ALA-APA Transition Team Recommendations to the ALA-APA Council and the ALA-APA Board of Directors

• Nancy Kranich (Chair)
• Charles Beard
• Leslie Burger
• June DeWeese
• Paulette A. Feld
• Gloria J.Leonard
• Vivian Pisano
• Suzanne Reymer
• Patricia H. Smith
• Barbara K. Stripling
• Thomas L.Wilding
• Mary Ghikas (staff)
• Lorelle Swader (staff)

ALA-APA Background and Status

The ALA Council established an ALA/Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco in 2001. “Toward fulfillment of its declared mission to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of the profession of librarianship, the American Library Association establishes an allied professional association to certify individuals in areas of specialization beyond the ALA-recognized masters degree.” (ALA Council, Approved "Bylaws Provisions," CD#50.3, ALA Annual Conference, San Francisco, 2001).

The ALA Council approved Bylaws and a broader scope for the ALA-APA at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans in January 2002. “The ALA Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) shall exist to promote the mutual professional interests of librarians and other library workers.” (ALA Council, January 2002) Council declared that the ALA and APA are to be linked through interlocked governance structures. Both ALA Council and Executive Board members will also serve as ALA-APA Council and ALA-APA Board of Directors members.

During that same meeting, the ALA Council directed the ALA President: “to appoint a transition team charged to take an operating plan to Council at the 2002 Annual Conference.” (ALA Council 2001–2002 CD#24 Revised, January 2002, ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans). ALA President John W. Berry appointed a team of 11 ALA members and 2 staff who have conferred since March via conference calls and e-mail to recommend next steps for the ALA-APA. The Transition Team formed 7 Working Groups and enlisted 47 ALA members to address transition needs. These Groups included: Governance, External Relationships, Financial Resources, Certification, Salaries and Pay Equity, Membership/Benefits/Responsibilities, and Legislative and General Advocacy.

That ALA-APA Transition Team will hold small group discussions about the ALA Allied Professional Association at the ALA Council/Executive Board/Membership Information Session on Sunday morning, June 16^th, at the ALA Annual Conference. Council members will be asked to adjourn on Sunday and reconvene as the ALA-APA Council to consider information about the governance, certification activities, and budget for the ALA-APA. A second session of the ALA-APA Council will be convened on Tuesday morning, June 18^th, to vote on Rules and Procedures for the ALA-APA Council and a Bylaws Amendment to approve parliamentary authority. The ALA-APA Council will also consider certification procedures and budgetary requirements. Additional recommendations regarding ALA-APA policy, procedures, and implementation activities may be presented to the ALA-APA Council and the ALA-APA Board of Directors at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia in January, 2003.

The ALA-APA Transition Team will lead discussions about ALA-APA at the Planning and Budget Assembly on Friday, June 14^th. Members and ALA Legal Counsel will also meet with chapter leaders during the conference.

ALA-APA Guiding Principles

• The American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) is legally a separate organization from the American Library Association (ALA).

• ALA continues in its Internal Revenue Status as a 501(c)(3) educational association. ALA-APA is a new, 501(c)(6), organization—a professional association.

• ALA-APA is a service organization to ALA, not a membership organization.

• The structure, organization, and operation of ALA-APA will be as simple as possible.

• The impact of ALA-APA on ALA activities, services, and revenues will be minimal.

• Initially, the newly formed ALA-APA will address two issues:

  • Certification of professionals in specializations beyond the initial professional degree. The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), and the Public Library Association (PLA) have developed a Certified Public Library Administrator program.

  • Salaries, as addressed through the proposed Campaign for America’s Librarians.

• A transition period of 2–3 years will allow ALA-APA time to address the initial issues within certification and pay equity, under the new governance structure and the new IRS status, and to develop the structures for long-term sustainability.

Governance

ALA-APA Council Role

ALA-APA Council Action 1

The ALA-APA Transition Team recommends adoption of the following rules and procedures for the ALA-APA Council.

ALA-APA Council Meetings:

• The first meeting of ALA-APA Council will occur at the 2002 ALA Annual Conference.

