LIRT Members Run for ALA Council
by Rebecca Jackson, George Washington University, rjackson@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
Two of LIRT's most active members are running for ALA Council this spring.
LIRT members are encouraged to vote for these members for three reasons:
- Both of these librarians have long been active in LIRT, as past presidents
and continuing active members. Their continuing contributions to LIRT testify
to their ability to serve well on the ALA Council.
- There is no one on ALA Council who can represent the Round Tables. ALA is
planning some organizational changes over the next few years, changes which
might have a profound impact on LIRT and other Round Tables. Having LIRT
members on the Council will ensure that the interests of the Round Tables will
be heard.
- As the proliferation of electronic resources and remote library use become
more widespread, it is also important that there be representation of the
interests of library instruction librarians. Predictions are that librarians
will be shifting their focuses from access to service; library instruction is
one of the most important services to help users deal with the vast array of
information sources available to them.
The two members of LIRT that we are aware of who are running for ALA Council
are Thelma Tate and Tobeylynn Birch. There may be other LIRT members running.
When you receive your ballot, we hope you will take
the time to identify librarians with strong instructional backgrounds, or
other Round Table backgrounds, read their statements of concern, and vote.
Tobeylynn Birch
is the Director of Library and Information Services at the
California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. She
has been an active member of LIRT since 1983 and served as President in
1988-89. She is currently serving on the Elections/Nominations Committee.
She was involved in both the 10th and the 15th LIRT anniversary celebrations,
and led the move to produce a video for LIRT, which was awarded a 1990 World
Book-ALA Goal Award.
"ALA is a large and complex organization struggling to adapt to changing
environments. . . . I want to contribute my voice to this discussion of what
ALA should be doing and where it should be going. My concerns include:
- that organizational changes increase opportunities for members to
participate in and benefit from ALA;
- that organizational changes recognize the important role and
contributions of Round Tables, which have no formal representation
on Council;
- that programs and services of ALA pay attention to the needs of
all libraries, large and small, rich and poor; . . .
- that ALA recognize the importance of library instruction in life-long
information literacy. "
THELMA TATE
serves as the Coordinator of Reference Services at the Mabel Smith
Douglass Library, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has
served on many LIRT committees and was President of LIRT from 1987-1988. She
is also active in other ALA associations, as well as being LIRT's IFLA
representative and ALA's representative to the IFLA Section on School
Libraries.
"Standards and policies that effectively address communication among
librarians across types and sizes of libraries in an age of rapid change and
reserved budgets pose vital concerns; special care is needed to insure that
diverse units of ALA are supported and provided equitable leadership
opportunities for strategic planning and implementation, as well as financial
support for program development . . . and continuing education of librarians
for public services in an electronic environment are necessary. If elected, I
will work with members of Council, personnel of ALA Headquarters, and
membership of ALA to help insure that all diverse units within ALA and
librarians from all types of libraries share in the leadership and work of the
organization, and benefit positively from standards and policies established
thereby. "
WELCOME
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ISSUES Last revised December 21, 1999.