ALIA Votes 2015

The annual election of ALIA Directors is once again upon us. For the third year I have asked nominees a series of questions, and present their answers here to assist ALIA members in deciding for whom to vote.

ALIA elects Directors to the Board on a rotational basis. The Board consists of five Directors serving two year terms, a Vice President (who is also President-elect), and a President (the previous year’s Vice President). This normally means that each year we elect a Vice President as well as either two or three Directors. This year, for the complex reasons I explained last year there was initially only a single Board vacancy, in addition to the usual Vice Presidential vacancy. After nominations had closed Anne Lahey resigned from the Board, creating a second vacancy.

Nominees this year are Patricia Genat for Vice-President (elected unopposed), as well as Fiona Emberton, Ghylene Palmer and Evelyn Woodberry for Director. You can find further information about the election process, and the official candidate statements, on ALIA’s Elections page. This year I have decided to list the responses together under each question, rather than repeating the questions under each candidate, as in previous years. The order in which the candidates’ responses appear was chosen randomly. I have kept the same order for each question to ensure clarity. All responses are as they were presented to me, except for some occasional and very minor formatting changes. As Patricia Genat was elected unopposed I did not ask her to respond to these questions. I would like to thank all three Director nominees for their time and thoughtful responses - this is the first year I have received responses from all candidates before the publishing date.

1. Why are you running for the Board? What are the top three things you want to achieve in your time as an ALIA Director?

Ghylene Palmer

I have been involved with the ALIAWest Committee for several years now and through this experience, I have had opportunities to learn more about the value of our Association and I have enjoyed the chance to contribute to it in ways that have been enriching to our WA members.  

It has been rewarding to have input at a local level and this experience has inspired me to want to participate more at a national level and the most beneficial way for me to do this is to gain a seat on the Board. I wish to learn more about our Association and find ways to contribute to the direction of the professional body. Being part of the Board would allow me to influence ways to create opportunities for LIS workers to develop within this industry.

Top three things I would like to achieve in my time as ALIA Director should I be elected:

1. Advocate for the profession and the sector - continue to advocate for the library and information sector outside of the “library world” and increase our visibility.
2. Increase memberships through improving membership experience and retaining LIS workers in the Association and redevelop the cultural/workplace expectation to be a member of their professional association.
3. Support our emerging leaders in the profession - give them direction and engage them.

Fiona Emberton

Being a Director will provide an opportunity to contribute at a National level. I have worked with many different types of LIS both here and overseas (including Parliamentary, Academic and Public). I have worked in other sectors including commercial organisations. I’m passionate about libraries and excited about their future. Australia often leads the LIS world and I am keen to ensure this continues. The world is changing rapidly and ALIA needs to respond positively at the same time we need to keep what’s working well. 

Top 3 things;

1. Strengthening the appeal of ALIA membership
2. Help future-proof the profession and organisation
3. Increase the level of professionalism in the LIS sector

It’s important as a Director to fully understand the role and to work within the remit of the Board. Some of the following scenarios may not be in the realm of the Director’s responsibilities and therefore I would work with the other Directors closely and also the ALIA team to ensure the best outcome and keep communications clear and open. 

Evelyn Woodberry

After many years working long hours in Libraries and universities  I now have the time to give back to the profession and as a member of the Board I would hope to bring some of my knowledge and expertise to ALIA.

Top 3 things

• Make use of my government contacts while they are still relevant to assist ALIA to lobby regarding the value and contribution of libraries.
• Assist with positioning ALIA as the peak body for librarians and information professionals to be sustainable into the future.
• Cont