• Meetings of ALA-APA Council will occur at the Annual and Midwinter meetings of ALA.

• ALA members are encouraged to attend ALA-APA Council informational meetings to learn about activities and ask questions.

• ALA members should contact ALA Councilors in order to raise issues or concerns that pertain to ALA-APA.

• Meetings of ALA-APA Council should be scheduled immediately after ALA Council I and at the beginning of ALA Council II to allow for deliberation of APA issues. The proposed schedule will provide a mechanism to enable ALA Council to receive information and a report from ALA-APA during Council I and consider any and all actions items of ALA-APA as part of the scheduled agenda prior to Council II.

• ALA Council should adjourn Council I and reconvene as ALA-APA Council. ALA-APA Council will meet prior to ALA Council II, and then adjourn for the ALA Council meeting.

• The President of ALA will serve as President of the ALA-APA and will chair the ALA-APA Council meeting.

• Any motions should be submitted to ALA staff for distribution pursuant to procedures established by ALA Council.

• The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, 4th edition, by Alice Sturgis, should be adopted and followed during ALA-APA Council meetings.

• All ALA-APA Council Quorum requirements should follow established bylaws.

Committees:

• Any reports or motions from ALA-APA Committees will be incorporated in minutes of ALA-APA meetings distributed to ALA Council members.

• ALA Council will not consider any ALA-APA committee recommendations.

Annual Report and Priorities:

• On an annual basis, ALA-APA will report outcomes and review priorities.

• Results of ALA-APA activities will be compiled in an Annual Report.

Funding:

• Funding allocations will reflect the priorities established by ALA-APA Council.

• ALA-APA funds will be presented as part of the ALA-APA Treasurer’s report to ALA-APA Council.

• ALA-APA Council will approve the budget ceiling and priorities for ALA-APA.

Differentiation of ALA-APA responsibility and function:

• During the course of ALA Council business, certain agenda items may be more appropriately considered by the ALA-APA Council. ALA Council members may move that items be deferred for ALA-APA following procedures established for deferral of items to ALA Committees.

• When ALA Council is unable to determine which Council should appropriately consider an issue, the ALA President will make the final determination.

• Documents for ALA-APA Council will be produced on a unique shade of paper stock in order to distinguish ALA-APA Council business from other documents provided to ALA Council.

Member Involvement:

• ALA members are encouraged to attend meetings of the ALA-APA Council and to contact their at-large, division, round table, and chapter councilors about developments and concerns regarding the ALA-APA.

ALA-APA Bylaws Regarding Parliamentary Authority

ALA-APA Council Action 2

The APA Transition Team recommends the addition of a new Article to the ALA-APA Bylaws to provide for the adoption of a Parliamentary Authority, to read as follows:

MOTION to amend the ALA-APA Bylaws by adding a new article as follows: "Parliamentary Authority. The current edition of “The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure” governs this organization in all parliamentary situations that are not provided for in the law or in its bylaws or adopted rules."

If ratified this will become Article X and the present Article X. Dissolution will be renumbered as Article XI.

ALA-APA Committees

ALA-APA Council Action 3

The ALA-APA Transition Team recommends that the ALA-APA Council adopt the following rules and procedures for ALA-APA committees:

• The ALA Pay Equity Committee be transferred to ALA-APA.

• A new Certification Review Committee be formed as part of the ALA-APA for each certification program to oversee development and administration of a validated testing instrument, based on the competencies for professional practice developed by a division(s) or unit(s) of the ALA.

• The ALA-APA Board of Directors establish a Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC) for the ALA-APA, whose members may be those ALA members currently serving as members of the ALA BARC. Other committees may need to be established by the ALA-APA Board of Directors at some future date to consider ALA-APA procedural issues. Membership of those committees may include those ALA members concurrently serving in comparable committees in the ALA. These committees would include but not be limited to: COO, Constitution and Bylaws, and Membership.

