New Orleans Midwinter Meeting
Marks the Beginning of Two ALAs
The American Library Association’s governing Council cleared the way for splitting the organization into two separate parts during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans, January 18–23, by approving bylaws for a separate allied professional association to offer postgraduate specialty certification, to advocate for pay equity, and to address other issues related to the professional status of librarians.
To be governed by the ALA Council and Executive Board under tax status 501(c)6, the new association has been in the planning stages since 1996 and will allow ALA to conduct activities that are prohibited under its current 501(c)3 status. ALA management is expected to move quickly toward the establishment of the companion organization this year and to determine which revenue streams and units will be transferred to it.
By January 20, Midwinter Meeting registration totaled 11,655 attendees and exhibitors, of whom 4,116 had registered on site. ALA Conference Services Director Deidre Ross said the attendance of about 2,500 fewer than Midwinter 2001 in Washington, D.C., was expected, since there are fewer large cities near New Orleans.
The Midwinter Meeting brings ALA members together to plan the Association’s Annual Conference and to update librarians on legislative issues, current topics, and Association business. ALA President John W. Berry presented a program titled “Gatekeepers of the Internet: Balancing Access and Control in a Networked World,” featuring Deborah Hurley of Harvard and James J. O’Donnell of the University of Pennsylvania. Author Andrei Codrescu delivered the third annual Arthur Curley Lecture, on storytelling and its relationship to history.
The New Orleans conference also featured the annual Newbery/Caldecott announcements and a Technology Showcase Theater, an opportunity for exhibitors to spotlight new technology in the library science field. A full conference report will appear in the March issue of American Libraries and online at this site.
Posted January 28, 2002.
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