Alire Elected ALA President

In an election marked by a growing number of participants, Camila Alire, dean emeritus of the libraries of both the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University, won election as 2009–10 American Library Association (ALA) president, with 8,956 votes, or 55.8 percent of the total. J. Linda Williams, coordinator of library media services for Anne Arundel County public schools in Annapolis, MD, got 7,102 votes. Alire will assume the title of president-elect at the American Library Association annual conference this month in Anaheim, CA, and take the top spot the following year. In an interview (see “Library Advocacy x 2,” LJ 4/1/08, p. 50–52), Alire stressed advocacy training for librarians “back home,” among other things, as part of her platform.

ALA members also chose 34 Councilors-at-Large, to serve from 2008 to 2011; one will serve from 2008 to 2009. The top vote-getters were Barbara Stripling, director of library services for the New York City Department of Education; Carla J. Stoffle, dean, University of Arizona Library; and Bonnie L. Kunzel, a youth services and adolescent literacy consultant, Germantown, TN.

Of the 59,141 members eligible to vote, 17,089 cast ballots (28.9 percent), including 15,655 electronic and 1,434 paper. That's up from last year when, of 55,775 eligible members, 15,031 voted (26.95 percent), breaking down to 13,373 electronic and 1,658 paper ballots. ALA's Mary Ghikas said that before electronic voting began in 2004, only 9,844 members cast ballots in the 2003 election, a mere 17.7 percent of eligible voters.