Atlanta ALA 2002 LJ Report: Freedman's March

If there were qualms about the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in Atlanta June 13–19, well, that was appropriate. It would be hard to garner more attendance than in scenic San Francisco, host to ALA's largest show ever, in 2001. Add to that pressure on library travel budgets and the siphoning effect of the Public Library Association (PLA) conference in Phoenix, held in March. While attendance was down (21,130 from 26,542 in 2001), still conferencegoers packed practical programs, especially ones concerning technology.

Notably, the conference provided a launching pad for incoming ALA President Mitch Freedman's salaries initiative, which was backed by high-profile authors (Michael Moore, Barbara Ehrenreich) and captured the concerns of ALA rank and file. Still, the main vehicle for progress, the new Allied Professional Association (ALA/APA), was slowed dramatically in Council, as councilors expressed concerns about budget figures and governance.

While some people grumbled beforehand about Atlanta, the weather was mostly comfortable and the airport a quick trip via light rail. The Georgia World Congress Center proved accessible from the cluster of downtown hotels. Downtown Atlanta was certainly busier, post-'96 Olympics, than in 1991, when this Southern crossroads last hosted the annual conference.

ALA's new executive director, Keith Fiels, was warmly welcomed in Atlanta, celebrated at a number of receptions and gatherings and seen closely observing meetings and consulting with elected officers and staff. His visibility suggested that the transition from the retiring William Gordon may well be a smooth one.

A presidential inaugural banquet is always a mix of party and policy, but this year's fete—with a 16-piece big band playing swing standards—featured full versions of both. New president Freedman—an unusual winner as petition candidate—spoke at length, passionately advocating his initiative to get ALA action to improve librarian salaries.

"The pay equity issue has finally hit critical mass," he asserted, citing actions by the California and New Jersey library associations to endorse the concept. As nearly half of all librarians will retire in a dozen years, the growing shortage of candidates to replace them "adds another incentive and urgency."

Freedman had no shortage of compelling anecdotes. One involved Nancy Moore, director of the tiny Five Rivers Public Library, Parsons, WV, who had to leave her post for a job at Wal-Mart because of the better pay and benefits.

He said the campaign, to be waged by the new ALA/APA, will set the tone for the struggle, provide tools and training, and demonstrate that ALA and its members speak with one voice on the pay issue. He then listed five ways librarians can help: 1) invite one of the 75 trainers prepared in Atlanta to present a workshop; 2) communicate with the ALA/APA program; 3) send in stories to help illustrate how librarians and libraries change lives; 4) use the tool kit developed for the program (at www.ala.org/advocacy); and 5) become an "outspoken and passionate advocate for libraries and library workers."

Calling libraries "veritable lighthouses of utopian order and generosity," author Robert Hughes (The Culture of Complaint, Oxford Univ., 1993) dazzled the audience at the Opening General Session with his eloquence and erudition. Showing close knowledge of library issues, he condemned the USA Patriot Act, calling it "patriotic correctness," and praised the decision overturning the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). "I see any effort to meddle with the business of libraries for moral or political reasons as an attack on free speech," he declared.

He criticized the fundamentalists within both Islam and Christianity, yet left his audience with some hope. "There is only one place to find out; one place that will give us some clue, some understanding of our present terrors," he said. "It's the library, stupid. And may there be a special curse on those who have the hubris and indecency to pervert it from a repository of knowledge into a spying platform."

Authors Michael Moore (Stupid White Men) and Barbara Ehrenreich both boosted Freedman's salaries initiative. Moore reminded the audience that he owed the success of his book to the perseverance of a single librarian; Ann Sparanese launched a movement to pressure HarperCollins to publish the book, written before September 11 and deemed too out of touch with the national mood after that.

Moore said he was establishing a scholarship fund for minorities to attend library school. He will donate 1000 copies of his films Roger and Me and the upcoming Bowling for Columbine, as well as his television specials, to libraries that can't afford to buy them. Moore also will put together a group of authors to advocate for librarians and library issues.

