t,,i..1i1./El:iTY 4ti LA Cl:i CL,.!j L,o.: AUG , ial Responsibilit ies August1,197 I No l5 RoundabfeNewsletter Editedby Liz Fu tas ALA_-WORDS NOT ACTION? YOU CAN ACT NOW! The resolution t'elow was passedby SRRT Action Council, ALA the Office of Intellectual Freedom in suoport of the ALA concern membership,and ALA council in Dallas, conccrning lack of equal in the resolution, so that a prompt revieivand report can be given employment opportunity at the Library of Congress,with much at the Midwinter meeting of Council by the Intellectual Freedom supportingdata Comnrittee The sameshould bc done for the Committee on At the same time this resolution was being consideredin Dallas, A rbitration many employeesof the Library of Congress,including librarians, 5) Write to your district Congressmanand Senators,informing stageda sit-in in LC to brinB attention to their plight in honored them of your concern for the importance of Congressionalhearings civilrights protest tradition. To our knorvledgeand theirs,ALA on this matter. hasnot supported theseemployees in their protest by communi The resolution below has no meaningunless an actual situation catingthe ALA concern in the resolutronto Congressor to the is resolved,unless these words relate to r-eality,with ALA help. Librarianof Congress. Fine words with no action make a paper democracy,and mask an On July I4, the District Court denied a restrainingorder on the unfree people LC which had acted to fire the demonstrators,and fourteen demon- -- J. E for Action Council strators,all black, including none of the librarians, were summarily fired without due process These employees are not under civil RESOLUTION Passedby AC, ALA membership, C-ouncil of ALA servicealthough line and grade positions are granted in a bogus-civil- Whereas,the American Ltbrary Associatjonhas repeatedly affirmed servicefashion, and are therefore at the mercy or lack of it of the its belief in the principle of equalemployment Librarian of Congress. The decision of the court is now being and brought before the Court ofAppeals. The WashingtonPost has Whereasthe Lrbrary of Congress,by virtue of its position as the carrbd these items; are they in your papers? national library, should be a beaconlight in the field of equalemploy- What is ALA's responseto this explosivesituation? ALA, in ment response,has sent a copy of the IFC form for investigation for an and individual to fill out - before IFC can investigate the matter. lt Whereas,the Library of Congresshas failed to meet theserespon- would seem that a request for support resulting in a mandate sibilities through from membershipand council does not have any weight wlth ALA (a) its failure to eradicatepatterns of favoritism in promotions based establishmentprocedures. solely on racial grounds LC employeeshave not waited and are not waiting for ALA. (b) its failure to provide an adequateopportunity for training which Their situitio; has been broueht to the attention of ihe Btack would allow its black employees to advance Caucusof Congress. After reiiewing with concern the plight of (c) its failure to mount a consistent effort to recruit blacks at all levels the black rvorkers position at LC, the Black Caucushas endorsedthe Therefore be it resolved that of the workers, and is calling for Congressionalhearings on the l. The American Library Associationassert that it rsexpected that all sltuation at the LC. librariesshall engagein a positivepolicy of action in the'field of equal What can we do? The Action Council spoke with concerned employment opportunity members of the LC staff and at their suggestionhas sent a telegram 2 The American Library Association convey its grave concern to the to thePresident action of ALA requestingpromptALA supportive Librarian ofCongress and request that the Librarian of Congresstake in theCourt of Appeals.as iollowl:' to remedy this deplorable situation In the light of the resolution of ALA Council on the Libmry immedrate steps of Congress,and the restoration of some funds to the opera 3 The American Library Associationcreate an ad hoc committee tion of the Office of Service to the Disadvantaged and Unserved, which shall be mandated to monitor and advise the Lrbrary of Con- Action Council ursesvou to direct both the Committees on gressin its enforcementof fau employment practices. Arbitration and th-eIFC to report on the situation regarding 4. The American Library Associationencourage its membersto write the firing of l4 employeesof the Library of Congresswithout to its members of congressrequesting that the Congresslnvestigate the due process- protesting treatment of Theseemployees, the equal employment practices of the Library of Congressand take such LC regarding black em ployees,were fired following their to seethat the fair