New Orleans Midwinter Meeting marks the beginning of two ALAs

摘要

In a move fraught with risks and unknowns, the American Library Association's governing Council cleared the way for splitting the organization into two separate parts during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans, January 18-23, by approving bylaws for a separate allied professional association to offer postgraduate specialty certification, to advocate for pay equity, and to address other issues related to the professional status of librarians. ALA Council also responded to antiterrorism legislation passed by Congress in the wake of September 11 by unanimously passing a resolution affirming the principle of intellectual freedom in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. However, several other controversial resolutions dealing with the nation's response to the attacks were voted down. The likely effects of the antiterrorism laws on libraries were also the focus of two well-attended sessions offered by ALA's Washington Office. The Midwinter Meeting brings ALA members together to plan the Association's Annual Conference, update librarians on legislative issues and current topics, and conduct Association business. ALA President John W. Berry presented a program titled "Gatekeepers of the Internet: Balancing Access and Control in a Networked World," featuring Deborah Hurley of Harvard and James J. O'Donnell of the University of Pennsylvania, who explored the challenges librarians are certain to face over access to information. (For the first time ever, the President's Program is available as a Webcast at www.ala.org/events/presprog2002.html.) Author and radio commentator Andrei Codrescu delivered the third annual Arthur Curley Lecture, on censorship and repression under totalitarian regimes.