Council I Expresses Support for Air Force Libraries

June 29, 2014

On Saturday, ALA Council met for its first session, with ALA President Barbara Stripling presiding. Among its actions, Council passed a Resolution in Support of Stable Funding for Air Force Libraries (CD#43). The two-part resolution calls on “the US Department of Defense and Air Force to restore funding to Air Force base and command libraries back to FY2011 levels for staffing, materials, services, and programs”; and “urges the administration, DoD and USAF to develop responsible information and budget management strategies for Air Force Base and Command Libraries that aligns them with directly with appropriated funds, rather than through base operations, where library funding is vulnerable to additional local cuts.”

John C. Sandstrom presented a report on the Presidential Task Force on Electronic Communications for the ALA Council (CD#10) regarding management of the electronic Council list, the posting of Council documents, and the future review of the guidelines. The resolution passed.

Sari Feldman offered a report on the Digital Content Working Group (CD#30), of which she is outgoing co-chair. Key activities included the June 2014 digital Supplement to American Libraries, "Digital Discoveries"; outreach at the Public Library Association National Conference, the State of Connecticut Ebooks workshop, and the Paris Book Fair; and a review of library ebook issues published in the 2014 Library and Book Trade Almanac.

In other actions:

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels presented the Action Summary of the Executive Board actions from the 2014 Midwinter Meeting until the beginning of the 2014 Annual Conference (CD#15.1) and the Report on the Implementation of the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting Council Actions (CD#9.1).
Council heard from ALA President-Elect Courtney Young, who announced her nominations for the 2014–2015 Council Committee on Committees (CD#12) and the Planning and Budget Assembly election (CD#12.1);
Stripling announced the tellers for the ALA Council elections to the 2014–2015 Committee on Committees and the Planning and Budget Assembly: Kent Slade, Sandy Wee, and John C. Sandstrom (chair).

Fiels reported that advance registration for Annual Conference was more than 11,000, 72 onsite, 1,464 exhibitor guests, and more than 5,000 exhibitors, for a grand total of 18,185.

See, hear, and read more about what’s going on at Annual—in real time and after.

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