The first AALL electronic election for Vice President, Secretary, and Executive Board members is currently in progress. Polls will close at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, December 14.
I hope you will take the few seconds to connect to our secure online election page and vote for these important offices. This page also will link you to our |
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candidate biographies viewable either online or via a PDF download. Members in all categories have the right to vote in AALL elections (see Bylaws IV.2.a).
Voting is fast and easy. Once you sign on to the election page with your AALLNET login (your email address and your self-selected password), you will find the list of candidates and check boxes to record your choice. If you have any problems or questions on the process, please contact Chris Siwa, our Web Administrator, or Reggie Swanigan, Director of Information Technology via email or phone at 312-939-4764. Chris is on extension 14 and Reggie on extension 13. Either will be happy to help you through the process. |
The Executive Board held an excellent strategic planning retreat prior to convening in formal session on November 20. Key decisions are as follows:
- Authorized AALL Headquarters to negotiate with the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) to move the date of the 2006 annual meeting from July 15 - 19 to July 8 - 12. The CVB requested the date change and offered an attractive package of concessions should AALL agree. Following the Board meeting Pam Reisinger, AALL's Director of Meetings, successfully negotiated a very favorable contract.
- Approved a "First Year Free" membership campaign to attract new members into AALL.
- Adopted a policy for handling briefs submitted by SISs or other member entities.
In addition, President Tory Trotta established four Executive Board subcommittees: a subcommittee to construct the first draft of AALL's strategic directions (chaired by Nina Platt); a subcommittee on Annual Meeting Strategies (chair TBA); a subcommittee on Member Publications/Communications (chaired by Kathie Sullivan), and a subcommittee to conduct a Review AALL Scholarship Funds (chaired by Janis Johnston).
AALL joined with allied organizations on November 29 to file an amici curia brief with the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. The amici support public access to information about the makeup of the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG), convened by Vice President Cheney in 2001. The amici joining in this brief believe the case is vital to preserving public access to government information under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and share the conviction that broad access to government records protects values essential to representative democracy and promotes public participation in public policy.
The case was brought by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch and heard at the United States Supreme Court in April 2004. The Supreme Court, recognizing the importance of the issue and the conflicting principles of separation of powers and public accountability, sent the case back to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals for adjudication.
The amici argue that the District Court should accept the Supreme Court's invitation to develop an innovative procedure for accommodating the competing interests asserted in this case. The amici recommend following the familiar model of the Vaughn Index used in Freedom of Information Act cases by the government to identify basic information without compromising confidentiality. That kind of information, in a Cheney Log, should provide a sufficient basis to evaluate whether non-government persons participated in meetings of the NEPDG or its sub-groups. If they did, participation would trigger FACA disclosure requirements that protect against the improper influence of special interests on government decision-making.
The brief states that, "when important constitutional principles are on a collision course, as in this case, courts should be wary of any winner-take-all resolution. The judicial goal in this case should be accommodation of the competing principles, not the exaltation of one and the obliteration of the other. Requiring the Cheney Log, based on the successful example of the Vaughn Index, promises such an effective accommodation."
A copy of the brief is available at the AALL Washington Affairs Office web site.
We mailed the AALL Membership Directory & Handbook on November 19th. If the US Postal Service cooperates, you should receive your edition by mid-December.
Congratulations to Diane Murley, Reference/Web Services Librarian at Southern Illinois Univ. School of Law and Frank Houdek, Law Library Director and Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University, Law Library Journal Editor and member of the AALL Centennial Committee for their fine work in developing the Centennial Committee Web Site.
Here you will find the Centennial Celebration Tool Kits to help your chapter or SIS develop your own programming to help us celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2006. Also on the site is an excellent history of AALL, including a finding aid to our archives and an extensive chronology of our development from 1906 - 2003.
How well some of us recall that first meeting in which we sat together in the lobby and parlors of the Hotel Mathewson, with a single purpose in view-that of making [law] librarianship a profession rather than simply holding a job...How eagerly we set about to form an organization, having no ideas as to its extent and possibilities, but we were firmly convinced that an organization was necessary for the advancement of the libraries and cooperative work among the law librarians. - A.J. Small, "Reflections," 24 Law Libr. J. 12 (1931).
The International Federation of Libraries and Institutions (IFLA) invites nominations for the position of President-Elect and members of the Governing Board. The deadline for submitting nominations is February 2, 2005. Nominators must be the designated representatives of National Association Members or International Association Members or Institutional Members of IFLA. Personal Affiliates of IFLA may also nominate candidates, but they are not entitled to vote in the subsequent elections. See the IFLA web site for complete information on the procedures and requirements for nominations.
The six major US library associations comprising the US delegation to IFLA have agreed to support the candidacy of Barbara Ford to stand for election to the IFLA Board. The associations have collectively agreed to support only one US candidate since in the last IFLA election, advancing a series of US candidates for the Board and the Presidency resulted in all of the candidates losing to those candidates where national support was more focused.
Barbara Ford is the Director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and Mortenson Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois Library at Urbana - Champaign. She has extensive experience in IFLA and maintains a range of solid working relationships with librarians and libraries around the world. Barbara is also well recognized in the US context as a distinguished leader, knowledgeable and experienced in a variety of library environments.
AALL member representatives that are institutional members of IFLA are encouraged to support Barbara Ford as the US candidate to stand for election to the IFLA Governing Board.
The guidelines for the updated National Leadership Grants for Libraries are now available on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Web site as a PDF file. Paper copies of the guidelines can be requested by calling 202/606-5226.
The program features three new categories, "advancing learning communities," "building digital resources," and "research and demonstration," under which both museum and library applicants will apply. Each of the three categories also encourages museums and libraries to partner with each other or with other community learning organizations.
The deadline for all National Leadership Grant categories is February 1, 2005. Grants will be awarded in mid-September. Applicants may request $25,000 to $1,000,000.
Sincerely,
Susan
E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director
American Association of Law Libraries
53 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 940
Chicago, IL
60604
312-939-4764, ext. 11
Fax 312-431-1097
AALL: Maximizing the Power of the Law Library Community Since 1906.
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