Dear Councilors,

On behalf of the ALA Executive Board, I’d like to bring your attention to a document for our Council II discussion in Denver. As we hope you’re aware, President Neal recently challenged us to consider ALA’s organizational effectiveness and governance structure with the goal of revitalizing the association.

The attached 2-page document lays out the guiding principles and reasoning behind having such a discussion at this juncture. Several more pages of appendices provide additional lists, links, and information that not only reflect the complexity of our beloved 140+ year old institution, but also provide useful information for our discussion.

This conversation should take place as broadly as possible among the membership. As such, an ALA Connect page has been set up to capture a broad array of feedback. Moreover, information regarding this exercise is being shared with the Committee on Organization, Constitution & Bylaws, Chapter affiliates, and Ethnic Affiliates. ALA staff will also distribute details to all Divisions, Round Tables, Committees, and the Diversity Council.

Anyone attending the Council II session (Monday, February 12, 2018, 10:00am-12:00pm) will be welcome to participate in this conversation and exercise.

Finally, the Executive Board would like to extend its thanks to the LLAMA Division for its recent work on reorganization. Their work formed the basis for the Executive Board’s initial conversations and their outputs are evident in the attached document.

Please start thinking about what you would do to make ALA the ideal organization and what we all can do to get there.

We’re looking forward to the conversation in Denver!

Regards,
Andrew