In the closing conference session, Ehrenreich discussed her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (Metropolitan: Holt), in which she took entry-level jobs (home healthcare aide, Wal-Mart associate, etc.) and tried to pay her bills. "It was a humbling and sometimes humiliating experience," she told the large crowd, noting that "no job is really unskilled." Her forays taught her "the meaninglessness of the official poverty level" and the irony behind "the work ethic I was raised to respect."

She added that some professional workers also suffer from drastic underpayment: adjunct professors, freelance writers, and librarians. When she cited the average starting salary for librarians—$34,000—some in the crowd reacted dubiously, but she then said it was from the ALA web site. While this was her first book that didn't rely on library research, Ehrenreich concluded, "I could've done all the research for Nickel and Dimed in a library after all, by getting a job there."

Although a begrudging envy of Amazon.com is nothing new in librarian circles, nearly every technology program in some way referred to the online bookseller. Some speakers complained of the bland, "one size fits all" quality of library portals compared with the personalization at Amazon. Others referred to the rich content—from book jackets and chapters to reviews to reader's advisory lists—that Amazon supplies. "How many of your patrons go to Amazon to find material, then to the library's OPAC to see if you own it?" one panelist asked. There was even envy of Amazon's delivery system.

Still, there seemed to be less handwringing about libraries' role in the online world. ALA today is infused with a generation of librarians who are as confident of their technical skills as they are secure in their role as librarians. There was ample confirmation of the value that librarians bring to the online world, working outside of a commercial model, as in the new QuestionPoint virtual reference project launched by OCLC and the Library of Congress. Librarians made it clear that they have much to give to the millions of unsatisfied searchers out there. The challenge is for this generation of librarians to let these users know they are there.

The show floor at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) wasn't exactly a peach, but it wasn't the pits either, which is what some of the 900 exhibitors feared. The GWCC had a distinct advantage over rival convention centers: it has a greater number of meeting rooms, which kept more attendees inside the building.

Even the unusually agreeable weather for "Hotlanta"—which can be lethal for exhibits—and the location of the show floor down several tiers of escalators didn't dissuade librarians. The cavernous exhibit area provided ample room for all booths and unusually wide aisles for pedestrians. Vendors employing computer displays did grumble about connection speeds.

As is typical, technology dominated the floor, although publishers also were out in force. ALA continues to be more of a children's book show, but Atlanta saw an increased number of adult authors (and galleys) present than at past conferences, which is a welcome change. Among the adult authors reading and signing on the floor were William Diehl (Eureka, Ballantine), Terence Cheng (Sons of Heaven, HarperCollins), and Jim Grimsley (Boulevard, Algonquin). [For more on adult authors at ALA, see Inside Track, "Have an Author to Lunch ," LJ 7/02]

As evidenced by the crowds at the Mysterious Press and Friends of Libraries USA luncheons; the Newmarket Press–sponsored session featuring Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden and two screenwriters; the first novelist forum; and the other book-related meetings, there is a huge demand for adult authors at ALA conferences that publishers are just beginning to fill.

APA stalls in Council

The ALA Council never quite became the Council for the new ALA/ APA as hoped. The new legal entity, a 501(c)6 organization under the Internal Revenue Service Code, was created to lobby and otherwise do things forbidden under ALA's section 501(c)3 tax status. Already approved were APA's initial programs: a post-MLS certification effort and Freedman's salary and pay equity initiative.

A transition team chaired by 2000–01 ALA President Nancy Kranich was supposed to bring an operating plan with budget to the Council for approval before any further action. Instead, the team's documents were only informational. This left the Council to adjourn and reconstitute itself as the APA Council to debate the APA documents. Noisy opposition came from all quarters, followed by endless debate and parliamentary maneuvering. The APA Council never met. Though stalled, the APA is expected to revive at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia in January.

Reactions to the APA ranged from total acceptance to absolute rejection, although most attendees were confused about the process. Some from the PLA contingent were concerned that the new emphasis on salaries would dilute their efforts to get ALA on board with certification. Meanwhile, some from the Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) were split on the ALA/APA, supporting the idea of the salary initiative but opposing the idea of certification. There was also widespread doubt about why the APA had no membership component and how and to whom it would be accountable without one.

