Is There a PLL Leadership Vacuum in AALL?
There are no PLL candidates on the election slate for the AALL Executive
Board this year. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is
pretty sad that the largest section of AALL can't field at least one
candidate for the association's governing body.
Why no candidates this year?
PLL has relatively few leaders with sufficient experience to be able to
serve on the Board. PLL members do not volunteer for committees in the
same numbers as academic and government librarians do, much less chair
the committees. Not enough PLLs have the leadership credentials to
qualify for the demands of national office.
The AALL Nominations committee looked for candidates who were
recommended from more than one source, which would indicate the
individual's reputation and depth of experience throughout the
Association. It is also crucial that Executive Board members be
familiar with the Association and its members.
The PLL members who did qualify as candidates and were asked by the AALL
Nominations Committee to run cited competing obligations or the lack of
support by their employers.
Apparently the well has run dry, for this year at least.
In the 1990's PLL could claim three AALL presidents in a row - Carole
Ahearn, Mark Estes and Kaye Moller Todd. These were all librarians with
demanding jobs, families and a commitment to excellence in their
profession. They have demonstrated that it is possible for PLLs to lead
the association. More recently other privates, Susan Seibers, Kathy
Sullivan, Al Podboy and Nina Platt among them, have found a way to serve
on the Executive Board and to run for president.
Here's a question to ponder: how many librarians would pursue
leadership if they were encouraged by their employers? How many
employers would encourage leadership roles for their librarians if the
librarians pressed their case? Which comes first, the chicken or the
egg?
My guess is that the situation is a mixed bag. Some firms clearly don't
support professional involvement by their librarians. Some law firms
actively encourage their librarians to be involved. Some librarians
have convinced their firms of the importance of professional
involvement. Some librarians assume the support is not there, and they
either don't participate at all or are involved under the radar. Some
librarians are just not interested, or for personal reasons, can't get
involved.
How can PLL reclaim its leadership role?
First, we privates have to recognize the value of supporting our
profession. We do have issues that need to be handled collectively.
That is what an association is about. We have to recognize that some
sacrifice is necessary in order to achieve the ultimate objective of
higher status with our employers, better pay, and improved career
opportunities. Nobody is going to do this for us.
We also need to see ourselves as leaders, within our firms as well as
our profession. We are leaders in the information revolution, and it's
high time we claimed recognition for it from our employers. Pursuing
leadership opportunities in AALL can build our skills and boost our
confidence in assuming leadership roles in our jobs.
We can volunteer for committees and SIS positions. No AALL leader has
ever emerged full blown - they started small and developed the skills to
handle multiple responsibilities (kind of like our jobs). They found a
way to work with their employers to do their jobs and serve the
association.
Vice-President Ann Fessenden is strongly encouraging private law
librarians to join AALL committees this year. While some AALL
committees may not seem to be very relevant to PLLs, most are, including
Copyright, Relations with Information Vendors, Mentoring, Public
Relations and Training the Next Generation. These committees usually do
not require a huge commitment, and are a good place to start.
We need to participate in elections. The PLL-SIS has the lowest
participation rates in AALL elections of any section, even though we are
the largest section in numbers. I've heard many who said, "I didn't
vote because I didn't know any of the candidates." Take a few minutes
once a year to review the candidates' credentials and statements,
inquire with colleagues who might know some of the candidates, and vote.
You'll feel more engaged with your association when you do.
We should demonstrate to our employers how our association involvement
benefits the company's bottom line.
Of course, what our employers gain from professional leadership is not
as tangible as a new client or increased billables. However, an
employee who pursues professional development activities shows
initiative, leadership and pursuit of excellence that always benefit a
company, and good bosses know it. So keep them informed.
Not every boss will jump on their desk, shouting "hallelujah!" if you
say you want to devote more time to professional activities, but it
doesn't hurt to ask.
How does PLL-SIS help its members develop leadership roles?
* The PLL-SIS is exploring the issue of leadership throughout this
year with articles and programs
* We have completed the PLL Toolkit, which provides information
for librarians to use when talking with their bosses. The Toolkit is
available at the PLL-SIS website <http://www.aallnet.org/sis/pllsis/> .
* We are launching a partnership with the Association of Legal
Administrators to increase awareness of librarian credentials. A
significant element of librarian credentials is professional
involvement.
* We are providing ample opportunities this year for librarians to
volunteer for committees and projects, big and small
I encourage all librarians to share their thoughts and ideas on
leadership with the SIS.
It all comes back to whether we want our profession to be strong, and if
we want AALL to be our association. We can't do this on our own, so
AALL provides our best opportunity to collectively boost our status.
But AALL will only work for PLLs if PLLs work with AALL.
Chris Graesser, Chair, PLL-SIS 2006-07
http://www.aallnet.org/sis/pllsis/
Christine Graesser
Legal Information Specialist
Brown Rudnick
Cityplace I
Hartford, CT 06103
860-509-6549 M-F 9am-1pm Eastern
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