What's the Difference Gorman vs. Stripling

摘要

There is a problem with the elections of the American Library Association (ALA). Voter "turnout" is so low that only 4,221 votes decided the incoming ALA president, and only 9,844 members cast ballots. ALA's enfranchised membership is getting close to 60,000. Unlike the electorate in national campaigns, which also suffer low turnout, ALA's voters don't even have to go out to the polls. Their ballots are delivered to them, and this year many members will be able to vote online. ALA leaders hope this new option will increase participation. This report of interviews with the two candidates for ALA president is LJ's small contribution to the effort to get out the vote. It is our purpose to help answer the question: "What difference does it make how I vote in the ALA election?" It is by no means a definitive comparison of the candidates, Barbara Stripling, director of library programs at New Visions for Public Schools in New York City, and Michael Gorman, dean of library services at California State University, Fresno. They were more generous with their time than we can be with space here, but because they agree on many issues, we have chosen to focus on a few of the issues where the candidates differ, even disagree. They talked of many excellent plans and discussed full platforms for what they intend to do as ALA president. Indeed, anyone interested can get full biographical details, platforms, and much more at each candidate's web site (Stripling: www.barbstripling. net; Gorman: www.mg.csufresno.edu).