Learn More About the American Library Association at ALA Midwinter - You're Invited to Attend ALA Council Sessions and ALA's Member Meeting

Communication from the Michigan Library Association’s ALA Councilor, Jennifer Dean

As MLA's ALA Chapter Councilor, I have the honor of representing MLA members - and, in some ways, the state of MI - on the ALA Council.

With the ALA Midwinter meetings coming up beginning this weekend, I wanted to let you know of a number of sessions that you are invited to attend. If you've ever wanted to know more about the business of ALA and how some decisions are made, you are welcome to sit in on a Council session, or for a part of one - unless the Council is in closed session. Only Councilors may speak at Council sessions unless feedback from others in attendance is specifically solicited. (Council sessions can run pretty long even without additional input...)

You may view the agendas and other documents for the three Council sessions at this link: Annual and Midwinter 2021 | About ALA. If you're not interested in attending but would like to talk with me about anything you note in the Council documents, please do reach out to me at [email protected].

High-interest items the Council will be discussing over the three days include Forward Together (the 2nd iteration of the Steering Committee on Organizational Effectiveness (SCOE) - aka the ALA proposal for reorganization) and ALA's fiscal status and operations priorities.

Council I* - Sunday, January 24 @ 12:30-4:30 p.m. Central

Council II** - Monday, January 25 @ 12:00-3:00 p.m. Central

Council III - Tuesday, January 26 @ 12:00-2:00 p.m. Central

*The ALA-APA Council will meet on Sunday, January 24 @ 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. CT. The ALA Council will meet shortly thereafter.

**The Executive Board Forum - an opportunity to meet the candidates running for a seat on ALA's Executive Board - will be held on Monday, January 25 @ 3:15 - 4:15 p.m. CT following the Council II meeting.

Registration Link for Council Sessions: https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mD_-sjlBQo6iCba2rlspQA

In addition, ALA will hold a virtual Membership/Information session on Saturday, January 23 from 11:00 am – 12:30pm CT. All are welcome to register and attend - you do not need to be an ALA member to attend, and you do not need to have registered for the ALA Midwinter Virtual event to attend.

The Membership/Information Session is a brief one and a half hour meeting that will give you a quick update on what is going on in ALA. Only ALA members may vote if any issues are presented for a vote at the membership session. Registration Link: https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XsMXfsHXS96-ZmD5QzoNXw

Hope to see you online with ALA,

Jennifer L. Dean, PhD, MLIS
MLA President and ALA Councilor, 2020-2021
Dean of Libraries and Instructional Technology
University of Detroit Mercy