ALA: To renew or not to renew?
Well, my ALA membership renewal came in the mail this week. I’ve been a continous member for 14 years now. Should I make it 15? Discuss. 
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walt crawford:
You probably already know my answer, since I’ve been a continuous member since 1975–and I’m not even a librarian. ALA’s Washington Office and OIF, among others, really do important work for the field. There are other reasons; that’s a primary one.
10 August 2009, 9:03 amJeff Scott:
I contemplated this year as well, but I renewed. I get too many benefits from the ability to connect to other professionals and to see what they are doing (beyond even the programs). The committees are very useful for me to see what everyone else is doing. I can’t always go to the conference, but ALA has increasingly allowed me to participate in the ways I can and benefit as well.
10 August 2009, 1:10 pmJulia:
After the 2003 midwinter conference I made the decision to never renew my membership again. I’m still happy with that. Over the years ALA has gotten increasingly involved in issues and ideas that have nothing to do with librarianship. I’ve joined SLA because their focus is on library issues and technology.
11 August 2009, 11:08 amsecret librarian:
Ugh, I’m still trying to decide myself. It’s getting quite costly as I lose my student discounts. I’d mostly join for ACRL, but I’m not sure I get any real value out of ALA anymore (if I ever did). Since I can’t go to two conferences/year, I usually don’t go to either conference. I’d love to be involved in a committee, but since I can’t go to two conferences, I can’t be involved (yes, there are virtual committee memberships, but those are greatly sought after).
I did appreciate the new Books-a-Million discount card last month, when I used up some Books-a-Million gift cards so I got an extra 10%.
But I don’t shop at Books-a-Million unless I have a gift card.
I wish I could just be an ACRL member.
Please let us know what you decide.
11 August 2009, 10:59 pmAngel:
In your particular case, it has been 14, may as well make it 15. Personally, I dropped ALA ages ago, for some of the reasons that secret librarian presents above. For me, it is just some distant expensive behemoth. I can get the journals at my library. Conferences are pretty much out of the question on our current budget (if they ever were). And some of the politics they are adopting lately have been bothersome (and I am fairly liberal, but I want our so-called professional organization to focus on OUR issues).
Best, and keep on blogging.
12 August 2009, 4:13 pmAaron the Librarian:
As I said over on the Facebook thread, Even were I not over-involved in ALA stuffs, I would keep at least my basic membership. Not because of the streak of continuous (I blew that when I forgot to renew in time, twice *shrug*) but because the strong, consistent, informative voice ALA presents in federal policy debates. ALA Washington Office provides us a voice mechanism to affect government policy discussions, especially important in today’s information landscape as technology and licenses allow companies and easy end-around to avoid those pesky laws, such as copyright, which are in place to protect the public’s interest. As well as a voice to oppose library-specific portions of over-reaching laws such as the DMCA gag-orders. Then there are the efforts of the COL and OITP sub-committees on simplifying the eRate application processes. Without a strong central voice, libraries become easily overlooked or ignored. Best of luck with your decision, fwiw, I hope you’ll stay a continuous member.
16 August 2009, 8:24 amAaron the Librarian:
to secret librarian and Angel:
16 August 2009, 8:33 amThe divisions might be a different story, but as of Annual 2009, all ALA committees now have only one class of participant – members.
Physical presence at the two f2f meetings is no longer a requirement for membership on an ALA committee. So, if you wanted to serve on a committee and were inclined to rejoin, you wouldn’t be tied into having to make it to the two events per year.
Moving ALA policy this far has been a monumental effort, more improvements are coming as we can get them through the process. We have a body of people committed to come up with ways to make it possible for more people to participate. Ideas welcome
Drop me a line if you have ideas on where ALA can improve and, especially, potential paths to get those ideas implemented.
Thanks!
-Aaron the Librarian
ALA Councilor at Large
LITA Director at Large
OITP Advisory Committee
Rachel:
I’ve never been an ALA member, so I can’t comment from within. My career to date, even from the student library worker stage, has been in science and medical libraries.
Couple of questions: If there are ALA activities you have an interest in, are you willing or financially able to pay dues just to participate in those ideas in an official, sanctioned way? (I’m assuming you have to join the whole thing, and can’t just be loosely affiliated through specific activities). Would the work and networking you’re doing continue on pretty much unabated if ALA vanished tomorrow? Does ALA have important activities that are empowered by high numbers of members that feel it is important to add to the numbers for?
I’m also not convinced that “Org X member for a whole bunch of continuous years” is necessary for resume/job hunting purposes, if that is a concern. People sometimes need a break, or their membership dues for food, or whatever, and I wouldn’t neglect to hire someone b/c they found an org no longer worked for them or they simply needed to keep the money.
16 August 2009, 9:12 amThe Shifted Librarian » Stream:
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17 August 2009, 12:00 amcentral va:
I say no. At least until ALA can drag themselves out of the dark ages enought to allow online renewals when there are changes to a subscription.
17 August 2009, 7:49 amDeborah:
I stopped my membership back in 2006 because I moved to a new community with a strong local and state library organization as well as strong public library support. The support, events, and professional benefits from my local organization were equal to or better than those I receieved from ALA. Additionally, the cost of maintaining both memberships was prohibitive. That being said, I also wish I could join a subgroup only; in my case either PLA, or SLA. While I value the voice ALA has in federal policy debates and the lead the play in marketing libraries, for me, the cost is just too great.
17 August 2009, 4:25 pmsecret librarian:
So I did go ahead and renew, in part because I have a bit of service and didn’t want to put an end date to ALA memberships on my resume, and I didn’t want to remove it completely.
Aaron, thanks for the information. I have to say, the barrier to participation in committees feels very high to me. I twice volunteered for NMRT committees (and they’re supposed to take everyone, I thought) but only once got on a committee. And I don’t even know how to go about getting on a committee for the other sections.
But is really useful if I can’t go twice/year?
And is there any chance ALA will go to once a year conferences? It’d certainly increase my participation, since I go could to ALA and still attend one other conference each year (ACRL every other year and something else in between). ALA is greedy with two events a year.
18 August 2009, 12:48 amjessamyn:
I’ve been really really happy with the level of participation I’ve been able to accomplish just being a member of my local organization. I don’t agonize over the twice a year travel to the conferences and I never have to look at their website again. ALA and I just don’t see eye to eye on enough things. I feel like I respect the work that they do, I paid my dues, and if I want to actually be effective, I have to do it someplace else.
26 August 2009, 10:47 am