American Libraries

Joseph Egan: Often the work of council is misunderstood by our members. What does council do? How does it function? And who are the councilors who make important decisions about our association and our libraries?

Amy Harmon: Council is awesome, it really is.

Courtney Young: I think that sometimes people perceive council as being this secret, separate entity and that's not the case.

Nick Buron: I think any member can have great influence on what's spoken about here.

Aaron Dobbs: Well, I saw things that I wanted fixed in ALA and I said, "What better way to do it than actually run for council?"

Heidi Dolamore: I actually put my name forward while I was still in library school because I wondered, "Well, how many students are actually on council?" because they're a fairly big portion of ALA membership. And I found out that there was one and I thought, "There should be a little bit more than that."

Courtney Young: I was curious about what the association was doing and in some ways also ignorant of what the association was doing. So, why not dive right in and run for council?

John DeSantis: I realized that technical services librarians were underrepresented on council and I thought I could make a difference or contribution in that area.

Em Claire Knowles: Being active in a variety of areas, it seemed natural to progress to running for the umbrella of the organization.

Amy Harmon: Oh, my gosh. I've learned so much.

Janet Swan Hill: The first thing that comes to mind is parliamentary procedure.

John DeSantis: Free coffee.

Amy Harmon: How decisions get made.

Heidi Dolamore: I think it teaches me patience because things have to go through certain channels.

John DeSantis: My whole institution I don't hold a leadership position and I think that my service on council has given me a certain element of respect at my library that I perhaps might otherwise not have had.

Amy Harmon: Where resolutions are passed.

Janet Swan Hill: Coming to a real understanding of how democracy works or how it ought to work.

Courtney Young: I've gained a better understanding of what the association's doing for me as a librarian.

Terry Kirk: The most important thing that I've learned is that all librarians are more alike than we are different.

Aaron Dobbs: Today's the first council session where I'm actually a councilor. So I finally get to stand up and talk and they can't stop me.

Janet Swan Hill: In a sense, it's difficult to say what council ever accomplishes.

Terry Kirk: We passed a resolution to support the Skills Act.

Aaron Dobbs: The biggest thing council ever did for ALA was creating the Washington Office.

Nick Buron: Being involved in the increase in dues to our members and how it's justified and how to go about making it known to the membership why it's necessary.

Aaron Dobbs: Without the Washington Office, ALA would really just be a toothless old lion on sitting in the corner.

Em Claire Knowles: Both the Toronto conference during the SARS scare, and to be the first conference to attend the New Orleans city venue following the Hurricane Katrina.

Janet Swan Hill: It keeps the organization running and somebody's got to do that.