Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 08:49:00 -0400
From: "Wendy Thomas" <WENDY@radmail.harvard.edu>

Dear SRRT Action Council members,

I am back from the women's libraries conference in Amsterdam-- that's
the good news. The not-good news is that I received the following
letter from ALA President Ann Symons. Since she is cc-ing ALA Council
on this letter, I have keyed in the text to share it with SRRT Action
Council members. As you will see, it expresses concern about SRRT's
distributing resolutions outside of ALA and about SRRT speaking on
behalf of the association.

This is not a new issue-- similar concerns were raised several years
ago and as recently as a few months ago, when we wrote the letter about
Iraq. I have several reactions and concerns about what she addresses,
not the least of which is the fact that issuing a SRRT resolution or
writing a letter on SRRT letterhead does not, in any way, indicate
that we are speaking on behalf of the entire ALA membership.

As always, I hope to hear your comments. I think a strong letter to
Symons and the ALA Executive Board is in order, with as many SRRT
members signing on as possible.

Best,

Wendy Thomas, SRRT Coordinator

August 27, 1998

Dear Wendy:

At the close of Annual Conference Councilor Mark Rosenzweig posted to
the Council listserv the resolutions passed by the SRRT Action Council
at the 1998 Annual Conference. The resolutions were also transmitted
in letters to me and to Executive Director William Gordon by SRRT
Action Council Secretary Elaine Harger.

I have been asked by the ALA Executive Board to express our concern to
SRRT. In reviewing the resolutions, the Board noted that they had been
sent to a number of government officials and outside agencies. The
Board is quite concerned that this action was taken by SRRT, since the
resolutions imply that SRRT is speaking for the American Library
Association on these matters.

The ALA Executive Board is charged to act on behalf of Council between
meetings, particularly on matters of ALA policy. Council expects us to
take that responsibility quite seriously and we do. Nowhere in the ALA
Constitution, Bylaws or Policy Manual does it say that roundtables may
speak externally for the Association. The ALA Bylaws expressly say
that "... [no] round table [shall] commit the Association by any
declaration of policy," i.e., round tables many not speak on behalf of
the Association, whether in accordance with ALA policy or not. In the
judgment of the Board, SRRT's sending these resolutions to outside
agencies or government officials has the effect of speaking on behalf
of the 58,000 members of ALA.

The Executive Board is distressed that it is necessary to remind SRRT
again that it may not speak on behalf of the Association, nor may it
send out notices, letters, or resolutions that appear to be policy
statements or positions of ALA. The Board has asked me to express in
the strongest possible terms its dismay at SRRT's recent action and to
state that the Board expects SRRT to comply with Association policy.
It is not our intention to stifle SRRT's ability to speak on issues of
concern to its members. It is, however, our intention to insure that
all ALA roundtables adhere to ALA policies.

SRRT is always welcome to bring its resolutions to ALA Council. If you
and members of the SRRT Action Council would like to meet with the
Board at Midwinter to talk about the seriousness of these issues or if
you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Ann K. Symons, President

cc: Elaine Harger, SRRT Secretary

ALA Council

______________________________________________________________________________

From: "Elaine Harger" <<eharger@tao.agoron.com>
To: ALA Council List <<alacoun@ala1.ala.org>
Subject: SRRT Response to ALA Exec. Board Concerns
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 22:09:06 -0400
Reply-To: eharger@tao.agoron.com
Sender: owner-alacoun@ala1.ala.org

To ALA Council Members,

Below is SRRT's response to the August 27, 1998 letter from ALA President
Ann Symons expressing the ALA Executive Board's concerns in regard to SRRT
resolutions. Given that President Symons letter was posted to the Council
listserv, Wendy Thomas, SRRT Action Council Coordinator, who is out of the
country, asked me to forward this letter to you.

Sincerely,

Elaine Harger
SRRT Secretary

****************************************************************************

September 18, 1998

Ann Symons, President
American Library Association
50 East Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611-2795

Dear Ann:

On behalf of SRRT Action Council, I am writing in response to your letter
of 27 August 1998 expressing concerns about the distribution of SRRT's
resolutions.

Let me begin by stressing that we understand the Executive Board's concern
about round tables not speaking on behalf of the entire Association. We
are well aware of the ALA Constitution's statement on round tables not
committing the Association by any declaration of policy.

SRRT does not pretend, in any way, to speak for the Association as a
whole. We have been scrupulous in our efforts to ensure that our
resolutions and letters do not suggest this. In response to your letter,
Elaine Harger, SRRT Secretary, reviewed the resolutions passed by SRRT over
the last several years, and she reports that the text used in the cover
letters accompanying our resolutions clearly states that the resolutions
are from the Social Responsibilities Round Table. In addition, our cover
letters are on SRRT letterhead, which indicates that SRRT is a part of ALA.

This issue has come up before, but we assumed it had been resolved by our
efforts to use proper language in our resolutions and letters. SRRT Action
Council members feel very strongly that we are operating within the policy
guidelines for ALA round tables.

SRRT Action Council members feel we must reserve the right to express our
views, to make them known to the Association, and to communicate them to
parties outside the Association as necessary--always, of course, clearly
stating that we are speaking on behalf of SRRT.

Sincerely,

Wendy Thomas
Coordinator, SRRT Action Council

cc ALA Council

SRRTAC-L

****************************************************************************

Elaine Harger
SRRT Secretary
49 Osborne Terrace
Newark NJ 07108
973/623-7642 home
212/569-0290 ext. 404 work
eharger@tao.agoron.com