The 2024 Annual Conference was held in beautiful San Diego from June 27th to July 2nd. Featured speakers included Trevor Noah, who delivered a rousing keynote in support of libraries and freedom of access; award-winning author Kwame Alexander; actor and author Taraji P. Henson; world champion gymnast Maggie Nelson; actor Max Greenfield; and journalists Ali Velshi and Connie Chung. The closing session featured TonyAward-winning actor Anika Noni Rose. The conference drew more than 13,500 registrants.
Of interest to Washingtonians, artists John and Anni Furniss spoke about their first book, a memoir of John’s life and work entitled The Blind Woodsman. John and Anni live in Washougal, where John creates stunning art as a woodworker. John is also blind, the result of a suicide attempt at age 16. Their memoir details John’s past struggles with mental health and addiction, and his ability to find purpose in his art. His kind, generous spirit and his devoted marriage to Anni have made them a social media sensation, with more than two million followers across all platforms.
The ALA Council, the governing body of the association, met three times during the conference. All council reports, including agendas, minutes, reports, and resolutions, can be found online at https://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/council/documents (requires current ALA membership to access).
During Council I, the body heard reports from officers and committee chairs and discussed two resolutions put forward by councilors. The “Resolution to Support AASL School Library Chapters and ACRL Academic Library Chapters”, contained in CD#51, passed with broad support. Related Council discussion highlighted the difficulty of fostering effective two-way communication between state chapters and those library workers who are not affiliated with the state association nor with ALA. The “Resolution Reaffirming ALA’s commitment to Intellectual Freedom and Issuing a Call to Action”, ALA CD#52, passed unanimously.
Council II featured several additional committee reports. The Policy Monitoring Committee recommended striking outdated language from the ALA Policy Manual, and Council agreed with the recommendations. The Committee on Organization proposed several committee changes, as follows:
Establishing a new Affiliates Committee, which Council passed.
Dissolving the dormant Committee on Research and Statistics, which Council also agreed to.
Changing the name of the Training, Organization, and Leadership Development Committee to the ALA Leadership Development Committee, which Council passed.
Establishing a new Makerspace Round Table, which Council discussed before tabling until the LibLearnX meeting in January, allowing more time for budget implications to be discussed.
ALA President Emily Drabinski also led a broad discussion on the future of ALA, which touched on the search for a new Executive Director following the departure of Tracie D. Hall in the fall of 2023, as well as the following topics:
Defending the right to read.
Problems facing practitioners in the field.
Member engagement and the value of membership.
Concerns about AI and its impact on publishing.
Ensuring access to books.
Updated language in policy for increased accessibility and engagement.
Ideas to increase attendance at conferences, especially for underrepresented or disadvantaged members.
And finally, Council III featured several memorial resolutions honoring library workers, as well as reports from the ALA Treasurer, the Committee on Legislation, and the Intellectual Freedom Committee. A resolution was introduced and passed encouraging library workers to participate in the 2024 United States elections by registering to vote, educating themselves on candidates and issues, and participating in the democratic process by voting. Another resolution was introduced directing the Executive Board to form a working group to develop Societal Statement Guidelines for ALA. These guidelines would “inform when and how the organization issues public statements about national and societal issues.” The resolution noted that the Center for Association Leadership has established similar guidelines. The resolution passed with near unanimous support.
Lastly, President Drabinski provided an update about the process to fill the vacancy of the president-elect, after Raymond Pun announced in June that health issues would prevent him from assuming the role he had just been elected to this spring.
The ALA Council met virtually on July 24th to consider a new candidate put forward by the Executive Board, following a process outlined in the ALA Bylaws. Sam Helmick, community and access services coordinator at Iowa City Public Library, was appointed as ALA president-elect, effective immediately.
Steven Bailey is a Librarian & Information Services Manager for the King County Library System, overseeing programs, services, outreach, and collections for three libraries. Steven earned his Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree in 2005 from the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the ALA Leadership Institute and has been a member of the ALA Chapter Relations Committee and the ALA Business Reference Committee (BRASS). He has served on ALA Council since 2019.
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