On Wed, 12 Jul 1995, Frederick R Snyder wrote:
> ALA has about 55,000 members and a total budget of about $28
> million dollars. It has allocated $166,000 for lobbying activities for
> the last four years--$46,000 of which was for the most recent year.
> SLA has about 15,000 members and a total budget of about $4
> million dollars. It allocates nothing for lobbying activities. (One
> important section of SLA is government documents.)
> AALL has about 5,000 members and a total budget of about
> $875,000. We allocate $77,625 for our Washington Affairs office--about 9
> percent of our total budget.
I'm not sure that this comparison of percentages tells us much. $46,000
may be a minute percentage of ALA's annual budget, but it's still
$46,000. That's basic economics, isn't it? Someone who makes $100,000 a
year is going to have to pay the same price for a Toyoto as someone who
makes $30,000.
Obviously not everybody agrees that maintaining a Washington Affairs office
is worthwhile. However, if the Association is going to maintain this
office, it's unreasonable to expect that person to devote the
substantial time and effort necessary on a volunteer basis. Basic
economic principle number 2: you get what you pay for. Besides, I
suspect that the average salary for AALL members is somewhat higher than
for ALA members.
Arguing policy about whether or not we should even have a Washington
Affairs office is one thing; being realistic about the costs is another.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Milles
Head of Computer Services, Saint Louis University Law Library
millesjg@sluvca.slu.edu http://lawlib.slu.edu/milles.htm
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