Council actions

Ultimately the Council moved on, taking relatively fast action on many matters, often by consent without debate or voting. Despite leafleting by members of the Anti-Defamation League who were ultimately asked to leave the building, a resolution asking the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to study the destruction of Palestinian libraries and cultural archives and develop a mechanism for providing assistance was passed. However, a clause was struck that would have resolved that ALA take more direct action, sharing the resolution with representatives of the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian National Authority, among others. The International Relations Committee is charged with implementing the resolution. The SRRT Action Council has passed an even stronger resolution.

A resolution on Protecting the Interests of America's Libraries under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) was combined with an ALA Washington Office resolution and passed by consent. It empowers the ALA Legislative Committee to work with the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that public libraries are viewed as legitimate government services under the treaty and thus not subject to GATS disciplines, which aim to foster international competition.

Also passed by Council consent was a "Call to Action in Support of State Library Agencies" expressing ALA concern over the gutting of the agency in Minnesota, along with a Rural Libraries Task Force to identify and study the issues and challenges confronting rural school, tribal, and public libraries. By consent the Council approved "Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights" and a resolution in support of Equal Pay Day.

Again, ALA was unable to attract a quorum to scheduled membership meetings. Part of that was logistical: meeting spaces were difficult to locate and some meetings were listed incorrectly in the conference program. The Council approved a change in the bylaws that, if approved by members, would make a quorum one-half of one percent of the number of personal members, or about 300. Under the proposal, however, Membership Meetings would no longer be allowed to set aside Council actions.

Consent was also given to resolutions on access to sensitive but classified government information, support for amending the Presidential Records Act to allow greater public access to archives, and to reaffirmation of the government's responsibility to provide access to information through the Superintendent of Documents.

Council overwhelmingly rejected a resolution to mandate that ALA accreditation of graduate programs require that the schools maintain the words "library" or "library science" in their titles. While proponents saw the resolution as preventing "the further erosion of the identity of and the importance of librarians and libraries," councilors apparently felt it would hamstring the growing number of "information schools."

Privacy rises, CIPA lingers

The issue of privacy has risen in public concern, and it seems as if the ALA Task Force on Privacy and Confidentiality—formed at the 1999 Midwinter Meeting—was appropriately ahead of the curve. Before the group's interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights was passed by the ALA Council, Deirdre Mulligan (dir., Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic, Boalt Hall Law Sch., UC–Berkeley) praised the document and the accompanying Q&A: "I think it does a wonderful job of giving specific guidance and sets out well-developed principles." See www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/privacyinterpretation.html.

Mulligan said that the CIPA case, while mostly seen as concerning censorship, was equally important because of privacy issues. The federal court, she said, emphasized that the request to unblock a site—a solution proffered by filtering advocates—compromised privacy, since a person might not want to reveal the subject of inquiry. She added that libraries will be asked to play an increasingly important role in digital rights management: "The issue is not to speak anonymously but to access anonymously."

Privacy can be affected by the design and procedures of the library itself. In another session, Eileen Longsworth (dir., Albuquerque-Bernalillo Cty. Lib. Syst., NM) asked, "How many of you used to send out hold notices on a postcard? How many would do it now?"

She observed that old buildings can compromise privacy: "We generally are adding new services without remodeling." Further, she said that many vendors don't enable encryption: "If you're registering borrowers over the web and not encrypting, they're vulnerable to identity theft." Even those lauding Amazon acknowledged the balance between patron confidentiality and the sort of data retention necessary to create personalization.

The Patriot Act cometh, will the FBI?

On top of Hughes's jeremiad, legal analysts condemned the Patriot Act. Many of the changes to the legal structure since September 11, said Mulligan, have little if anything to do with the actions that happened then, "and most don't have the checks and balances we're used to."

Alan Davidson (assoc. dir., Ctr. for Democracy and Technology) talked about both the impact of the Patriot Act, which relaxed standards for launching an investigation, and the revised FBI guidelines, which loosened standards for conducting surveillance in a public space.

He noted that, under the Patriot Act, investigators can gain access to "business records," including those from libraries, without a court order stating probable cause. "We're beginning to hear from ISPs [Internet Service Providers] that this is used not just to get information about individuals but whole databases, to develop patterns of activity," he said. "The problem there is a lot of innocent behavior can be swept up."

