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C&RL News March 2014 136

The ACRL Board of Directors posed the following questions to the candidates 
(Farrell is an ACRL member) for ALA presi-
dent, and C&RL News is pleased to publish 
their responses. Each candidate was given 
1,200 words in which she could respond 
to six questions and contribute an optional 
opening statement; the responses are iden-
tified under each question.

Opening statement from Maggie 
Farrell
Thank you for the opportunity to address 
critical concerns of ACRL. As a leader in 
higher education, ACRL has been on the 
forefront of information literacy competencies 
and linking the value of academic libraries to 
colleges and universities. As ALA president, I 
want to work with you to ensure your priori-
ties are supported and advanced within ALA.

Opening statement from Sari Feldman
We know this to be true: libraries change 
lives. Libraries are bastions of intellectual 
freedom, places where curiosity, explora-
tion, and knowledge meet inquiring minds. 
As members of the library profession and 
library supporters, we share an incredible 
opportunity to contribute to environments 
where people can learn freely, share ideas, 
and draw inspiration. 

Should I be elected president of ALA, 
I will engage our membership to build 
strong advocates for libraries and to help 
our members truly see themselves as part of 
our organization. I commit to elevating best 
practices and championing the risk-takers 
and game-changers who are helping libraries 
innovate to meet the needs of our customers 
today and into the future. I want to lead an 

ALA that not only inspires those in the library 
profession, but an ALA that is driven to share 
our inspiration with others around the world. 

1. What do you see as the most impor-
tant issues facing our profession today, 
particularly for academic and research 
librarians? With respect to these issues, 
what should ALA do to address them? 
What leadership skills you would bring 
to ALA to move the association forward?

Farrell: There are several important issues 
facing our profession but a common concern 
for all types of libraries is the false perception 
that libraries are not essential for our com-
munities. As I was advocating for increased 
funding for Wyoming libraries a few years 
ago, I had to counter the notion that people 
could just find what they needed on the Inter-
net and that books via Amazon were readily 
available. As libraries compete for limited 
resources, we have to show how libraries 
advance our communities with demonstrable 
data. Our metrics need to go beyond library 
usage to showing how students are more 
successful when they develop information 
literacy skills, how programs in our public 
libraries support employment and economic 

Maggie Farrell Sari Feldman

Maggie Farrell and Sari Feldman

Meet the candidates
Vote in the election this spring



March 2014 137 C&RL News

development, and how school libraries assist 
in the development of critical thinking skills 
so students are better prepared for college 
and university studies. The ACRL Value of 
Academic Libraries initiative is an excellent 
example of metrics that tell the story to our 
universities demonstrating that academic li-
braries are essential to higher education. We 
need more training and best practices in this 
area and as ALA president, I would look to 
ACRL to work with other divisions and units 
to articulate how we as an association can 
address this need. My facilitation and consen-
sus skills would be instrumental in bringing 
together a broad group of people to advance 
our advocacy efforts. My leadership focuses 
on the ability to develop and communicate a 
shared vision that advances an organization. I 
would be honored to lead ALA in our efforts 
to work effectively with our stakeholders and 
partners in demonstrating the many contribu-
tions of our libraries to communities.

Feldman: Demonstrating and communi-
cating our relevance is one of the most critical 
issues facing the library profession. Within the 
academic and research library field, we must 
reinforce the ways in which library service 
is essential to learning, research, and infor-
mation accessibility. Academic and research 
institutions are especially critical to fostering 
information literacy, scholarly publication, 
and responsiveness to student learning. They 
are doing important work that ALA must em-
phasize and bring to the forefront of public 
awareness. 

The core values of privacy and preserva-
tion increasingly represent an essential focus 
for libraries. It is essential for ACRL to be at 
the forefront of advancing national policy 
in these areas. My experience in advocating 
for library support at the local, state, and 
national level will be critical to positioning 
ALA at the table for these important policy 
conversations. As a confident public speaker 
and experienced media spokesperson, I look 
forward to representing ALA to advance li-
braries and our profession.

I also bring expertise in making strategic 
budget decisions that sustainably align rev-

enues and expenditures. My ability to identify 
new revenue streams and increase fund de-
velopment to ensure financial sustainability 
is a critical leadership skill that ALA and its 
membership need moving forward.

