The following ALA Counciler-at-Large candidates are personal members of ASCLA. These names and candidate statements are provided for informational purposes only and imply no endorsement of the candidates. Detailed information about each candidate can also be found in the biography provided with the ALA ballot. View the full list of candidates for the ALA 2009 Elections.

Judith Gibbons

I ask for your vote for ALA Council at this time when the library community is facing myriad options coupled with limited resources, and when it is so vitally important that we effectively advocate for quality libraries and well trained personnel. As a veteran advocate, I am experienced in speaking out for libraries and library workers on the local, state and national levels, and utilizing every opportunity to promote proactive change.

This is a time in my life where I feel that I have both the time and interest to devote to ALA Council. I retired from the Commonwealth of Kentucky in December, 2008 after thirty plus years of service working in reference, children’s services and adult programming. In addition, I served as a county library director and coordinated the public library program for the state. My volunteer committee work ranges from ALA and its chapters:  ASCLA, LAMA and PLA to serving as President of Southeastern Library Association and the Kentucky Public Library Association.

Suzy Szasz Palmer

The primary focus for all libraries must be to strive to maintain our relevance in the Internet Age. Public, academic, school, and special libraries must each approach this pressing concern from their own perspectives, with their own primary constituencies in mind. Librarians in public services may be affected differently than technical services librarians. But we must act in concert to deliver this message of relevance wherever we can. During my professional career (mostly in academic libraries) I have seen reference statistics fluctuate; special collections move from restricting access to scholars to opening doors to students; collections increasingly lean from books towards journals, and from print towards electronic. Libraries and librarians have not only adapted to these changes, but more important, embraced them. The latest, and perhaps biggest challenge, remains the Internet. We must harness it to our advantage in order to maintain a central role in our information world.

I bring nearly thirty years of professional library experience in reference, instruction, collection development, special collections, and senior management at: Cornell University (1979-2002); the University of Louisville (2003-2007); the Library of Virginia (2007-present). I taught “Collection Development” for the University of Kentucky (UK) School of Information Science; guest lecturer in reference courses at Syracuse University School of Information Studies and in online courses through UK and University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences. I was Editor-in-Chief, Microform & Imaging Review (formerly Microform Review), 1990-1993; 1998; 2003-2005; Board of Editors during intervening years, to present. I served on the Editorial Board, The New Dictionary of the History of Ideas,(Macmillan, 2004). I have over ten years experience as consultant on new products (print and electronic) for Gale, Readex and ProQuest. I’ve done numerous presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. For many years, I was a reviewer for Library Journal, LJ Disc & Database Reviews, and Microform Review/Microform & Imaging Review. I’ve also published in Journal of Information Ethics, Collection Building, and Kentucky Libraries. And I have served on planning committees for three national conferences: LOEX, EndUser (Endeavor), NASIG.