Establishment of Committees: Rules for establishment of and appointment to committees shall be determined by the ALA-APA Council and Board of Directors. Committee membership shall be limited to no more than four consecutive years on a committee. Initial appointments should be staggered so that terms of appointees overlap. Committee membership shall be the same as the conference year. A majority of members of any committee must be members of ALA (ALA-APA Bylaws, Article VII). Vacancies will be filled by the ALA-APA President with the consent of the ALA-APA Board of Directors. The designating body will establish the name, size, charge, length of service, and other rules for each standing, special, and joint committee of the ALA-APA.

ALA-APA Revenues and Expenditures

1. Contributions from ALA members in support of the new APA ("Friends of the ALA-APA")

2. Annual fees from recognized continuing education providers, e.g. ALA units, ALA itself, libraries, consultants, and other associations

3. Administration fees charged to individuals applying for certification and taking examinations

4. Proceeds from the sale of goods and services (e.g., toolkits, tip sheets, resource guides, etc.)

5. Training/workshop registration fees

6. Fee-based consulting services, (e.g., pay equity study in a local library (which may be a taxable activity))

• ALA will loan to the ALA-APA such funds annually as necessary to cover its operation in years 2003, 2004, and 2005. Several alternatives were explored for financing the ALA-APA, but a direct loan from ALA was viewed as the most straight-forward. Loan repayments will be budgeted at a fair market rate beginning in year 2. Note: A start-up loan was anticipated in the document reviewed by the ALA Council at the 2001 Annual Conference (2000-2001 CD #50.3).

• Priority must be given by the ALA-APA staff to identify products and services needed by libraries and librarians in such areas as salaries and pay equity.

• Beginning with the 2003 ALA membership year, ALA members should be given an opportunity to contribute to the ALA-APA. Contributions should be voluntary. The ALA membership form and other promotional materials should clearly indicate that these contributions are not tax exempt as are donations to ALA.

• ALA staff are urged to have a publicity brochure ready by the 2003 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia to promote contributions to the “Friends of the ALA-APA.” Except for the ribbon to be worn during conference, no other benefits will accrue to contributors in the 2003 membership year. However, consideration could be given to developing an ALA-APA products/services discount package for contributing libraries and librarians in the future.

• Financial oversight and responsibility should be assigned to the ALA-APA Treasurer, the Finance and Audit Subcommittee of the ALA-APA BARC.

• During this first year, expenses for the ALA-APA include in broad terms the following:

  1. President-elect Mitch Freedman’s presidential initiative related to salaries and pay equity

  2. Percentage of the Advocacy staff position in the Public Information Office for her time in support of the presidential initiative

  3. Percentage of staff of the Human Resources Development and Recruitment (HRDR) Office

  4. ALA’s Pay Equity Committee

  5. Allocable percentage of the budget for the ALA Executive Board, Council, Accounting, Human Resources, and other administrative expense in support of the ALA-APA

  6. A small product development fund

• The FY 03 ALA-APA budget as presented is balanced. Every effort has been made to estimate revenues conservatively and to project expenses accurately. However, there is no historical basis for our projections, and some assumptions had to be made. If expenses exceed income during this first year, the amount of the loan will be raised accordingly.

• A business plan for the ALA-APA should be commissioned in FY 02 to determine the marketability of products and services and to recommend a strategic vision for the ALA-APA.

• The ALA-APA should be formally evaluated after three years. Output measures for certification and other ALA-APA activities should be immediately identified that will be used to determine the effectiveness of the new organization.

Certification

The establishment of a 501(c)(6) Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) for the American Library Association has made possible a certification program for individuals who have reached an advanced level of competency in an area of specialization in the library field. The initial certification program will be the Certified Public Library Administrator (CPLA) program, developed by PLA, LAMA, and ASCLA in 1998.

MISSION

The mission of the ALA-APA Certification Program is to certify that individuals have reached an advanced level of competency in an area of specialization in the library field. The mission is not to accredit programs.

The certification program will be guided by the principles of equitable and nondiscriminatory access, certification through competency-based testing, use of multiple providers and a rich variety of venues, and member-generated needs.

GOALS

1. To improve professional practice in librarianship through the establishment of continuing professional development goals;

2. To identify a body of knowledge and skills necessary to the practice of librarianship and/or to a specific specialization within librarianship; and,

3. To recognize