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The Washington Library Association Journal July 2009 Volume 25 | Number 2 Alki Impact and Influence Inside this Issue: A Duty to Offend?…9 National Library Legislative Day…12 WLA Conference Photos…16-17 Up Front Conference Confluence: Thinking with the Flow By Tim Mallory I thought of the information flow in our libraries as I watched the Spokane River flush with spring snowmelt. That’s a huge flow! The river can be a destructive force. Many pieces of lumber, even massive Tim Mallory trees, wash down the river, over banks and shoals of gravel, eroding away soil and mineral deposits. But we have learned to use the force As predicted by Marshall McLuhan, we live in a tribalized society. of the river constructively. Through planning and teamwork, we With our electronic connections, we can form our clan, karass, or harvest planks and gravel, make metal and cement from mineral de- family around whatever bonds we find most appealing. This con- posits, create diversions, penstocks, and electric generators. Working nectivity leads to a multiplicity of allegiances, some to the medical together, those individual parts create the power to serve hundreds of librarians, some to the academic associations or to the Public Library thousands over a huge area. The flow, rather than eroding and tearing Association, and others to the group of paraprofessionals. While rev- apart, is put to use building, creating, and nourishing. eling in this kinship, we still need to unite on issues concerning all of librarianship, while not losing our specialties and identities. Now we We are living in a time where the information flow we experience need to work together, affiliating our strengths to best represent the is as overwhelming as Spokane Falls in springtime. While we are library profession and its role in controlling, directing, and making planning how to deal with the flood of information, it’s already hap- productive use of the ever-increasing flood of information accessible pening all around us. What are our timbers and gravel? What are to everyone. the structural elements that make up our library world? Disunited, we will We are living in I hope to lead the Washington Library Associa- wash away in the onrushing Internet “ tion through this affiliation, with associate or flow. As individuals, we cannot master a time where the joint memberships between associations such it. Working together, sharing tools and as we already enjoy with WLMA and ALA knowledge with a common plan, we information flow extended to include all other library-related can harness the power of the flow of we experience is associations. With the broad spectrum of information. specialized associations available, we run the as overwhelming risk of diluting the influence of libraries by This is the real event. The flood of as Spokane Falls speaking with too many small voices. We need information is already here, and we are to exercise the strength of our constituency already working together. in springtime. by having a strong, clear voice, supporting the " many varieties of expertise and experience in The strength required to direct this our profession. flow of information into productive channels comes from coopera- tion, and cooperation from common purpose. While we see our This is my view of the Spokane River. Divided into many small common purpose in WLA, we share this purpose with many other streams, any one can be dammed, diverted, absorbed, thwarted, or groups made up of dedicated library advocates. WLA has a formal ignored. Taken together, they make up the impressive flow over Spo- affiliation with a few of these groups, including the American Library kane Falls, and a major contribution to the mighty Columbia. So Association (ALA), the Washington Library Media Association the world of information is our Columbia, and we are the necessary (WLMA), and the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA). parts, the tools and techniques that, taken together, show mastery We could gain much strength by working at common purpose with over that tremendous flow. the Special Libraries Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, the Medical Library Association, and others. While Thanks to Martha Parsons and the Spokane Conference Committee membership in an association gives us some aggregate strength, as- for putting on a fabulous conference, in a great location that inspires sociations working together will give us the full strength of our entire me to run on at such length. I hope we can accomplish the connec- profession. tions to make all our efforts as successful. & Tim Mallory is Adult Services coordinator for Timberland Regional Library. 2 ALKI • July 2009 Table of Contents Alki From the Editor ....................................................................................4 The Washington Library Who's on First? ....................................................................................5 Association Journal By Jonathan Betz-Zall 23607 Highway 99, Suite 2-C Edmonds, WA 98026 Impact & Influence: (425) 967-0739 iYouth: Filling a Need and Making an Impact........................................6 By Jennifer Knight Email: [email protected] Web: www.wla.org Measuring the Impact of Public Access Computing: A Nationwide Research Initiative with Local Roots ......................................................7 ALKI Editorial Committee By Samantha Becker, Karen E. Fisher, & Michael D. Crandall Julie Miller, Alki Editor Susan Anderson, Committee Chair A Duty to Offend? ...............................................................................9 Matthew Berube By Bo Kinney Michael Cook Libraries and Unions: Not Such an Odd Couple .........................................10 Lynne King Bo Kinney By Jenny Westlund Erin Krake National Library Legislative Day: Reflections on Impact and Influence ...12 Rayette Sterling By Rand Simmons Deanna Sukkar Effective Legislative Advocacy ..............................................................15 WLA Executive Director By Steve Duncan Dana Murphy-Love WLA Conference Photos .............................................................................. 16 WLA Assistant Director Judy Cookson Be a Library Hero .................................................................................18 By Carrie Jenott “Alki,” a Native American word meaning “bye and bye,” was suggested by Nancy Pryor, Special Collections at Washington State Library, as Articles: the title for the Washington Library Association’s “Have him come back and play basketball with us!": Sherman Alexie journal. “Alki” is also the state motto, signifying a Visits Whatcom County ......................................................................20 focus on the future. By Linda Lambert Alki (ISSN: 8756-4173) is published three “Déjà vu All Over Again”: A Trustee’s Take on Productivity in times per year in March, July and December, Hard Times ........................................................................................29 and mailed to over 1,100 WLA members and interested parties. Print subscriptions are available By Alec McKay at $20 per year, or $7.50 per single issue. Contact the WLA office at the address above. Legislative Update: Alki’s purpose is to communicate philosophical 2009 State Legislative Session ..............................................................30 and substantive analyses of current and enduring By Michael Wirt issues for and about Washington libraries, personnel, and advocates, and to facilitate the exchange of research, opinion, and information. WLA Communiqué: WLA People and Places ........................................................................22 Direct your submission queries to: Meet Dana Murphy-Love, CAE .............................................................23 Julie Miller Email: [email protected] By Tim Mallory Alki was designed by Tammy Reniche, Director of WLA Annual Awards ............................................................................24 Publications for Melby Cameron & Anderson. WLA Graduate Scholarship Awarded....................................................26 By Nancy Huling Answers About Continuing Education Grants ......................................28 By Mary Ross and Jennifer Fenton I’d Rather Be Reading Brother Ray ... .....................................................................................31 By David Wright Cover photos taken by Rose Ferri. ALKI • July 2009 3 From the Editor By Julie Miller Summer may not be the best time to The National Library write about impact and influence. If you’re heading for a long weekend at Legislative“ Day team went the Oregon coast (or at “the lake,” for those of you on the eastern side of the to Washington, DC, to make state), I won’t hold it against you if Julie Miller this issue of Alki doesn’t make it into a change—and discovered your beach bag. Or it may be the per- the biggest change was in WLA award recipients, portraits of influence fect time to consider your influence past, present, and future. And meet WLA’s new on others and their impact on you. themselves. executive director, Dana Murphy-Love. A good friend (and long-time school " librarian) once told me that “learners Slather on the sunscreen and make sure you have reflect.” The phrase has stuck with me. Consider these articles to be plenty of ice in the cooler. But don’t leave this issue of Alki at home. opportunities for reflection as you stretch out on the chaise longue. In the grand scheme of things, it’s okay if you get a little sand between the pages.

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