He noted that the FBI has issued some "incredibly broad orders" for lists of databases or patrons. "If you can give them something narrower and quicker, they may appreciate it," he advised.

The FBI now can engage in "proactive seeking out of information"; the problem is that this no longer has to happen in the context of a criminal inquiry. "It's a myth to say the FBI wasn't allowed to surf the net," he said, noting there was previously a very low threshold for preliminary inquiries. The attacks on September 11, he reminded the audience, were not detected owing to a lack of analysis, not a lack of information.

MN harassment case provokes debate

What a difference a year makes. At the San Francisco conference, attendees warily but hopefully heard criticisms that CIPA was untenable and unconstitutional. Those criticisms were borne out when a three-judge panel overturned the law May 31, in a suit instigated by ALA.

Just a day after the conference ended, on June 20, the Justice Department announced that it would appeal that decision to the Supreme Court. Even so, that gave breathing room to libraries concerned about having either to install filters to block Internet content or forgo federal funds.

Given that, the liveliest discussion of pornography and the Internet concerned an unresolved legal case, involving "hostile environment" sexual harassment claims filed by 12 staffers at the main library of the Minneapolis Public Library (MPL). Betsy Williams, manager in MPL's Humanities Division, directly supervises three of the complainants. She recounted "three years of escalating tension." While the library's Internet use policy said it didn't restrict patron Internet access, patrons and staff frequently complained about seeing open porn surfing, patrons refusing to leave terminals, and pornography printouts being left for others to see. Security staff, Williams said, did not back up incident reports unless they saw them in person.

Finally, press coverage, staff protests, and the EEOC complaint helped push the library to tighten its policy in May 2000—though not use filters. "They have completely changed the atmosphere at the library," Williams said.

Commenting on the issue, Ohio State University law professor Camille Hébert cited a conflict of values—intellectual freedom vs. gender equality/human dignity. She said that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does apply in such cases, as actions of nonemployees can create a sexually hostile environment; it depends on whether the employer knows or should have known of those actions. Hébert acknowledged that it is impossible to ensure that employees are free from viewing sexual images and that sexual harassment requires severe and pervasive conduct.

Robert Corn-Revere, a partner in the Washington firm Hogan & Hartson and lead counsel in the 1998 case that invalidated blanket library Internet filtering in Loudoun County, VA, acknowledged that MPL failed to adapt to the situation. However, he warned that if the concept of hostile environment harassment were applied to libraries, similar cases could be brought by those offended by seeing graphic displays of vivisection, abortion, or racial hostility. "If you open this door based on sexual harassment, you open a much broader door," Corn-Revere said. Asked what the Minneapolis complainants deserve, he said they deserve sympathy and understanding, "but a legal solution, no."

Some paradoxes

Despite the frightening statistics that librarian numbers are dwindling quickly, recruiting sessions at ALA were sparsely attended. This was unfortunate, since panelists offered excellent advice—both practical and radical—on luring newcomers to the field. The largest stumbling block is salaries, and speakers approvingly referenced Freedman's campaign.

Claudia Sumler (dir., Camden Cty. Lib. Syst., NJ) recommended a "grow your own" approach with paraprofessionals already on staff. She also suggested that libraries develop programs with teens to instill an interest in the profession. New Jersey has developed a web site (www.becomealibrarian.org) for recruiting.

With salaries low, Sumler suggested, perhaps libraries may need fewer—but higher paid—MLS-holders for the professional work. "If we really want to pay people what they deserve," Sumler said, "we have to ask what we really expect a professional librarian to do in the 21st century."

UCLA's Virginia Walter warned that the state of children's librarianship is even more depressed. Many candidates interested in working with children choose teaching over librarianship because it pays more.

Em Claire Knowles (asst. dean, Simmons College GSLIS, Boston) advised libraries to use their current minority staffers as recruiters and to join minority library groups. She also suggested that libraries support promising recruits, linking them to jobs and helping with tuition and grants. She asserted that library schools need newer, younger teachers with whom students can better identify.

The Bush initiative

In late 2001, the White House announced an initiative to provide $10 million for library education. Robert Martin, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which oversees the Bush program, outlined a draft of guidelines for "Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century," as the initiative has been dubbed.

