EBD #10.02018-2019

TO: ALA Executive Board

RE: Report of the Nominating Committee for the 2019 ALA Election

ACTION REQUESTED/INFORMATION/REPORT:For information purposes; no action required

ACTION REQUESTED BY:Alexandra Rivera, Chair, Nominating Committee for the 2019 ALA ElectionJason K. AlstonMelissa Cardenas-DowFrank CerevoneAudrey ChurchVeronda PitchfordLian RuanRivkah SassJohn Spears

CONTACT PERSON:Alexandra Rivera, 734-585-4287, alexriv@umich.edu

DATE: October 18, 2018

Executive Summary:The Nominating Committee for the 2019 American Library Association Election completed its charge of developing a slate of candidates to stand for the positions of ALA President-elect, ALA Treasurer, and ALA Councilor at Large during the ALA 2019 election. (See Appendix A). All members of the American Library Association were provided the opportunity to be considered for nomination through a targeted marketing campaign intended to develop a diverse pool of candidates. The call for nominations was greatly assisted by social media materials developed by ALA Marketing at the request of the Nominating Committee (See Appendix B). Candidates for the ALA President-elect and Treasurer were identified through the Committee’s recruitment efforts that garnered self-nominations as well as one anonymous nomination. Additionally, we had a number of ALA members self-nominate for the Councilor-at-large positions. During the nominating and vetting process two (2) qualified candidates for Treasurer were identified and both accepted the nomination. At the last minute one candidate withdrew and the Nominating Committee determined, in consultation with ALA parliamentarian Eli Mina, to stand only one candidate for Treasurer. The 2019 Nominating Committee is honored to put forward a final slate of highly qualified candidates comprised of two (2) candidates for ALA President-elect and one (1) candidate for Treasurer and seventy-two (72) Councilor-at-Large candidates (51 needed).

Background:The committee began its work on February 10, 2018 in Denver at the ALA Midwinter meeting. We were joined by Michelle Jeske, Chair, Nominating Committee for the 2018 ALA Election who provided a general overview of the process the 2018 Nominating Committee undertook, and key takeaways and lessons learned. In addition, JoAnne Kempf, Director, ALA Governance Office provided a thorough and highly informative overview of the nomination and election process and introduced us to the comprehensive manual she developed. The committee had an in-depth discussion and made several recommendations to update the manual.

The committee consulted on the best way to undertake our work and maintain confidentiality in light of the fact that ALA Connect was in the process of an upgrade. We chose to use Google applications for our work and Drop Box to house any confidential materials with an understanding that all files will be moved/archived in ALA Connect once available.

The committee discussed how to proceed with our work to leverage our professional affiliations and best utilize our networks to develop a broad representation of the association with special considerations for representation from national and state library organizations, interest groups, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and breadth of experience. We set up a process to contact all potential candidates listed in the manual and to provide updates on our progress.

Work of the CommitteeThe committee met the last Monday of each month between March and July using Zoom. Virtual meetings were coordinated by JoAnne Kempf. During our first virtual meeting on March 26, 2018, we reviewed the attributes for President-Elect, Treasurer, and Councilor-at-Large to ensure these traits were foremost in our minds as we made contact with potential nominees. Based on past experience, the committee chose to focus first on seeking nominations for the President-elect and Treasurer. We then divided the lists of potential nominees listed in the committee manual based on our individual relationships or professional affiliations we might have with them. We divvied up those few with whom we did not have a relationship. As we made contact we updated the lists based on the nominees’ interest in serving now, in the future, or not at all. These lists were very useful in our work and the Committee encourages continued maintenance and use of these lists.

The April meeting was focused on reviewing our progress and discussing how best to publicize the open nomination process, which opened on April 11. We discussed the importance of utilizing different communication modes including social media. JoAnne was asked to reach out to ALA Marketing who developed excellent high quality graphics. These were made available in May and were used by the committee members and also included on ALA’s website. Many members commented that the call for nominations that included these graphics were eye-catching and well done.

Our next meeting was in-person at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. In the interim we continued to make contact with potential president-elect and treasurer nominees from the lists and reviewing those individuals who had completed the candidate forms in the ALA Nominations System. In addition, JoAnne kept us apprised as individuals completed their forms.

By Annual we had a number of President-elect nominations to review but only one (1) completed Treasurer nomination form and only seventeen (17) nominees for Councilor-at Large. The nominations process was scheduled to close on July 11 and the committee voted to extend the deadline to August 3, 2018. In the interim JoAnne kindly offered to reach out to interested councilor-at-large nominees who had begun but not completed their nomination forms. The committee then reviewed the nominees that we had received to date and agreed to continue seeking nominations. Alex offered to develop a feedback form based on the defined attributes defined in the Nominating Committee Manual. The form was created using GoogleForms for the President and Treasurer positions and was shared with the committee on July 28. The committee reviewed and refined the feedback form at the July 30 virtual meeting. Also, JoAnne shared that we had 47 Councilor-at-Large candidates. The committee felt confident that we would have the required 51 nominees by the closing deadline. We agreed that we would not eliminate any candidates but instead permit all nominees to stand for election. We scheduled our final meeting for August 9, 2018 and agreed to complete the nomination feedback forms by August 6, 2018 to provide Alex time to create the reports for our final discussion/decision.

