Feedback
By Staff -- Library Journal, 5/1/2007
It's political, so what?
I wish John Berry (“The Politics of NCLIS,” Blatant Berry, LJ 3/15/07, p. 11) would think back to when the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) was established. It was the American Library Association (ALA) that pushed for its creation, and a valid ALA resolution supports the commission's work. Yes, NCLIS is somewhat political, and so what? Libraries, for the most part, exist on public money and that means they need to be politically astute.... I happen to be a nonpartisan voter. The most I gave to the Clinton campaign was $50. I do have some political smarts, which is how a librarian from a medium-sized Nevada public library, who was never part of the ALA inner circle, got appointed to NCLIS.
There is a difference between a funding agency, such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and an advisory commission such as NCLIS. Berry should understand that!... The director of IMLS is a political appointee as are the members of the IMLS board. But, unlike NCLIS, they are a funding agency and have specific budget constraints. NCLIS can and has supported IMLS budget requests, including Library Services and Technology Act money as good government library and information policy. IMLS cannot lobby for its budget. The performance of IMLS, like that of NCLIS, depends on political appointees....
Under the law, the IMLS director changes from a library professional to a museum professional every four years. When Jeanne Simon and I worked to create IMLS, I wanted the director to be a strong administrator, not necessarily a library or museum professional. The deputy directors are professionals in each discipline.
ALA is not an independent voice of the citizens, it is the lobby for a professional association, and that is how it is seen by Congress and state and local governing entities. ALA became an umbrella organization, so it no longer really speaks for the entire profession. The former divisions, now associations, do their own thing. My total loss of belief in the ability of ALA to speak for citizens came after serving on ALA Council....
Losing NCLIS would be a great disservice to the profession and to the citizens of this country because it is truly the only “independent voice” speaking out on library and information needs from a policy point of view.... To be blunt, Berry's last paragraph does the profession and NCLIS a great wrong. In short, it sucks....—Martha Gould, Dir. Emeritus, Washoe Cty. Lib. Syst., Reno, NV, and former Chair, U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Known as his wife
If the item “Businesslike” (Movers & Shakers, Supplement to LJ 3/15/07, p. 26ff.) is an example of the quality of LJ staff research capabilities, please send them back to school for extensive retraining on how to research and vet a story properly before publishing it. Given the slant toward excessive exaggeration in the item, it sounds very much like Larry White wrote it himself and saved staff some time. I seriously pity the poor students at East Carolina University (ECU) who learn their interpersonal communication skills from White. It should also be pointed out that ECU librarian Emily Blankenship, quoted in the piece, is not exactly White's most objective critic. She is also known to be his wife.—W.J. Leeper, Caldwell, OH
A living on $40K
In response to Linda Jones's puzzlement (“Aren't We Teachers?” Feedback, LJ 3/1/07, p. 10). “What man could support a family on a $40,000 salary?” Jones gasps, as if this were a law of physics, like gravity. I'm a man, supporting a family on my $40,000 salary as a public reference librarian. The cultural perception that $40K is not enough to support a family is just that: a cultural perception. The secret to making it work is this: we don't spend more than we earn. Questions of disparity aside, I choose to work in the public library for a list of reasons, with salary being fairly low on that list. Now, back to the question of gender bias....—Joshua Neds-Fox, Westland, MI
Reviewing atheism
I'm very disappointed that a book on atheism (James A. Haught's Honest Doubt: Essays on Atheism in a Believing Society, LJ 3/15/07, p. 76) was reviewed by someone at a Baptist university. The reviewer's negative tone comes as little surprise to me! I don't trust someone with a personal bias to be objective, and I don't think he should have been given the chance to say whether Haught's book is worthy of inclusion in library collections or not.—Peter E. Johnson, Technology Libn., Mountain Regional Lib. Syst., Young Harris, GA
Paraprofessional support
Just got our copy of LJ and went to the article on the Paraprofessional of the Year 2007 (“Jackie Cornette,” LJ 3/1/07, p. 30–31). It must have been a tough decision; I read the descriptions of the “three to watch” and knew there were many others you had to choose from.... Thank you again for the support and encouragement LJ gives support staff....—Sue Knoche, Medical Lib. Asst., Cataloging/ Acquisitions/Serials Lib., Coll. of Medicine, East Tennessee State Univ., Johnson City, and LJ Paraprofessional of the Year 2003