2. ACRL’s Plan for Excellence identifies 
goals that heighten the impact that librar-
ians have upon the Value of Academic 
Libraries, Student Learning, and the 
Research and Scholarly Environment. In 
what ways would you, as ALA president, 
work with ACRL and its partners to ad-
vance or promote these goals?

Farrell: I am very impressed with ACRL’s 
work in linking information literacy and 
library instruction to student success and 
retention. Universities and colleges are under 
great pressure for student retention, time to 
degree, and marketable skills upon comple-
tion of degree programs. The competition 
for research funding is becoming more 
intense, and academic librarians can have a 
stronger role in supporting research on their 
campuses. In order to advance these goals, 
academic librarians will need to emphasize 
different skills, including teaching, student 
assessment, research strategies, and manag-
ing data. As president, I would be a strong 
advocate to partners, such as the Higher 
Learning Commission, to build an awareness 
of how librarians contribute to student and 
faculty success. I will also work within ALA 
to advance ACRL goals within the new stra-
tegic plan that will be developed under my 
term and to link those goals with ALA units 
so that as an association, we are discussing 
common goals and how all libraries advance 
their respective communities.

Feldman: One of my primary goals as 
ALA president will be to elevate innovative 
approaches across all disciplines within the 
library profession to promote best practices. 
The ACRL Plan for Excellence is a highly in-
novative plan that leverages research on ROI, 
student outcomes, and research initiatives. 
It is critical for ALA to support this kind of 
best practice approach and share it broadly 
with members. All of us in the profession can 



C&RL News March 2014 138

learn from the ACRL model and become more 
data driven, especially in our responses to 
the media and the development of a national 
platform on the future of libraries. 

As cochair of the Digital Content and 
Libraries Working Group, I have gained 
invaluable experience building consensus 
within ALA and working collaboratively across 
the divisions, roundtables, and offices of the 
organization. My ability to co-create a solid 
vision and execute a plan collaboratively will 
be critical to helping ACRL and other groups 
within ALA to advance their goals. 

3. What experience have you had 
advancing diversity in the library pro-
fession? As ALA president, how will you 
move forward ongoing association efforts 
regarding the recruitment and retention 
of librarians from diverse backgrounds?

Farrell: Our profession needs to reflect 
the diversity of our society, and we have had 
some success as noted in the recent “Diversity 
Counts” report, but additional individual and 
collective actions are required. As dean and 
associate dean in academic libraries, I have 
sought diversity when hiring librarians and 
library workers. Once hired, I support formal 
and informal education as a way to strengthen 
individual skills and build a pathway for ad-
vancement. At the University of Wyoming, I 
hired librarians as part of a spousal/domestic 
partner program enabling couples to find full 
employment. At Montana State University, 
I supported additional funding and staffing 
for the Tribal College Librarian Professional 
Development Institute; an important training 
program for many smaller tribal colleges. I also 
seek diversity in my service engagements as 
noted in my work with the Traditional Cultural 
Expressions Task Force, and, as president, I 
would continue to be inclusive in order to 
bring a variety of voices to the table. As presi-
dent, I would also engage the caucuses and 
units in outlining specific actions to advance 
our profession. The Spectrum scholarships, 
of which I am a donor, and the IMLS/ALA 
Discovering Librarianship are initiatives that I 
fully support and hope to expand as president.

Feldman: The key to building diversity in 
any organization is to foster a collaborative 
and inclusive culture. Part of creating that 
kind of culture is effective communication; 
the other part involves becoming comfortable 
with, and adept at, change. The fact of the 
matter is that we have not done enough across 
ALA to communicate the broad changes in 
our profession and to encourage innovators, 
risk takers, and entrepreneurs to join us in the 
workforce or the association. 

We must make a concerted effort as an 
association to become much more deliberate 
in our recruitment efforts for the profession. 
At the same time, our efforts in continuing 
education and leadership development must 
support those already committed to the career 
to see a path to advancement. We need to 
seek out the creative thinkers and individuals 
from diverse and unique backgrounds to tap 
them for leadership opportunities. The asso-
ciation must provide multiple entry points and 
opportunities for participation and leadership.