At its core, the draft involves not just recruiting and educating the next generation but also developing faculty, encouraging paraprofessional library staff to become librarians (especially in locations where recruitment is historically difficult), and helping the library community with recruitment and education.

In order to be eligible for funding, libraries must partner with IMLS programs, and all proposals must incorporate diversity goals based on community needs. These criteria are for the first year only, and Martin stressed that if they don't work, they will be changed for the second year, "so give us your feedback."

Techies needed

How do you recruit and retain technical staff? Jim Barrentine, of the consulting firm Information Partners, said that the sagging economy is tough on budgets but has produced a hirer's market, thanks to the dot-com burnout. He suggested that libraries that lack hiring expertise employ a tech consultant to evaluate the candidates.

Libraries may have to reach deep into their pockets to acquire top-shelf techies and even pay IT managers more than the library director. There may be bargains, though. Barrentine also encouraged libraries to seek out applicants possessing a high degree of technical skills but little or no experience—such as students in academic libraries.

Because libraries can't compete financially with the private sector, they should offer other incentives such as continuing education and flexible work schedules, Barrentine said.

Detroit Area Library Network Director Michael Piper said that, despite the myth that money is the most important factor for techies, career growth is far more significant. He encouraged libraries to create a desirable, supportive environment: "Engage their souls; people want to be part of something great."

Don't forget support staff

If librarians are treated poorly in the paycheck, support staff have it worse, and there was increasing recognition that the two groups need an alliance. Council agreed to dedicate one seat on ALA's Pay Equity Committee to a support staffer.

At a session devoted to support staff, Freedman read a speech from Pat Schuman, chair of his Better Salaries/Pay Equity Task Force, who was unable to attend. Schuman noted that library users usually don't check a library worker's credentials. Also, she observed that "we can't even decide what to call you: paraprofessional, library assistant, support staff." She called for much more of an effort to gain statistics on pay.

Freedman acknowledged that "it was a political decision" to refer to the advocacy tool kit as the "Campaign for America's Librarians, and it was mine, but the task force is for all."

Gene Kinnaly of the Library of Congress noted that two-thirds of all library workers are support staff. Based on dozens of responses sent to an electronic mailing list, he cataloged a litany of woes. "One problem is that position descriptions are hopelessly outdated," he said. He also cited the "double whammy" of pay inequity compared with positions outside libraries and also within them. Kinnaly concluded that "your salary should reflect the kind of work you do, not your degree."

"With the formation of the APA, perhaps the time has come for some national certification for support staff," Kinnaly said. He also encouraged people to discontinue use of the term nonprofessional—"it's divisive, misleading, and insulting."

Donna Mandel of the Oakland Public Library cited the value of unions to support staff, stating how they can raise wages through collective bargaining, living wage laws, and pay equity studies. Unions can even help increase the budget by backing ballot measures.

Trends mature

Several hot technology trends showed signs of coming into their adolescence in Atlanta. Services like chat reference and metasearching have captured the interest of large numbers of librarians.

Attendance at nearly all technology programs was heavy, and both of the Library and Information Technology Association's programs on the future of technology—"What's the Next Wave in Technology" and "Top Technology Trends"—had crowds sitting in the aisles. Still, unlike in previous years, there was an accumulated wariness about e-books, as librarians recognize that the publishing industry must come up with a universally acceptable format and simple delivery system.

While there was plenty of talk about funding problems at both public and academic libraries, technology budgets seemed to remain flat or experienced modest growth. After all, librarians have spent years creating the infrastructure, content, and staff expertise to provide services to users remotely—and increasingly to meet and help these users online. Few seemed willing to retrench from this mission.

Chat and search

From the Machine-Assisted Reference Section preconference (Digital Reference@Your Library) to the Reference and User Services Association program on the "Care and Feeding of the Virtual Librarian," librarians discussed this rapidly evolving service enthusiastically. Chat reference, they concluded, should be one among many services that comprise virtual reference, including FAX back and e-mail reference. Other issues included the need to market chat reference better, as well as standards, evaluation, and training.

