The risk to the Beaman Public Library piqued my interest in public libraries about a month ago and I’ve been checking out what other people and organizations have to say. The ALA has been a big disappointment.
Its Library Advocate’s Handbook is buried deep within the ALA website. This handbook is barely worth searching for because it is little more than a bland communications checklist that could be used to sell anything from the pin to the locomotive. There isn’t a single word about what makes libraries valuable.
From the advocacy link on the main site navigation, what are the ALA’s advocacy’s goals returned a Page Not Found error. The ALA’s strategic plan, Ahead to 2010 was published in June 2005. The PLA Blog has a mere 10 posts for advocacy and they’re more than a year old (from 6/23/2006 thru 6/29/2007). Funding is listed near the bottom of the advocacy page and the only thing on the public library page is an obituary list of libraries cut or closed around the nation.
The ALA needs to follow its own advocacy call to “speak loudly, clearly and with a unified voice.”
* ALA Editions is the publishing imprint of ALA. They publish material of interest to the library and information sciences community.
