Hello Library Society of the World/Good-bye ALA Council

(This one's for you, Blake!) 

Twitter continues to rock my world in the most surprising ways.  It has connected me to librarians and others in my new hometown that I might never have otherwise found.  It has been great fun to share questions from the ref desk--there's been some excellent collaboration on a few stumpers.  In general, it's been a satisfying community builder that fits the way some of us connect and communicate.  Last week, however, a small Twitter conversation about disappointment with the American Library Association's unsuitability as a representative organization for a growing number of library folk, grew into the creation of a new library organization, Library Society of the World. 

It's sort of a joke, but sort of not.  Right now, it exists as a wiki and has, at most, 25 members.  It's not a joke in that it represents the way in which many of us wish ALA worked--it's flat, democratic (okay--anarchistic), inclusive, responsive, fluid and cheap (as in free).  In fact, I just changed our mission statement: 

the mission is to [represent / raise awareness of] the issues of importance to the library community and to share our knowledge and experience.

I changed it from "librarians" to "the library community," because patrons are a much larger part of the library community than librarians (small "l"--inclusive of everyone from maintenance staff to director).  But, anyone can go in and change that if they don't like it. I'm not going to try and justify or sell it at this point. It is what it is.  It might turn out to be a flippant diversion.  It may turn into something wonderfully unexpected. It may quickly become a parody of everything we most hate about ALA.  Thanks to Josh Neff for being so responsive to the discussion--"hey kids, let's put on a wiki!"  If you've ever bitched about ALA or wished for an alternative, now's your chance.  Because it is based and dependent on participation, it is a No Whine Zone.  The only bummer is that it does require a password, in order to foil blog spam.  Email or leave a comment here if you want the password.

This all leads to the announcement that I am resigning my seat on ALA Council, just a year into my 2nd three-year term.  I've been thinking about it for awhile, but this week's election results and the postcard flap cemented my decision. I'm not giving up on ALA as a whole--I truly value my work with the Public Programs Office.  But, for now, I am done with ALA governance.  I could leave it at that, but will offer a full explanation soon.  It's a post that deserves more than my usual throwaway writing. 

Comments

[Lilleth Newby]

I am interested. Please send me access info.
Thanks.

[lislemck]

Me, too. I'll never understand how you stood ALA Council for so long. That said, I do appreciate your efforts--and hope this new one will be even better! I think Typepad will give you my email address, but if not, you can find it at www.biblioblatherblog.blogspot.com.

[amy]

Sounds like something I'm trying to do on a local level. I'd love to join, please

[Rudy]

I'd love to check this out as well -- email me at rudy.leon@gmail.com

[Karin Dalziel]

I'd like to check it out... email promo@nirak.net.

[Mark]

Hey Rochelle, can I come in?

[jessamyn]

Congrats! I've been out of the Council loop for a while, can you point me to someplace where I can read about "the postcard flap"?