Librarians had a chance to view the new QuestionPoint, which debuted just a week before the conference. It currently has over 120 clients that have subscribed and are in some stage of implementation; some clients may involve multiple libraries. An additional 800-plus profiles have been established via consortial arrangements, but those clients have not yet determined their participation. LSSI, a company that provides hundreds of libraries with both the software and the reference service itself, drew large, animated crowds to its booth.

Metasearching—the capacity to search across a number of databases to produce one set of results—is being implemented, or at least considered, by increasing numbers of libraries. Fretwell-Downing, Inc. recently announced its collaboration with seven major academic libraries to provide a single point of access to web-based resources. The company's booth was crowded with librarians testing it themselves.

Some speakers thought metasearching raised more questions than answers. No one denied that the ease of simultaneously searching a library catalog, a periodical database, and the web was a breakthrough. But as one panelist wondered, "What do you do with the mammoth results sets these single interfaces produce?"

Interoperability and the future

Interoperability—sharing data beyond the boundaries of systems and software—was the tech buzzword in Atlanta. The term was applied in several ways, from the ability of integrated online library systems to work together to the sharing of metadata to reference linking.

Collaboration among vendors continues to grow, and NISO's Z39.83, the Circulation Interchange Protocol now under review, will only increase interoperability between vendor platforms and institutions. Interoperability will likely become a requirement in the next wave of library RFPs.

Several speakers looked at sophisticated game software for possible applications to libraries. After all, games require users to navigate complex environments—not unlike libraries. "How can this technology be harnessed in educational uses?" asked Clifford Lynch of the Coalition for Networked Information. Lynch also suggested that librarians watch the development of learning management systems such as Blackboard and the open courseware programs at MIT and Stanford.

Webcasting—using the web to deliver live or delayed versions of video broadcasts—could be used to capture story hours, book discussions, and other programs, noted consultant Joan Frye. While this allows library activities to be available 24/7, it also insures that librarian-created content remains part of the library's collection.

Wireless technology continues to fascinate speakers, more for its pragmatic aspects, such as expanding online access within a building or allowing laptop programs throughout a building. (For more tech announcements from ALA, see InfoTech)

Future battles presaged

In a pronounced shift in the way copyright issues have been presented to librarians, ALA copyright specialist Carrie Russell "reprimanded" librarians for not doing enough to fight the incursions of copyright in their own libraries and in the political arena. "We're very good at conferences," said Russell, "but then we go back to our libraries and it's a different story."

Russell was joined by scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Copyrights and Copywrongs (NYU Pr., 2001). He warned academics that if they do not take note of changes in copyright law, they may find that some of their research—such as the encryption research of Princeton University professor Edward Felten—has become illegal.

Vaidhyanathan further posited that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has now proven "a complete failure" that has not stopped piracy but has stripped fair use rights from users. Also, David Bollier, author of Silent Theft (Routledge, 2002), eloquently compared the birth of a copyright movement among librarians and the public with the birth of the environmental movement in the 1960s. He noted that environmentalists had literally to invent the term "the environment" to describe the surroundings they sought to protect.

Lessig delivers keynote

With copyright issues now a major focus for ALA and the profession as a whole, the group bestowed its first-ever L. Ray Patterson "Copyright Hero" award on none other than the award's namesake. Patterson is the Pope Brock Professor of Law at the University of Georgia and the author of Copyright in Historical Perspective (Vanderbilt Univ., 1968), the seminal treatment of copyright history.

The award was presented to Patterson by Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, who captivated librarians with his keynote address on the evolution of copyright and technology and his upcoming Supreme Court battle to turn back the Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (see "Copyright in the Balance," LJ 7/02, p. 44–46).

Lessig discussed how entrenched corporate interests—from resistance to the introduction of FM radio to the Disney Corporation's attempt to control stories—have attempted to prevent others from achieving the same success. He urged librarians to "reframe the debate" away from the copyright industry's perspective on piracy and theft.

Rather, the issue is our "core values" of freedom. Winning this battle will require "those who practice these freedoms everyday to speak," Lessig told librarians. "That's you."

—Reported by Andrew Richard Albanese, John Berry, Rachel Collins, Francine Fialkoff, Barbara Hoffert, Brian Kenney, Heather McCormack, Norman Oder, Michael Rogers, & Nathan Ward