employment practicelaws of pursual of firsl amendment rights of free speechto draw stepsas is necessary attention 1o their plight. Their hasty firing was an act of this land are enforced in the Library of Congress. polilical repressionof their civil rights, and of necessityof Submrtted by Joslyn N Williams,Personal Mernber lnterestto ALA becauseof its interest in first amendment Washington,D C Don\ ftrssI +habo'ttoh o" olc t3, f *hc bcrgoinon po.3e7,1 FREEDOM TO READ FOUNDATION The statement wls rpproved by the Board (with one dissenting ve Motions The Board o[ Trustees of lhe Freedom to Read I.'orrndation met in to send the test of the statement immediately to Sena"tor Mansfield's Dallason June I8, l97l The total membershipof FIRF,aso[May committee and t!e New York Times were passed unan mousty. ll. l9?1, is 488 Dues received, November 1969 through May 31, is ?5- Contributi6n5 to the LeRoy Merritt Humani- 1971, $ll,O60 C- That was done lare Friday afternoon. Late Suntlay, I learned that tarian F und (the non'tax deductible--and, therefore, more freely statement still had not been sent out; that it had been presenled ti distributed am the Foundation) of totalled $2,39O 00. Cash on ALA IFC for their approval, by IFC to Executive Board for recor hand May (not as of 31. 197 I including Merritt fund monies) is mendation to Council and on Tuesday morning (at the first Clounc 2.01 2.00. $ session) it was presented to Council with the words American Libr Association substituted for Freedom A great deal of lime was spent in reviewing a de iailed f und/member- to Read Foundatiun. ship raising campaign planned f or l97 l172. The goal of this campaign When questioned about this, Mr. Allain, President of FTRF, said 1 is to have 4,8?0 members (4,47O of them new) and I 13,000 in reyenue since a number the Foundation's $ of Board members werc present a b y J une I 972 The program is worked out in detail and anticipates-- the IFC meeting and did not object to the delay, that he felt no or in order to reach the goal drawing upon FTRF Board members, would object, and that they felt that the statement *outd be mor. Library trustees, State IF Committees, the tibrary press, and (most effective coming from ALA and FTRF rather than from each orga; importanlly) dynamic actiyity on the part of the Foundation in zation individually. opposition to state obscenity legislation His argument docs not hold w,ater! The Board discusseo ar great At its anuary t97l the J meeting, Board resolved to establish an length the desirabiliry ofwaiting for ALA to act first in this matter "Adyisory Council." I'eople in various fields who are nattonally and we decided thal ALA could and should act on its own. And, identified as supportive of the principles rvill be parliamentarilly of intellectual freedom everr if ilre entire Board had been present at thc IF invited purposes (as 1o serve The and functions of the Council discussed meeting, it was not a meeting of the Board, and Board actions shor in Dallas) *.ill be: l) to help the Board of Trustees assessand further not have been overturned, public interest in ihe goals of the Foundation; 2) to advise on long-range The incident is minor, but the principle goals and plans of the Freedom to Read Foundation;3) to consult with is major. The incident reve the hazards presented by the officers and staffofthe Freedom to Read Foundation in the areas of existence of two organizations that ar s€parate but not quite I their expertise as the need arises The Advisory Corrncil will meet with really had not forum in which to legally vorce my complaint. The the Board of Trustees at each A LA Midwinler Meeting. Board had met and would not meet agair for six months. Yel members of the Boad, acting in their capa;ity At the January meeting the Board also voted to pay the costs of prepar- as members of ALA, were still making FTRF decisions. I preienter ing Writ a of Certiorari in the appeal Ellis Hodgin is making to the U. S the facts of the incident to Council, but they, even if they had chol Supreme Courl. The writ has been filed, but the Court (as of the Dallas to do so, had no authority lo act in the matter. I sincerely recomm meeting) had not yel decided to review the case. that those of us that join the FTRF do so by making a contributior the non'tax deductible LeRoy Two new matters came before the Board First was the question of the Merritt Humanilarian Fund_ Board filing an amicus brief in the New York City School District No 25 Results of the election to the Board: (Queens)/Down these streets problem mean The Board decided, on ad- Ballots mailed: 436; Ballots returned 267 ; Ballots disqualified : I vice of Bill North, ALA's counscl, to not involve itself in this action in (voted for 5 trustees) a cout of originaljurisdiction.