For years, American Library Association presidents have run their terms of office with "tag-line themes" a different theme each year for each new president.
All that will change when John W. Berry becomes ALA president next June. Berry, BA'69, MAT'71, MLS'74, plans to institute a three-part initiative that embraces the overarching goals of the ALA and that will ensure a long-term plan for future presidents to follow.
His focal points will be equity of access bridging the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots in the new world of electronic communication; recruitment to the profession with a strong emphasis on diversity; and the establishment of electronic participation for ALA members and library workers.
"I don't think there's been a time in my 30 years in the profession that's as exciting and challenging as it is right now," Berry says.
Berry became involved in the ALA right after leaving IU, where he managed the microforms department while earning his MLS.
"Just about everyone on the faculty encouraged us students to get involved in the work of state and national associations, particularly the ALA," Berry recalls.
He credits former professors David Kaser, Blanche Woolls, and Calvin Boyer with teaching him much of what he knows about the profession.
After teaching at Elmira College in New York and at Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, Berry joined the ALA as executive director of the Library Administration and Management Association, a division of the ALA. He remained committed to the organization after leaving that job, serving on the ALA Council and on ALA committees.
He has worked most recently in an administrative/faculty position at the University of Illinois at Chicago and for the last four years as executive director of NILRC: A Consortium of Community Colleges, Colleges, and Universities based in Chicago. NILRC specializes in the development and use of instructional resources and technologies and fosters satellite teleconferencing and satellite delivery of video materials. Berry negotiates group purchases of library products, services, equipment, and instructional resources.
Berry plans to use techniques he has developed at NILRC to reach as many librarians and educate as many members of the public as he can during his term in office.
During National Library Week in April, the ALA will launch a five-year, $3 million [@yourlibrary] Campaign for America's Libraries. Berry is already developing ideas for billboard campaigns and radio and television spots to promote the campaign.
To achieve his goal of reaching ALA members, he is planning satellite teleconferences, town hall meetings, and Internet conferencing technologies direct to the desktop.
"One of our biggest challenges is that about 70 percent of current professional library workers will be retiring by 2014," Berry says. "As professions, librarianship and teaching are a good five years behind in thinking about how to replace themselves in the workforce. It's not an instant brain drain, but nonetheless, it's a challenge."
Another challenge the profession faces is the rapidly expanding marketplace for Web education and the round-the-clock provision of library resources and databases to students who may never have set foot on a college campus, Berry says.
"It's just a fascinating time right now," he says. "Connecting people with ideas and a love of books and learning initially attracted me to this field. That's what still drives a lot of what I do."
Photo Courtesy of John W. Berry
[NOTE: The current ALA President, Nancy Kranich recently visited SLIS to discuss the "Digital Divide" and "Libraries: The Cornerstone Of Democracy."]
Posted December 08, 2000