[Michlib-l] MI-ALA discussion

Thu Jun 26 11:03:18 EDT 2014

Hi Stacy,

It's nice to hear from someone from the academic community regarding MI-ALA. Frankly I've been extremely disappointed by what I'm reading about MI-ALA on several levels:

Process

*         MI-ALA indicates this issue has been around for the past 5+ years. An issue of this seriousness should have been brought forth at one of the association's annual meetings; it was not. A special meeting of the membership is another option; I'm not aware of any attempts to call such a meeting.

*         As a former member of the Restructuring Task Force that was formed after MLA nearly went bankrupt, as a past MLA president (2008-elect; 2009-president; 2010-past-president) who was heavily involved in the revision of the dues structure to ensure MLA's long-term financial stability, I can assure you that there was good representation from the academic community during all of the discussions and decision-making. Ultimately our members voted to implement both of these major changes.

*         I can also attest to the fact that the issues referenced by MI-ALA were never brought to my attention as MLA president.

Collaboration

*         The absence of many academic colleagues involved in MLA in the future could be a serious detriment to the Michigan library community. One simple example is MLA's Leadership Academies, which over the years have created long-term networking and friendships between academic and public library professionals.

*         I have personally found more opportunities to come to know and collaborate with my academic colleagues at the state level through MLA over the national level.

Advocacy

*         Advocacy is every library professional's job, from page to director to dean, whether it's legislative, administrative or in a social setting.

*         Every library in Michigan has MLA to thank for MeL funding at the very least. Just 5 years ago the legislature went on a library funding cutting spree and we fought back (publics and academics) and have succeeded far beyond most people's expectations.

*         The current legislative power in Lansing is not based in East Lansing or Detroit. In many instances it comes from small communities in towns many of us have never heard of. While most of those communities don't have an academic library, they most likely have a public library and a natural advocate that MLA can work with to influence a potentially powerful legislator.

*         MI-ALA makes a brief reference to donating to MLA's advocacy efforts. Advocacy is a full-time job, important in a crisis and even more important when there's not a crisis and can't be funded on a whim.

*         If MI-ALA forms as a 501(C)(3) there could be serious limitations on how much may be contributed to advocacy.

MLA Operations

*         As the chair and a member of MLA's Legislative Committee I've worked closely with Gail Madziar and found her to be extremely organized, professional and receptive of constructive feedback. We are lucky to have her as our Executive Director.

*         I'm not familiar with the details surrounding the move of MLA's offices, but this was an item that had been under discussion even when I worked with Gretchen Couraud as president back in 2009. This isn't the first time the office has moved and I find the spinoff of MI-ALA to be a far more serious challenge to communication than separating the offices from MCLS.

Last, I am very disappointed about the example MI-ALA leaders are setting to newer professionals about how to constructively resolve conflict. I encourage my academic colleagues to continue their support, membership and active involvement in MLA and to build on our success together.

Thanks.

--Larry

-----------------------------------------------

Larry P. Neal, Library Director

Clinton-Macomb Public Library

40900 Romeo Plank Road

Clinton Township,  MI 48038-2955  USA

(586) 226-5011    |   (586) 226-5008 - fax  |  lneal at cmpl.org

Library millage proposal - please vote August 5 - http://www.cmpl.org/millage/

President-Elect, Public Library Association

-----Original Message-----
From: michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org [mailto:michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org] On Behalf Of Stacy Nowicki
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 3:37 PM
To: mi-acad-dirs at mcls.org; michlib-l at mail.mcls.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] MI-ALA discussion

I haven't seen much discussion on these listservs about MI-ALA, which I find curious.  Since it wasn't widely disseminated, I would just like to point out Veronica Bielat's open letter to the steering committee here:

http://www.miala.org/updates/minkinr/mi-ala-purposes-organization-are-now-open-your-review-and-input/

I remain concerned about starting a new organization without the infrastructure MLA can provide. If we want more opportunities for academics within MLA, then we have to participate -- not withdraw.  Further, MLA's efforts to support public libraries also support academics -- the kids who use public libraries become our students, after all.

Stacy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Stacy Nowicki, Ph.D., J.D.

Library Director and Title IX Coordinator Information Services Kalamazoo College

1200 Academy Street

Kalamazoo, MI 49006

voice: 269.337.5750

fax: 269.337.7143

email: Stacy.Nowicki at kzoo.edu<mailto:Stacy.Nowicki at kzoo.edu>

green dot: a single choice in one moment that makes our college safer http://www.livethegreendot.com/

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