Our August 9 meeting was spent reviewing the reports and robustly deliberating before making our final decisions as to whom to stand as candidates for the President-elect and Treasurer.

On August 10 both President-elect nominees had accepted their candidacy as had one of the Treasurer nominees. The second Treasurer nominee had requested time to consult with additional individuals before giving their final decision. Their final decision came on August 16; however, the second Treasurer nominee withdrew their name from consideration.

The Nominating Committee was contacted immediately; we discussed the option of re-opening the nomination process which had closed three weeks earlier or to stand just one candidate for Treasurer. After an in in-depth discuss and in consultation with Eli Mina, ALA Parliamentarian, the committee determined that it would stand one candidate for Treasurer since there is always the opportunity for others to run by petition.

Here is a profile of the final slate of candidates:Note: In past reports a gender breakdown was provided based on a binary gender understanding of the candidates. Because this data was not reported and in respect for those who do not conform to a binary construct of gender, this breakdown is not provided for this report.

Type of Library 2019 (75 candidates) 2018 (62 candidates)

Academic Libraries 37 15

Public Libraries 21 21

School Libraries 6 10

Other (special, government, trustees, etc.)

11 16

Geographic Distribution 2019 2018

Northeast 24 13

Southeast 19 20

Midwest 17 17

West 15 12

Observations and RecommendationsThe following recommendations are made for future consideration:

● Continue to refine and utilize the ALA Nominating Committee manual● Strongly emphasize the importance of confidentiality to the nominees to help ensure adherence to

the clearly defined nominating/election process● Develop a strategic marketing plan to help foster greater participation of membership in the

nominating/elections process● Utilize the ALA marketing materials developed (Appendix B) or request new ones be developed ● Consider undertaking an assessment of representation in our governance structure to ensure that

we are truly including the broadest array of membership in our leadership ranks● Develop a transparent succession plan to foster leaders from across the organization to actively

participate within the Association’s governance structure● Work with AASL and chapters to encourage more school librarians to run for office● Assess and address possible structural barriers (fiscal, organizational support, scheduling, etc.) to

memberships’ service in our governance structure.

The Nominating Committee for the 2019 election was a very effective and thoughtful group of professionals. All worked collaboratively to develop a slate of qualified candidates to stand for the 2019 ALA Election for President-elect, Treasurer, and Councilor-at-Large. We wish to thank Loida Garcia-Febo, ALA President, for bringing this diverse array of ALA membership together for this once in a lifetime opportunity to serve in this important capacity. We also wish to share our deep gratitude for the hard work and support of JoAnne Kempf and thank her for her knowledge, humor, grace, and responsiveness to the needs of this committee.

APPENDIX A

2019 ALA CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT-ELECTJulius C. Jefferson, Jr., Section Head, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DCLance Werner, Executive Director, Kent District Library, Comstock Park, Michigan

2019 ALA CANDIDATES FOR TREASURERAndrew K. Pace, Executive Director, Technical Research, OCLC Dublin, Ohio

2019 ALA CANDIDATES FOR COUNCILOR-AT-LARGEDevon Andrews, Branch Manager, Charleston (South Carolina) County Public LibraryCarl A. Antonucci, Jr., Director of Library Services, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, ConnecticutOscar Baeza, Head Librarian/Associate Professor, El Paso (Texas) Community CollegeJennifer C. Boettcher, Business Reference Librarian, Georgetown University, Washington, DCLaura Bonella, Associate Professor/Academic Services Librarian, Kansas State University Libraries, Manhattan, KansasDerrick Burton, Library Director, Waldorf University, Forest City, IowaJohn Eric Byrnes, Upper School Librarian and Media Specialist, Christ Church Episcopal School, Greenville, South CarolinaAndrew J. Cano, Open Education Librarian, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NebraskaKathy Carroll, School Librarian, Westwood High School, Blythewood, South CarolinaKatie Cerqua, Youth and Family Service Manager, Virginia Beach Public Library, Virginia Beach, VirginiaPeter D. Coyl, Library Director, Montclair (New Jersey) Public LibraryAmber Creger, Youth Department Director, Schaumburg (Illinois) Township District LibraryLindsay Cronk, Head of Collection Strategies, University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries, Rochester, New YorkAna Elisa de Campos Salles, Senior Librarian, Palo Alto (California) City LibraryNatalie DeJonghe, Technology Engagement Librarian, Oak Lawn (Illinois) Public LibraryKim DeNero-Ackroyd, Deputy Director, Cleveland Heights-University Heights (Ohio) Public LibraryCynthia Ellison Dottin, Fellow, Honors College, Florida International University, Miami, FloridaMaggie Farrell, Dean of University Libraries, University of Las Vegas, NevadaDr. George J. Fowler, University Librarian, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

