Feedback: Letters to LJ, November 15, 2010 

They support libraries!
Really? These are the people who are not going on vacation, they are not buying brand names, they are not buying new clothes and fancy toys (Francine Fialkoff, “Shame on the Antitaxers,” Editorial, LJ 10/1/10, p. 8). I do not think Fialkoff knows who these people are. They are advocates for libraries. It is important that we take a step back to see what the real issues are. Most are not targeting libraries. They are balancing an ever smaller budget just like we are. In the sacrosanct “Place” theory, what comes first? The “antitaxers” have to worry about home first. What would you cut from their budgets? Should you even be involved in those decisions? No one screams about waste in libraries. They do, however, have evidence of waste in other areas of government spending. How about we expose that instead of insulting our biggest group of advocates?
—Cathy Korthals, LTA, St. Charles, IL

Cut conference costs
John Berry’s “Half Way to ALA” (Blatant Berry, LJ 10/1/10, p. 10) was right on the money (pardon the pun). He wrote about conference costs before and in [the American Library Association conference preview] “The Costly Cornucopia” (LJ 6/1/10, p. 26-38), and we have exchanged emails regarding the topic. In that conference preview, there was a line asking the old hands in the field to consider taking a younger member of the profession out for a meal to help offset some of their expenses to attend. I can say that I am still paying off the expenses of the two conferences I have attended (at my own cost) this year.

It makes me ponder whether the networking and relationships that will be needed to move this profession forward in this country will be limited to those who can manage the resources to do so, whether on their library’s expense account or their own dime. For as much value gained in terms of new ideas and new friends I get from each conference, there is a small voice in the back of my mind that thinks of the other things on which the vacation time and expenses could be spent. This is not to say that I do not love the trips, the things I see and hear, the people I meet, and the time I have, but it doesn’t take away from the financial elements that I am dealing with months later.

I agree with Berry that ALA needs to work on ways to make the conferences a bit friendlier to the wallets of its younger members. There is an economic might that the organization wields that comes with the ability to negotiate thousands of hotel rooms. Something can be done about it, and I hope that Berry’s article is a spark of inspiration for that endeavor....
—Andy Woodworth, Libn., Library Advocate, & Blogger at award-winning blog “Agnostic, Maybe,” Bordentown, NJ

Blatantly wrong!
In “Half Way to ALA” (LJ 10/1/10, p. 10), John Berry states that “top managers, directors of libraries, and others who get the least use out of them get full subsidy and time off to attend conferences.” He is very wrong. You have generalized all top managers and directors into one pot. I have been the dean at University of Northern Iowa (UNI) for over ten years now, and never once have I allocated more to myself for American Library Association (ALA) conference attendance than I have to any other librarian. This fiscal year, all librarians here have been allocated a measly $500 for their attendance at conferences of their choice. Our budget simply cannot support more. I provide additional support for individuals attending professional development opportunities directly related to their responsibilities, or for which we are asking them to attend. I also provide additional support for the nontenured librarian who will be presenting at a conference. All of the librarians are provided time off to attend professional development opportunities. I resent Berry’s implication that those of us “who get the least out of” ALA attendance get a “full subsidy.” Blatantly inaccurate on both counts!
—Marilyn Mercado, Cedar Falls, IA

A starred review
Back in 2004, Volcano Press was in deep financial trouble. We had been pioneers on the subject of domestic violence, but our book sales over the years had plummeted.... We had just told our only employee we would have to cut her to half time.... Suddenly, Antoinette Brinkman wrote for LJ starred reviews of Elaine Weiss’s Family and Friends’ Guide to Domestic Violence: How To Listen, Talk and Take Action When Someone You Care About Is Being Abused and Surviving Domestic Violence: Voices of Women Who Broke Free. Orders started flooding in. Boxes of books were being shipped to library distributors. It was like a miracle. To this day, these two books, together with our Learning To Live Without Violence: A Handbook for Men, are Volcano’s lead sales.... If you at LJ ever wonder about the significance of starred reviews, believe us, you save companies!
—Ruth Gottstein, Publisher Emerita, Volcano Pr., CA

A Davidson photo
The photo of Carl Malamud illustrating Debbie Rabina’s “Public Information for All: An LJ Q&A” (LJ 11/1/10, p. 22) was taken by James Duncan Davidson (www.­flickr.com/photos/oreillyconf/4968006708). We apologize for the omission.