ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries April 1 9 9 5 / 2 6 7 Candidates for ALA president sh are th eir plans By Michael Gorman and Mary R. Somerville Be sure to vote this spring T he ALA Presidential Candidates’ Forum at the 1995 Midwinter M eeting in Philadel­ phia encourag ed lively discussion and C&RL News asked ea ch candidate to select o n e or more o f the issues that cam e up and discuss for our readers how , they will address them if elected president o f ALA. MICHAEL G O RM AN Technology Libraries have always b e e n good at incorporat­ ing new form s o f com m u n ication into their collections and services. I am con fid ent that electronic com m unication will b e no e x c e p ­ tion. I fo resee libraries o f the future in w hich information (data and short discrete packets o f information) is held, transmitted, and used e lec­ tronically, and knowledge is stored and acquired by use o f print and other “traditional” forms enhanced by electronic resources. W e need to be inclusive in creating a “virtual library ser­ vice” as an important part o f overall library service not “virtual libraries” as vastly infe­ A rior rep lacem ents for real libraries. ALA must support and foster a hum ane and le service-oriented “w hole library” con cept. a li Literacy O ne o f the m ost pressing issues in m odern so­ ciety is the rising tide o f illiteracy, aliteracy, and subliteracy. Librarians should b e spearhead­ ing efforts to resist th ese evils and to prom ote reading and lifelong literacy as the basis o f Michael Gorm an Mary R. Som erville personal em pow erm ent. T he alternative is a p e rm a n e n t, e v e r -e x p a n d in g u n d e rc la s s o f p e o p le w h o ca n n o t read, w rite, o r exp ress them selves with clarity, and will never realize their gifts o r fulfill their dreams. No librarian and no library should stand aside from this is­ sue. The bitter experience o f the California Great Tax Revolt is that the children w ho are neglected becau se o f the starvation o f their schools, school libraries, and public libraries b eco m e the young m en and w om en w ho cannot o r will not read and w ho lack all library skills w h en they enter colleges and universities. Academic, public, and LA must look outw ard and ad the fight for libraries d the im portance of w h a t brarians do. school librarians should find com m on cause in the reality o f the com m on plight o f their users. What good is the freedom to read to p eop le w ho cannot read? ALA must rally all librarians in the cau se o f literacy and reading. n M ichael G orm an is d ea n o f library services at California State University, Fresno, e-mail: m ichael_gorm an@ csufresno.edu; Mary R. Somerville is director o f the M iam i-D ade Public Library System, Florida, e-m ail: xnompls@servax.flu.edu mailto:michael_gorman@csufresno.edu mailto:xnompls@servax.flu.edu 2 6 8 /C&RL News Su b stan ce not p ro cess It seem s that, in rec en t years, th e association has b e c o m e m ore p ro c ess orien ted and less fo cu sed o n the su b stan ce o f real w orld library issues. ALA n eed s leadership that will c o n c e n ­ trate o n practical p roblem s, the reality o f li­ brary life and w ork today, and the issues that c o n ce rn its m em bers. ALA n eed s an eloq u en t and p assion ate v o ic e that will sp e a k truth to p o w er and rep resen t libraries and librarians o f all kinds at all levels o f g ov ern m en t and s o c i­ ety. ALA m ust lo o k outw ard and lead the fight fo r libraries and the im p ortan ce o f w hat librar­ ians do. P o w e r through unity It is essential that librarians c o m e to g eth er over th e valu es an d issues that are im portant to us— literacy, ad equ ate funding, service to hu m an­ ity, intellectu al freed om , preservin g the record s o f civilization, the intelligent u se o f te ch n o l­ ogy. It is also im portant that a united p rofes­ sio n w ork w ith o th er a g en cies and individuals w h o share o u r valu es and o u r p u rp ose. ALA must take the lead in uniting th e profession and w ork in g w ith a b ro ad range o f cultural and ed u cation al bod ies. M A RY R. SOM ERVILLE I acce p te d th e nom in ation for the ALA presi­ d en cy b e ca u se I b elieve w e must lift every v oice in collectiv e ad vocacy. W e o w e it to ourselves. W e o w e it to library w orkers. M ost im portantly, w e o w e it to the p u blic that relies o n libraries as a sure fou n d ation fo r intellectu al participa­ tion . It’s tim e w e c o u n te re d th e earth q u ak e quality to the clim ate o f library su p p ort— to shout out that libraries and librarians are a criti­ cal part o f th e solu tion to the p ro b lem s facing A m erica, and that a cad em ic libraries are k ey to th e research and ed u cation fueling A m erica’s intellectu al and e co n o m ic future. I believe w e must lift every voice in collective advocacy. W e ow e it to ourselves. W h e n ALA sp eaks, p e o p le listen. N ow m ore than e v er the agen da m ust b e set so that w e c an sp eak con sisten tly and effectively to e n ­ sure the critical role librarians c a n and must play in th e elec tro n ic arena. As ALA Presid ent m y g o al is to en su re that o u r m em bers and supporters are w ell trained, eq u ip p ed , and m o ­ tivated to tell the library story. E lectron ic lo b ­ bying, fundraising, m edia cam paigns, and the building o f a citizen ’s netw ork to ad vocate for all types o f libraries are essential. T h e agen da is clear: • to stop th e slow starvation o f our librar­ ies and library sch o o ls; • to en su re that there are n o m ore c lo s ­ ings; • to c o n n e c t every library to the inform a­ tion highw ay and en su re equ al, ready, and e q ­ uitable access; • to fight m ou nting cen so rsh ip ch allen g es; • to allo cate m ore reso u rces fo r national, state, and lo cal legislative efforts; • to provide legislative ad vo cacy and in­ tellectu al freed om support for you th services; • to train an d m e n to r y o u n g lea d ers to en su re the future o f th e profession; • to ach iev e a diverse library w ork force for ou r m ulticultural users. ALA’s G o al 2 000 is right o n target and ACRL has d em o n strated lead ersh ip in con tribu tin g $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 tow ard that goal, w h ich will exp an d the W ashington O ffice and establish the O ffice fo r In form ation T e ch n o lo g y Policy. As a m em ­ b e r o f the ALA E xecu tive B oard , I en d orsed G o al 2 0 0 0 early on , and p rom ise to help ALA stay the cou rse. I’m ready to take up th e ch allen g e. Having d ealt w ith the arm y and the Red Cross during th e afterm ath o f H u rrican e A nd rew , n o t to m en tio n d o w n ed p o w er lines, m issing roofs, m any staff left h o m eless and u n reach ab le, I ’m e x p e r ie n c e d in crisis m an agem en t, d ec isio n ­ m aking, and neg otiation u n d er fire— qualities that will b e n e e d ed b y the ALA President. I kn o w h o w to g et things d on e, having acti­ vated tw o autom ated system s, n o w creatin g a m icrolibrary and an In ternet project, and w o rk ­ ing with co lle g e and university libraries to bring up the SEFLIN FreeN et w ith an international em phasis. As th e first w o m an d irector to h ead o n e o f the n atio n ’s ten largest p u blic libraries, I lead 575 em p lo y ees, m an age a $35 m illion bu d get and 31 facilities in an international, m ulticultural, m ultilingual com m unity. I ac­ c ep ted the n om in ation for the ALA P resid en cy b e c a u se I kn o w I ’ll m ak e a d ifference. I ask fo r you r v o te b e c a u se as you r p resi­ d en t I will fo cu s ALA o n an actio n agen da. W ork in g with you— 5 7 ,0 0 0 m em bers strong— I kn o w that to g eth er o u r ad vo cacy c a n and will m ak e a d ifferen ce.