Erika Freudenberger, Outreach & Engagement Consultant, Southern Adirondack Library System, Saratoga Springs, New YorkKevin R. Garewal, Associate Director, Harvard Law School Library, Cambridge, MassachusettsDebra Rhodes Gibson, Library Director, St. Johns County Public Library System, St. Augustine, FloridaBitsy Griffin, School Librarian, Old Town Global Academy/Winston Salem (North Carolina) Forsyth County SchoolsMichael A. Guttierrez, Head of Public Services, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South DakotaCarl A. Harvey, II, Assistant Professor, Longwood University, Farmville, VirginiaApril Hathcock, Scholarly Communications Librarian, New York University Libraries, New York, New YorkChris Hemingway, Circulation Librarian, Hagaman Memorial Library, East Haven, ConnecticutHolly Hibner, Adult and Teen Services Coordinator, Plymouth (Michigan) District LibraryShana Higgins, Interim Library Director, Library Instruction Coordinator, University of Redlands, Redlands, CaliforniaLisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Professor/Coordinator for Information Literacy Services and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignShanna Hollich, Collection Management Librarian, Wilson College, Chambersburg, PennsylvaniaAndrea Q. Jamison, Diversity Fellow/Lecturer, Valparaiso (Indiana) UniversitySara Kelly Johns, Online Adjunct Instructor, Syracuse University iSchool, Saranac Lake, New YorkLisa N. Johnston, Director of Library Services, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FloridaJessica Jupitus, Public Services Manager, Sacramento (California) Public LibrarykYmberly Keeton, Art Librarian, ART | library deco, Jefferson City, MissouriRebekah Kilzer, Director, Member Education, OCLC, Dublin, OhioLeRoy LaFleur, Associate Director, Ginn Library, Tufts University, Medford, MassachusettsAmy Spence Lappin, Deputy Director, Lebanon (New Hampshire) Public LibrariesMaricar Laudato, Director of Library Services, Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Rancho Santa Margarita, CaliforniaRodney Lippard, Director, Gregg-Graniteville Library, University of South Carolina - AikenChristin H. Lopez, Ed.D., School Library Media Specialist, William L. Dickinson High School, Jersey City, New JerseyS. A. Mairson, Program Assistant, Syracuse (New York) School of InformationWillie Miller, Information and Journalism Librarian, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IndianaKatheen Moeller-Peiffer, Deputy State Librarian, New Jersey State Library, Trenton, New JerseyLouis Muñoz, Jr., Reference and ILL Librarian, Morristown (New Jersey) and Morris Township LibrarySusan Mythen, Library and Learning Commons Manager, Jacksonville, FloridaMuzhgan Israfil Nazarova, Turkic Languages Librarian, Library of Congress ABA/ASME/ME, Washington, DCL. Angie Ohler, Director of Collection Services, University of Maryland, College ParkMichelle V. Ornat, Assistant Director, Chesapeake (Virginia) Public Library

Eileen M. Palmer, Executive Director, Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium, Edison, New JerseyAnchalee (Joy) Panigabutra-Roberts, Head of Cataloging, University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, TennesseeScott Piepenburg, Head Cataloger, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, TexasSarah M. K. Potwin, Executive Library Director, Niagara Falls (New York) Public LibraryJana L. Prock, Library Director, Keller (Texas) Public LibraryBrenda Pruitt-Annisette, Library Media Consultant & Researcher, AnnBroChi, LLC, Stone Mountain, GeorgiaNathan Putnam, Director, Metadata Quality, OCLC, Dublin, OhioDeborah Rinio, Non-Tenure Track Faculty Member, Montana State University, Bozeman, MontanaDaniel A. Sabol, Adjunct Librarian, Bronx Community College/Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, New YorkRomelia Salinas, Associate Dean, Library & Learning Resources, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CaliforniaJules Shore, Supervisory Technical Information Specialist, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MarylandJon D. Solomon, Library Manager, Englewood (Colorado) Public LibraryNicole Spoor, Social Sciences and Education Librarian, University of North Carolina - CharlotteBrenda S. Sprinkle, Elementary Librarian, Greendale Elementary School, Abingdon, VirginiaWilliam “Bill” Suduth, Head, Government Information and Maps Department, University of South Carolina Libraries, ColumbiaAnn K. Symons, Library Activist/Library Consultant Dermott O’Toole Memorial Library, Juneau, AlaskaWilliam Thurston, Adult Services Librarian/Reference Librarian, Oswego Public Library District and Waubonsee Community College, Oswego, Montgomery, Aurora, and Sugar Grove, IllinoisJoyce Valenza, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New JerseyErica Ann Watson, Adjunct Librarian and Teen Services Librarian, Berkley City College and Alameda County, Bay Area, CaliforniaNancy J. Weiner, Assistant Director, Access & Information Services, Cheng Library – William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, New JerseyDon Welch, Manager, Learning Resource Center, Fortis College, Grand Prairie, TexasAmber Williams, Managing Librarian: Strategic Initiatives, Spokane (Washington) County Library District

APPENDIX B