Issue Debates, Campaign Subsidies Are Considered for ALA Elections

Staff -- Library Journal, 1/5/1998

Triggered by a posting to the American Library Association (ALA) Council listserv from Councilor Peter Graham (Rutgers University), a dozen or more members have been debating various aspects of the ALA presidential election process and the campaigns leading up to it. Graham called for a more issue-oriented campaign and candidate choice, and nearly all posters agreed with him. Things deteriorated from there, with Councilor Mark Rosenzweig (Hofstra University) posting a report from a staffer of the Hennepin County Library, MN, clearly favoring candidate Martín Goméz over Sarah Long on the basis of a speech she made there some time ago. Most of the postings came from a small group of seasoned council debaters like Graham and Rosenzweig, Carolyn Caywood, Karen Schneider, Sue Kamm (who said she found "one" of the candidates "unacceptable"), Janet Swan Hill, and of course, the several-times-a-day contributor James Casey.

Among the proposals aired in the ongoing discussion, many of which will be presented at the upcoming ALA Midwinter Meeting, are one to provide limited financing of ALA presidential campaigns out of the ALA treasury, and allowing no other funds to be used in such campaigns. Another proposal would allow members of ALA to run for office by "electronic" petition, verifying the signatories to such E-documents by using their membership numbers. Will Manley, the controversial columnist for two of ALA's leading publications, was discussed as a possible petition candidate, although he said several months ago that he was not going to run. Some said a Manley candidacy would be "frivolous," others that it would be, as one put it, "a breath of fresh air."