During this year’s ALA/ALSC Elections (March 14-April 6), ALSC members will be casting their votes to elect the key leadership positions and well as to decide on two bylaws revisions recommended by the 2021 Nominating & Leadership Development Committee and approved by the ALSC Board to be submitted for a member vote.
The intention of both revisions is twofold: to prioritize member leadership development by reducing the The intent of both revisions is twofold: to prioritize member leadership development by reducing the inordinate amount of time currently spent on election workflows; and to make it easier for members to indicate their interest in serving ALSC in any capacity.
As ALSC President, I must confess that the appointments process has been a daunting undertaking, a long and cumbersome work that is screaming for change. By streamlining processes, we can create a more responsive organization, a stronger ALSC.
The first recommended bylaws change eliminates the current limit on candidates for each governance position on the ballot by instead requiring that the Nominating & Leadership Development Committee provide at least one candidate for each position. This would allow the committee to accept the interest of as many members who want to stand for election to a governance position and would allow the committee to focus energies on developing strong member candidates for future elections.
The second recommended bylaws change is to streamline and standardize the way all awards committees are formed by removing committee positions from the ballot. The number of award committee members would remain the same, but all members would be appointed by ALSC leadership through the member volunteer process, rather than some award committees being made up of a mix of elected and appointed committee members.
I believe that intrinsic to the vitality of an organization is its ability to evolve with the times. In preparation for this year’s ALSC Elections, I’d like to encourage everyone to ask questions, to reach out, to be informed, and to vote!
Lucia M. Gonzalez
2021-2022 President
ALSC: Association for Library Service to Childrenshe/her/hers
