ALA New Orleans
I just finished reading Greg McClay's account of the recent American Library Association's conference in New Orleans. According to Greg's blog SHUSH (a fine blog, by the way), it doesn't appear there were a lot of surprises.
True to form, the ALA was determined to officially issue statements on everything from the right to unionize to the Darfur Genocide. I happen to believe there is indeed a right to unionize and I would like to see the violence in Darfur ended, but once again I would rather have seen the ALA concentrating on the issues of libraries, librarians and freedom of expression.
Apparently, the ALA also voted to support the idea of single payer, universal healthcare. I suppose this does legimately fall into the ALA's circle of interest. Librarians need healthcare like everyone else and, considering the small paychecks many of them receive for their labors, it's not totally foolish for the association to consider having the government play a role. I realize I part company with many of my fellow libertarians on this issue. The whole point of libertarianism is individual freedom and rights. A citizen should shape his own destiny and having the government provide assistance to one's healthcare can certainly be seen as interferring with those ideals. But then again, so can relying on your employer and/or insurance company for your healthcare. Few things say "loss of freedom" more than having to stay in a job you hate, just to keep your family's health insurance intact. I also don't believe it's good for our economy to have the purchase price of an American automobile include an estimated $1,500 worth of insurance for the automobile workers. This certainly places a burden on American automobile manufacturers when they compete against foreign companies that don't pay for their workers' insurance since their government handles that task.
But back to the ALA conference. I've certainly seen no indication that the ALA revisited the issue of the Cuban librarians imprisonment. No big surprise there.
I wonder how Barbara Bush was received at the conference. Perhaps, some readers who attended her speech would like to report on that. I would be interested in how that session went and if the ALA members were, at least, polite to the First Lady.
True to form, the ALA was determined to officially issue statements on everything from the right to unionize to the Darfur Genocide. I happen to believe there is indeed a right to unionize and I would like to see the violence in Darfur ended, but once again I would rather have seen the ALA concentrating on the issues of libraries, librarians and freedom of expression.
Apparently, the ALA also voted to support the idea of single payer, universal healthcare. I suppose this does legimately fall into the ALA's circle of interest. Librarians need healthcare like everyone else and, considering the small paychecks many of them receive for their labors, it's not totally foolish for the association to consider having the government play a role. I realize I part company with many of my fellow libertarians on this issue. The whole point of libertarianism is individual freedom and rights. A citizen should shape his own destiny and having the government provide assistance to one's healthcare can certainly be seen as interferring with those ideals. But then again, so can relying on your employer and/or insurance company for your healthcare. Few things say "loss of freedom" more than having to stay in a job you hate, just to keep your family's health insurance intact. I also don't believe it's good for our economy to have the purchase price of an American automobile include an estimated $1,500 worth of insurance for the automobile workers. This certainly places a burden on American automobile manufacturers when they compete against foreign companies that don't pay for their workers' insurance since their government handles that task.
But back to the ALA conference. I've certainly seen no indication that the ALA revisited the issue of the Cuban librarians imprisonment. No big surprise there.
I wonder how Barbara Bush was received at the conference. Perhaps, some readers who attended her speech would like to report on that. I would be interested in how that session went and if the ALA members were, at least, polite to the First Lady.
posted by dlh | 8:12 AM
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