Over the course of my career in libraries 
I have worked in diverse environments and 
championed the value of inclusiveness. I 
have successfully mentored a broad group 
of individuals from different backgrounds, 
interests, and ethnicity into our profession and 
have also encouraged and supported diversity 
in professional and ALA leadership positions. 
Over time I have moved from mentorship to 
sponsorship, making personal investments in 
the professional future of a diverse and tal-
ented group of individuals. If there is one area 
where ALA can make the biggest impact over 
the next three-to-five years, it is in strengthen-
ing the diversity of our organization.

4. Membership organizations, such as 
ALA and ACRL, need to demonstrate their 
value to recruit and retain members. What 
does ALA need to do to keep the organiza-
tion relevant to academic and research 
librarians, particularly those new to the 
profession? What ideas or strategies do 
you have to balance the ALA budget and to 
increase revenues in support of member 
activities?



March 2014 139 C&RL News

Farrell: Our new librarians have a fresh 
energy that is inspiring, and their optimism 
is contagious. We not only need more such 
librarians, but we also need to retain them 
in order to keep our profession dynamic. 
ALA needs to use technology as a way to 
engage our new members—technology is an 
opportunity to connect individuals, yet our 
current association infrastructure is clunky 
and much of our association work is still 
conducted face-to-face at conferences. We 
need to change the way we work so that 
we are conducting more work in between 
conferences and using conferences to build 
our relationships and networks. 

The size and scope of ALA is daunting 
to new members, but divisions and units 
can provide a more relevant and personal 
experience for a new librarian. As part of the 
strategic planning process, I will ask members 
what activities should be the purview of ALA 
and which activities should be managed by 
divisions and roundtables. We need to reduce 
the duplication of programs and services 
within ALA seeking more collaboration across 
the units. A simpler structure with clear areas 
of responsibilities that are coordinated will 
be more appealing to our newer members 
as well as more fiscally responsive.

Feldman: As the world becomes increas-
ingly connected and technology enables us 
to do more than we ever imagined in terms 
of opening communication, relevance for 
our organization and many others will mean 
adopting a more global focus. During my 
tenure as PLA president and at various points 
throughout my work in ALA, I have travelled 
internationally to foster global relations and 
to learn from library professionals around 
the world. 

One takeaway from my travels that con-
tinues to resonate for me is that American 
libraries and ALA are recognized as global 
leaders in our profession. I see opportunity 
to strengthen revenue by developing pro-
fessional training and consultation services 
that extend beyond our membership and 
connect with a global audience. Cultivating 
collaborations with international library pro-

fessionals and networks also offers potential 
for developing revenue streams, while further 
engaging our membership in new and ener-
gizing ways. We must recognize that revenue 
streams of the past based on publications, 
conferences, and even dues should be evalu-
ated and reconsidered within a global mar-
ketplace of education, ideas, and information. 

5. Big data, acquiring, storing, organiz-
ing and analyzing it, is a subject of great 
interest both in and beyond higher edu-
cation. ACRL is currently exploring how 
it might provide educational and other 
big data services to members. As big data 
becomes more widely used in analyti-
cal methods in academic and scholarly 
research, as well as government and in-
dustry, how can ALA support divisional 
efforts to make sure we are helping our 
members to thrive in this new research 
environment?

Farrell: Professional development of 
academic librarians as well as course work 
within library science programs are essential 
in strengthening librarian skills in managing 
data and understanding the research process. 
Academic librarians already possess the 
foundational skills for assisting researchers 
in managing data, but it is intimidating due 
to the scale of the data and the intellectual 
property and privacy rights that encompass 
this type of research. ACRL can be a leader in 
developing training to bolster these skills as 
well as a partner with other higher education 
associations to ensure that our universities 
and colleges are developing policies that 
manage data deposit, discovery, metadata, 
authentication, and archiving of research 
data.

Feldman: The application of big data in 
enhancing productivity, product develop-
ment, and strategy across industries is in a 
state of evolution. What is clear at this point 
is that the ability to curate data and provide 
effective analysis presents increasingly signifi-
cant opportunity for academic librarians to 
partner with, and demonstrate value to, fac-
ulty, researchers, innovators, industries, and 



C&RL News March 2014 140

education. ALA can play a role in supporting 
the development of competency areas and 
information studies that ensure our profession 
provides the talent of deep analytical skills 
to our academic and research community. 
At the same time, the implications of big 
data acquisition, storage, analysis, and more 
will touch on core value areas for ALA that 
require the development of policies related 
to privacy, security, and intellectual property.

