Monday, January 10, 2011

Here at ALA Midwinter

Final day of ALA Council meetings for Midwinter 2011. Keep an eye on this post thread, starting now!

6 comments:

Stephanie Braunstein said...

Although the original agenda indicated otherwise, the resolutions on WikiLeaks and on WikiLeaks and Federal Agencies will not come up for discussion and vote until tomorrow's meeting of Council.

Stephanie Braunstein said...

A new day has dawned over San Diego, and the last Council meeting is in progress. As noted, the discussion and votes on WikiLeaks will take place later today. One other resolution that might be of interest to Gov Docs folks is the one that concerns censorship on artwork from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. More on these as the come up on the agenda.

Stephanie Braunstein said...

Council just passed a Resolution to "express gratitude to Mr. [Bob] Tapella for his service as the nation's 25th Public Printer."

Stephanie Braunstein said...

You will not believe this--but both resolutions pertinent to WikiLeaks were tabled--i.e., never to be heard from again in their specific forms. Some resolutions that indirectly addressed this issue did pass, and I will post info on those later.

Stephanie Braunstein said...

Here's the info on that resolution mentioned on Jan. 11 pertinent to our interests:

ADOPTED, ALA CD#19.1, Resolution on Access to and Classification of Government Information, which read: “That the American Library Association (ALA):
(1) commends President Barack Obama for establishing the National Declassification Agency and issuing Executive Order 13526 on Classified National Security Information and supports and encourages expanded initiatives to reform the U.S. classification system;
(2) urges Congress to pass legislation that expands protections for whistleblowers in the Federal government, such as the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2010;
(3) urges the U.S. President, Congress, the federal courts, and executive and legislative agencies to defend the inalienable right of the press and citizens to disseminate information to the public about national security issues and to refrain from initiatives that impair these rights; and
(4) affirms the principle that government information made public within the boundaries of U.S. law should be available through libraries and the press without restriction.

Stephanie Braunstein said...

And one more resolution that I mentioned earlier on the 11th (Smithsonian Portrait Gallery):

ADOPTED, ALA CD#36 Revised 1/11/11, 10:27am, Resolution on the Removal and Censorship of Artwork from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, which read:

“That the American Library Association (ALA):
(1) commends the National Portrait Gallery for its inclusion of materials that reflect the diversity of our society, including those related to religious viewpoint, specifically as presented in the Hide/Seek Exhibition;
(2) commends the National Portrait Gallery for its inclusion of materials that reflect the diversity of our society, including those related to sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, specifically as presented in the Hide/Seek Exhibition; (ALA Resolution on Threats to Library Materials Related to Sex, Gender Identity, or Sexual Orientation);
(3) condemns the censorship of the Hide/Seek Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery;
(4) urges the National Portrait Gallery to immediately reinstate the video artwork by David Wojnarowicz to the Hide/Seek Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery;
(5) urges the National Portrait Gallery to refuse to censor by removal or alteration other works of art from any exhibition or collection; and
(6) urges the Smithsonian Institution to fight censorship of works of art or collections dealing with any subject matter, including sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or religious viewpoint in its national galleries, museums, archives and libraries.”