Meredith has a very long post in which she discusses some monetary policies at ALA, including why they make speakers pay for the privilege of speaking and the huge amount of money they waste each year. She makes the point that many speakers only go to ALA to speak, not attend the conference, and we get paid little enough to be charged for speaking. We do not have to be martyrs, according to Meredith, to be good librarians. Amen! The most amazing thing she points out is this:
| Organization | ALA | NASW |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Members | 64,000 | 153,000 |
| Expenses | $43,025,000 | $19,591,637 |
Go read the entire post. It is long, but just keeps getting better.
I agree and, though I think her post well reasoned, I have a few things to add. Not only do I not always feel like ALA and other professional organizations represent me, but I am required by my institution to be both part of professional organizations and to present papers and speak at conferences. I am financially supported up to about 50% per conference by my library, but if I was not part of a two income household, I would not be able to attend the two ALA conferences all committee members are required to attend. Committee membership is required by the promotional guidelines of my institution.
Along with the above, ALA is in New Orleans in June and, regardless of the assurances that there will be plenty of places for us to stay, in addition to all those relief workers, I highly doubt there will be room for everyone. I can not afford to stay in the conference hotels and I do not think I will be able to find a reasonable hotel with open rooms. This is something I am very concerned about and I have seen nothing but platitudes regarding the conference industry in New Orleans from ALA.
Mr. Rochester told me I should just tell my committee I can not afford to go unless they paid for me to attend. I laughed heartily, patted him on the head, and said, “It just does not work that way.” He is an engineer, after all, and if they are required to go to a conference, their company picks up the entire bill.
–Jane, “it’s gonna take plenty of money”