the midwinter meeting:

• Attendance was down by 2,500 compared to last year's midwinter meeting in Washington, DC. The main reason, according to Deidre Ross, ALA's conference services director, is that few large cities are near New Orleans. Midwinter registration totaled 11,655 attendees and exhibitors, of which 4,116 registered on site.
• A resolution cosponsored by the Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Intellectual Freedom Roundtable will be sent to President Bush, the Attorney General, and both Houses of Congress. Its purpose is to restate ALA's position following September 11 on the need for accurate and timely information; the protection of privacy; dissent as the hallmark of a democratic society; as well as ALA's opposition to censorship and government intimidation.
• ALA and the Freedom to Read Foundation are deposing witnesses and gathering facts to challenge the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), scheduled to be heard by a special three-judge panel at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on March 25. ALA opposes CIPA because it believes mandatory Internet filtering is inappropriate for libraries.
• The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) is up for congressional reauthorization later this year. The act focuses on two key library issues—access to information through technology and information empowerment through special services. Library supporters should support reauthorization and increased funding by telling Congress about the importance of LSTA in their communities.
• Linda Waddle, who announced her March retirement as deputy executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association and the American Association of School Librarians, was honored at a joint youth division reception. Waddle, a baseball fan, received Chicago Cubs season tickets, which, she said, was a lifelong "dream come true."
• Phyllis J. Van Order was named the 2002 recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children's Distinguished Service Award. Van Order has more than 35 years of leadership in ALA, the Association for Library Services to Children, and the Association for Library and Information Science Education.—Lillian N. Gerhardt, Trev Jones, and Debra Lau contributed to this report