{"id":202,"date":"2011-01-14T09:30:04","date_gmt":"2011-01-14T15:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/?p=202"},"modified":"2012-11-10T11:23:36","modified_gmt":"2012-11-10T17:23:36","slug":"midwinter-meeting-report-from-glbtrt-councilor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/archives\/202","title":{"rendered":"Midwinter Meeting Report from GLBTRT Councilor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a message from Peter Hepburn, the GLBTRT’s\u00a0Councilor. \u00a0He is a representative of the GLBTRT on ALA Council, the governing body of ALA<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Midwinter 2011 in San Diego, CA, has wrapped up, and I am most of the way home to Chicago (starting this on the plane home, finishing it in my office). \u00a0All in all, it seemed to be a very good conference indeed, and I was glad to see (and even room with) many of the RT members and supporters these past several days.<\/p>\n

Before reporting on some Council activities, especially ones that have particular connection to the Round Table, I want to thank everyone in the Round Table who made this a successful conference for me and for us. \u00a0For starters, the Social was terrific. \u00a0Partnering with the Women\u2019s Studies Section of ACRL was a smart idea, and I hope that the members of that section enjoyed themselves.<\/p>\n

I also applaud the Book Awards Committee for their work: \u00a0it was a thrill to attend the Youth Media Awards for the first time and watch as the work of the Committee was so well-received there. \u00a0And not just there, but elsewhere in the Association \u2013 Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels pointed to the inclusion of the Stonewall Award in the Youth Media Awards event as a highlight of San Diego in his report to Executive Board.<\/p>\n

I want to single out a few other individuals. \u00a0Taking over from the excellent John Sandstrom on Council was a big task, and having two resolutions to bring forward, I had my share of trepidation at first. Tom Wilding was beside me at two Council sessions, and he could not have been a more gracious, guiding, and calming presence. \u00a0Larry Romans was extremely helpful as well \u2013 a reasoned voice with welcome humour and great advice. \u00a0Meanwhile, I was fortunate in having Todd Krueger, David Vess, and Martin Garnar as not just terrific roommates but also as sounding boards. \u00a0Martin\u2019s extensive knowledge of the Intellectual Freedom Committee and its processes remains especially invaluable.<\/p>\n

And with those thanks (and I know there are more I\u2019m omitting), onward with the report from the Council end of things!<\/p>\n

I believe I have reported this before, but to reiterate, there were two resolutions coming from the Round Table. \u00a0The first, on language in job ads regarding inclusion of language on domestic partnership benefits underwent some real debate at Council I. \u00a0Many Councilors were torn between what they saw as a too-prescriptive resolution and a desire to support GLBT colleagues. \u00a0In the end, an amendment to soften the language came forward. \u00a0I do not have the precise text at hand, but in essence it diminished the requirement of such language to encouragement for its inclusion. \u00a0I voted against that amendment, but recognizing the wisdom of Tom Wilding (\u201cHalf a loaf is better than none\u201d), I voted in favour of the amended resolution. \u00a0My reaction at the end of Council may be seen here:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

The other resolution, regarding censorship at the National Portrait Gallery, involved more work before it came to Council. \u00a0I took it to the Intellectual Freedom Committee, and that body endorsed it in principle with little debate and with suggested revisions. \u00a0I accepted their suggestions, and then Larry Romans and I shared it with the Committee on Legislation. \u00a0That committee did not endorse it in principle as it came to them, but they indicated a willingness to do so based on contingencies they wanted. \u00a0The contingencies dramatically altered the resolution, including removing two key resolved clauses. \u00a0I thanked them and declined, and the resolution came to Council without any further alteration. \u00a0To my surprise and delight, the only Councilor who spoke up was the Intellectual Freedom Round Table Councilor, John Moorman. \u00a0He rose in support of the resolution, and with that, debate ended, a vote was called, and it passed resoundingly.<\/p>\n

I was not able to come to RT Steering I on the Saturday morning, but I learned that all of the other resolutions that had been shared with Steering before Midwinter were endorsed in principle save for one in support of Wikileaks. \u00a0I used those decisions to inform my voting at Council, though I did not vote in favour of each resolution. \u00a0Some explanation:<\/p>\n

A resolution on a \u201cDo Not Patronize\u201d list was debated at all three Council sessions. \u00a0At the first session, Council voted to postpone until the next day when ALA Legal Counsel could advise us in person. \u00a0It became apparent at Council II that she was uncomfortable not with the spirit of the resolution but with the potential for it to be challenged. \u00a0A substantive amendment quickly came forward, and debate was postponed again. \u00a0By the start of Council III, the amendment had been refined with guidance from Legal Counsel. \u00a0I viewed the amended resolution as meeting the Round Table\u2019s endorsement in principle as well as being legally safer for the Association, and so I voted in favour of it. \u00a0The amendment failed, however, and when the original resolution came up for a vote soon after, I voted against it based on how Legal Counsel had addressed the issue. \u00a0The resolution failed.<\/p>\n

There were two Wikileaks resolutions arising from the Social Responsibilities Round Table. \u00a0Before either could come to the floor, however, a broader resolution on access to information came forward from the Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Committee on Legislation<\/a>. \u00a0It was well-written and considered, in my opinion, and I voted in favour of it. \u00a0It passed. \u00a0The ripple effect, however, is that when each of the Wikileaks resolutions came forward, Larry Romans moved to table (a permanent state) the resolution because Council had already voted on something that addressed the matter. \u00a0In each case, Council voted above the 75% threshold to table the motion, and, agreeing, I was one of those who voted that way.<\/p>\n

One other action item of particular interest to the Round Table is that the Committee on Organization (COO) (on which I sit, as does RT member John De Santis), voted to approve a name change for the Round Table so that it would become the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table. \u00a0COO chair Jim Rettig brought that action item to Council in his report, and Council passed it without any debate or (so far as I could see) dissent. \u00a0Changes to the bylaws to mirror the name change will come to the membership on the spring ballot.<\/p>\n

There were other action items in various reports that came to Council beyond these that I\u2019ve listed. \u00a0Council actions should be linked from the page\u00a0soon<\/a>. \u00a0All the votes are a matter of record. \u00a0You may see how I voted on any matter through the link that should soon be posted to this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In closing, I again thank all of you for what you do to make Midwinter and the work of the Round Table a success, even if you were not there in San Diego or if I did not get an opportunity to talk with you. \u00a0I invite any and all of you to use the list to debate the actions by Council, and I similarly invite you to contact me directly with questions or conversation about them.<\/p>\n

I hope everyone who was in San Diego made it home safely. \u00a0Ah, to be back there still\u2026.<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nPeter\u00a0Hepburn
\nGLBTRT\u00a0Councilor
\nphepburn@uic.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a message from Peter Hepburn, the GLBTRT’s\u00a0Councilor. \u00a0He is a representative of the GLBTRT on ALA Council, the governing body of ALA. Midwinter 2011 in San Diego, CA, has wrapped up, and I am most of the way home to Chicago (starting this on the plane home, finishing it in my office). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-midwinter-meetings","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}