ALA Election Squeakers; Rettig Gains Presidency, Hersberger Will Be Treasurer

-- Library Journal, 5/2/2007

James Rettig, an expert on reference and university librarian at the University of Richmond, VA, has been elected 2008-9 president of the American Library Association (ALA) in a very close vote, defeating Nancy Davenport, a longtime Library of Congress executive and president, Nancy Davenport and Associates. The vote was 7033 to 6908. It was the fourth election in which ALA members voted electronically, and the number of voters continued to edge up, to 15,031. In 2006, there were a total of 13,600 votes. ALA has more than 64,000 members.

Rettig, who will become president-elect in July 2007, will assume the presidency a year later, following the Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA. A three-term member of the ALA Council, Rettig served on the ALA Executive Board from 2003 to 2006. He has held leadership positions in several other professional organizations; in his platform, he pledged to "increase opportunities for meaningful member participation in ALA" and strengthen the ALA-APA (Allied Professional Association), among other goals.

Rodney M. Hersberger, dean of the University Library at California State University-Bakersfield (CSUB), was elected to a three-year term as ALA Treasurer in another close vote; he will begin that term at the conclusion of the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Hersberger got 6607 votes, while rival candidate Jo Ann Pinder, former director of the Gwinnett County Public Library, GA, got 6429 votes. Hersberger, who serves on the ALA Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC), represented the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) on the ALA Council from 1989 to 1993. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting and an MBA along with his library degree.