ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


219

Democratization and the ALA Council
Members of the American Library Associa­

tion will soon receive a ballot to vote on a pro­
posed change in the bylaws of the association 

that would reduce the 
size of Council and in 

Editorial the process eliminate 
representatives on the 
Council from the di­

visions. This is one of the steps of “Democra­
tization” recommended in the ACONDA re­
port. This proposal was approved by the Coun­
cil in Dallas.

I urge all members of ACRL to veto this 
change. A reduction of the size of a governing 
body such as the ALA Council has been recom­
mended by advocates of change as a way of 
producing a less ponderous legislative group 
that will be speedier in taking action. The elim­
ination of any Councilor who might bring the 
view of the “vested interest” of a division to 
Council, and the mandate to vote accordingly, 
is cited as a democratic move, in that the re­
maining Councilors will have only the total 
membership’s interest at heart.

As a matter of fact, the process of nomination 
and election of a smaller ruling Council is more 
amenable to influence, if not control, by vested 
interests and hence tends to a state of de­
creased democratization than now pertains. As 
long as the Association is composed of divisions, 
with many views and interests, official repre­
sentation on the Council of this pluralistic soci­
ety must be guaranteed—even if the represent­
atives later vote as individuals and not as 
Councilors for the divisions.

The malaise that many people attribute to 
the ALA Council is due not to its size and com­
position. Rather, it must be principally attribut­
ed to an improper construction of the hierarchy 
through which decisions flow toward the point 
of Association action, the very brief time span 
of conferences at which deliberations are held, 
and an unfortunate scheduling during the con­
ferences of the meetings of the groups and the 
official hierarchy in a sequence that is out of 
phase with the required flow of resolutions. The 
whole process of mobilizing the ALA to make 
commitments according to members’ desires 
and appropriate to the goals of the Associations 
must be reviewed. Fortunately, the Association 
has ordered such a study.

In any event, forcing a speeding up of delib­
erations tends to reduce truly democratic ac­
tion. Good decisions, democratically reached, 
will necessarily be reached slowly if the full
power of democratic procedure is invoked.

ALA is essentially a personal membership or­
ganization. As long as the members have decid­

ed to form themselves into divisions within the 
larger framework—and all members belong to 
at least two divisions—there must be a guaran­
teed mechanism for the official mandates of 
these divisions for Association action to be 
brought to the higher deliberatre forum. Divi­
sion representation on Council is essential for 
democratic action as the Association is now 
structured. Guaranteed divisional representa­
tion cannot be eliminated until divisions are 
eliminated. It is quite possible that this will be 
an issue in the forthcoming study of the Asso­
ciation. I suggest that the goals of speedier As­
sociation action on issues important to mem­
bers, in priority order as determined by mem­
bers, will be gained only by a complete change 
of the structure of the decision-making process 
and the ordering of the hierarchy of groups 
through which decisions move. The elimination 
of division representation at this time, in my 
view, moves the point of final decision-making 
away from, and not toward, its proper location. 
It would create only another element of discon­
tent with the Association’s potential for action. 
Discontent leads to disaffection, and ultimately, 
to abandonment of the Association by many of 
its constituents.—Russell Shank, President- 
Elect, Association of College and Research Li­
braries

Members should also see the remarks of Miss 
Peggy Sullivan on this subject in the Septem­
ber issue of American Libraries. ■■

INSURANCE PLANS
The American Library Association sponsors 

four group insurance plans designed for per­
sonal members and their families. These in­
clude:

Income Protection
Major Medical
Senior Hospital
Life Insurance
Detailed brochures can be obtained by writ­

ing to the Library Administration Division, 
American Library Association, 50 East Huron 
Street, Chicago, IL 60611.

ACRL Membership

July 31, 1971 ......................................... 11,524
 July 31, 1970 ......................................... 11,588

July 31, 1969 ......................................... 13,171