It's a funny thing to write constantly about the value of marketing and then feel unsettled when it comes to promoting one's on platform! However, I am running for ALA Councilor at Large and I am proud to be running (even though it really does feel odd to post about it!).
Here's what you'll see, if you make your way through all the names on the ballot, about my position:
My focus, if elected to ALA Council, will be to make ALA processes and messages more representative. What makes ALA so powerful, its diverse membership, is also what can sometimes make it seem so impersonal and distant. Libraries are under pressure to demonstrate their value. There are lots of stakeholders willing to help, from publishers to librarians to ALA itself, but ALA’s unique position is one where it can help provide best practices and tools to help librarians better promote their value and the value of their library. I have worked for this throughout my career with librarians from all types of libraries. Currently, I listen to librarians and help find the path for publishers to us all reach our goals of making research more accessible. In the end, I hope I can offer ways for ALA to leverage all our individual voices for a greater common good.
Let me be clear. I have worked for years in academic libraries and have taught library science students about libraries. I have worked with public librarians, academic librarians, and corporate librarians. I am now working for a publisher to better the understanding we have about library needs and to help librarians communicate those needs to the publisher I am proud to work for -- and I remain a librarian, even though I am no longer employed in a library.
Why run for Council? Because ALA has the largest impact on all librarians of any U.S. organization and that impact should be as positive as we can all make it. I continue to work as a librarian and want to continue to represent other librarians and their needs. The voice ALA provides for us all is so vital that I would not be able to forgive myself I didn't try to be part of the process that I have sometimes criticized from the sidelines (or from the benches when I have been on an ALA committee and worried about positions ALA has taken).
They say is sales to always ask for the buy...so here goes! Vote for me. I promise to listen to what your concerns are and to passionately represent those concerns if elected.
With that out of the way, the ballot is full of talented people who I would be pleased and honored to see represent me...take the time to go through the ballot and vote! I know it is long and that there are over 100 names on that section of the ballot, but as they say, only you can change the world! Vote.