Confessions of a Mad Librarian

Q: You're running for ALA Council before you graduate with an MLS from San Jose State University. Why not wait until you're "a librarian"?

A: For the same reasons I didn�t wait until I�d graduated to run for CLA Assembly [California Library Association], or become editor of California Libraries; because I believe that I can make a contribution and that I should do something for libraries and librarians, who have done so very much for me. Aside from that, I think someone has to raise important questions about the nature of publicly-funded libraries, especially in regard to establishing more stable funding, and in regard to privacy and control issues such as have been revealed in the aftermath of the USA �PATRIOT� act. Finally, I want to give a voice to the concerns of my colleagues�new graduates and those still in library school, who are facing a hard spell of waiting for available jobs. I�d like to see libraries �adopt� students and new grads�maintain contact, give something to keep them from losing faith or disappearing into some other line of work.

Q: What sort of resources and support does it take to be an ALA Councilor? Isn't it expensive and time-consuming, having to attend each Annual and Mid-Winter for 2 years?

A: I don�t know that it takes much support, but I�d gladly accept contributions in unmarked bills. I imagine and certainly hope it is time consuming, but I don�t see any difficulty in attending meetings, except that I have a tendency to doodle when things get dull. The real strain will be staying in hotels; generally the beds are so soft I have to use the floor, and I will miss my two terriers.

Q: What do you see as the future of ALA and how does that affect your decision to run?

A: I see ALA becoming more of a voice for librarians than it has been in the past. This has been the trend in many organizations faced with similar challenges, such as among teacher organizations in the seventies and eighties. ALA has begun to stress the significance and indeed, the necessity of the librarian in the information structure. It took the threat of the Internet, or at least the perception by certain segments of the public that the Internet made the librarian a disposable item, to make this occur, but no matter how it is a good thing. As for my choice, I would not be running if I didn�t feel I could come down hard on the side of better pay and increased control for librarians. After twenty years defending equal pay provisions and other federal and state workplace rights for workers, I have a pretty good idea of how the employment world turns and the ways in which the game is played. I see ALA putting together some sort of mechanism to assist librarians in seeking redress, and I�d be happy to take a role in that. Librarianship is a calling, but it is also a job. To get and keep good people we must make it worth a talented person�s while to work in this field, and I�ll do whatever I can to make that happen.

Q: What is your platform and do you have a target audience/constituency?

A: My platform, in a few words, is to increase support for those entering the field, make earnest, concrete attempts on the local level to raise pay and eliminate salary inequities, and to otherwise be of service. My target constituency is anybody in the library who cashes a paycheck, but especially the person who has to get another year out of the old Buick because there isn�t enough in the bank for a new one.

Q: What do you want to accomplish as a Councilor?

A: In concrete terms I�d like to create a unit of the organization whose function is to assist local librarian groups and individuals in determining what steps they can take to increase salaries and benefits, and also to better working conditions. I�d also like to see about creating a program whereby libraries could adopt students�give them work and encouragement along the way to a degree, rather like an apprenticeship, something the trade needs very badly. Of course I�d also work as a conduit for member concerns, which is perhaps the most significant of the roles of the job.

Q: There is a lot of emphasis on recruiting new librarians/library support staff in the professional literature, yet there's been something of a backlash on a few list-servs for new and up-and-coming librarians: lots of hiring freezes and threats of layoffs, low entry-level pay and the need to move to different sections of the country in order to get a profession position have made some people rather cynical towards recruitment and talk of shortages. What's your perspective and what can/should ALA do in this regard?

A: Nobody should be expected to be happy in this situation. We were recruited into the field by folks who told us that the profession was graying and retiring in record numbers; that libraries had an unprecedented number of vacancies and that we would have no difficulty finding work. The result of this was the largest enrollment in library school history, followed immediately by a collapse of the hiring market. Obviously, nobody lied to or misled us; circumstances have conspired to put all of us in this fix, and certainly the libraries would dearly love to hire. And they will hire, eventually. But people don�t eat in the long run, they eat every day, and the landlord isn�t interested in your potential. ALA can�t make the economy turn around, but they can help libraries maintain links with those of us who are waiting for the market to change, and they can push for libraries to use library students and the newly-graduated in other capacities in their libraries. We can�t all move to East Okobogee to apply for an opening, and the frustration is understandable.

You should perhaps see my article �Message to the Bridge,� in the latest edition of Public Libraries.

Q: One of your main platform planks is better/more equitable pay. ALA has created an Allied Professional Association, in part to promote pay equity initiatives in new and various ways. As an ALA Councilor, you would also be part of the governing board of ALA-APA. How much of your focus would be devoted to ALA-APA and how do you see that body becoming an effective force for change within the profession?

A: I would suggest that APA is a great first step, but the emphasis of the organization has to gradually shift from libraries to librarians. Communities, cities, universities and businesses create and support libraries. They only secondarily support librarians, and believe me, if push comes to shove, the building wins out over the staff. Somebody has to advocate for the librarian, and the larger unit that performs that task the better the result will be. Case in point is the American Medical Association. They have something to say about hospitals and health care, but they have a great deal to say about doctors�and the politicians listen. Overall you can count me in on APA and anything else working to the same purpose.

Q: Do you know if other library/information science students have been nominated for the ALA Council? If so, have any won?

A: Not that I am aware of. It�s a bit lonely out here.

Q: What should people who haven't regularly read your missives (on the CALIX-L and NEWLIB-L lists, as well as LISNews.com) know about you and why they should vote for you?

A: I am 47 years old, married with two terriers. I have about 120 rose bushes. I like to walk and hike and write. You should vote for me because I take my work seriously and I think that librarians are just about the best people on earth.

M. M.