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May 15, 2007, 04:34 PM ET
Librarians Choose A New Leader
James R. Rettig, university librarian at the University of Richmond, will be the president of the American Library Association in 2008. He won by a margin of 125 votes out of more than 14,500 cast.
What ensured his win? It couldn’t have been his campaign video, which was long on substance and short on flash. With apologies to Bob Dylan’s "Subterranean Homesick Blues," the video featured Mr. Rettig standing on the campus and flipping through cue cards. (Actually the cards were blank -- or it could have been overexposure in the sun -- with the words added later though computer graphics.) The accompanying voice-over said things like: “We can create that vibrant, inclusive ALA by experimenting boldly in ways we do things, accommodating grass-roots initiatives along with our time-tested forms of participation through committee service and elected office.”
Apparently the message got through: Mr. Rettig ran on a platform of broadening opportunities for members of ALA. He says many librarians have been publishing commentary and research about libraries through resources outside of the association, like blogs. He wants to give those librarians opportunities to publish within ALA, both to give the librarians more exposure and to inject new ideas into the library association.
Of course, ALA presidents are also typically involved in major social and political issues -- the USA Patriot Act, the financing of libraries, and literacy among them. Mr. Rettig said he would oppose the Bush Administration’s plan to close libraries associated with the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers and environmentalists have complained that closing the libraries will limit access to environmental research.
Mr. Rettig ran against Nancy Davenport, who had been both at the Library of Congress and at the Council on Library and Information Resources. --Scott Carlson
Categories: Libraries
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