ALA members, VOTE!!

This is the time of year where we elect the officers that represent the various associations and roundtables of the American Library Association. What's really cool is that it's not just one day and you can do it from the comfort of your home (even in your bunny slippers.) It's voting time!

So far:

Of the 47,268 who received email notification -- 4,414 had voted (9.34%).

Of the 7,498 who received notification by mail -- 202 had voted (2.69%).

Of the 16 sent paper ballots -- 0 have voted.

Voting started last week and I did it over the weekend. You don't have to vote all at once. You can come back multiple times.

I'm writing this entry in the hopes that there is a better turnout. I also would like to encourage people to vote for some particular candidates for Council and for ALA President.

For Council:

• Aaron Dobbs - He is passionate about our profession and has served well for this past year.
• Heidi Dolamore - She is a dynamo! I admire her constant vigilance of representing under-represented groups such as library school students.
• Reese Evenson - An Emerging Leader that noticed that I was on Council and asked, "How do you get involved in that?" She is young, vivacious and enthusiastic about getting more involved in ALA.

For ALA President:

• Roberta Stevens - Having served with her on Council, I see her as a leader that seeks to hear numerous sides to an issue and is driven to serve as a voice for younger librarians. I will freely admit that I did not appreciate Kenton Oliver's remarks regarding electronic participation. I felt that he neglected to visualize the possibilities and I feel that Roberta Stevens at least is willing to embrace them. He stated that our conferences are a cash cow. But, with all due respect, I feel that the ALA Executive Board reveres them as sacred cows, not to be tampered with. Roberta Stevens is open to change and I respect that as a candidate for ALA president. Please consider voting for her.

But most importantly: VOTE!!!!

The polls close at 11:59 P.M. CDT on Friday, April 24.

If you haven't received your e-mail ballot by March 20, please call ALA Membership and Customer Service at (800) 545-2433 (press 5) or send an e-mail to membership@ala.org. They can then send you a Web ballot.