6. Defending the privacy of their com-
munity members is a responsibility to 
which academic librarians are strongly 
committed. The year 2013 brought news 
of unprecedented assaults on individual 
privacy. What is your perspective on the 
role and responsibility of ALA in helping 
libraries to educate community members 
about privacy rights? Can you envision a 
“big tent” approach in which all library 
sectors proactively collaborate to protect 
these rights?

Farrell: Absolutely, and privacy as one of 
ALA’s values should be protected by all ALA 
units. ALA, with its legislative expertise and 
connections to partner associations, is in the 
position to educate our citizens about privacy 
rights and to communicate our concerns 
about threats to our privacy and intellectual 
freedom. The intellectual freedom commit-
tees and liaisons are instrumental in keeping 
all ALA units informed and providing com-
mon talking points so that as individuals we 
have a consistent message advocating for 

our patrons. ALA’s role is to coordinate and 
facilitate communication among the various 
units, and ensure that members are aware and 
equipped to handle questions and concerns 
regarding various library values on local and 
national levels.

Thank you for the opportunity to address 
specific concerns of ACRL, and while the con-
cerns noted have an academic perspective, 
these are shared concerns across the associa-
tion and our profession. As president, I look 
forward to working with you to articulate 
these issues and to seek common solutions 
in order to move our profession forward. I 
ask for your vote for president-elect of ALA.

Feldman: Even as we recognize the 
complexity of security in the United States 
and the role that information plays in global 
security, defending the privacy of individuals 
is one of the most fundamental tenets of our 
profession. ALA must stand behind policies 
that protect anonymity and prevent metadata 
from being used to identify individuals. 

ACRL faces particular challenges on this is-
sue related to new revelations on government 
surveillance of researchers and academics. 
If we learn from the success of our efforts 
in the Digital Content and Libraries working 
group, where we employed a “big tent” ap-
proach, we could develop a similar strategy 
as it relates to advocating on behalf of privacy 
rights. ALA has an essential responsibility to 
advocate for individual privacy and commu-
nicate broadly about this most basic right of 
American democracy. 

The 2014 candidates for ACRL vice-presi-
dent/president-elect will participate in an 
online forum on Monday, March 17 from 
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. CST (12–1 p.m. EST, 
10–11 a.m. MST, 9–10 a.m. PST).

Come hear Ann Campion Riley and 
Rickey Best discuss their platforms and vi-
sion for ACRL. Campion Riley is associate 
director for access, collections, and technical 

services at the University of Missouri, and 
Best is collection development librarian at 
Auburn University at Montgomery.

Details for accessing the webcast will be 
available on the ACRL Insider blog, www.
acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider, by early March. Au-
dio archives of the candidates answering 
prepared questions will also be available 
on ACRL Insider a few days after the forum.

ACRL presidential candidates online forum



March 2014 141 C&RL News

The following ACRL members are either 
nominated or petition candidates for ALA 
councilor. ACRL members are encouraged 
to vote for these candidates to increase 
ACRL’s voice in ALA affairs.

Latrice Booker, Coordinator of Library 
Instruction, Indiana University Northwest-
Gary

Steve Brantley, Head of Reference Ser-
vices, Eastern Illinois University-Charleston

Matthew Ciszek, Head Librarian of 
the Lartz Memorial Library, Penn State 
Shenango, Sharon, Pennsylvania 

Alexander H. Cohen, Library Consul-
tant, Aaron Cohen Associates, Croton-On- 
Hudson, New York

Gerardo “Gary” Colmenar, Associate 
Librarian, University of California-Santa 
Barbara

Roberto C. Delgadillo, Social Sci-
ences/Humanities Reference Librarian, 
University of California-Davis

John DeSantis, Cataloging and Meta-
data Services Librarian, Dartmouth College, 
Hanover, New Hampshire

Tyler Dzuba, Head of the Physics-
Optics-Astronomy Library, University of 
Rochester, New York

Clem Guthro, Director of Libraries, 
Colby College, Waterville, Maine

Kathleen Hanselmann, Chief Librar-
ian, Defense Language Institute Foreign 
Language Center, Presido of Monterey, 
California

Will Hires, Engineering Librarian, 
Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge

Susan L. Jennings, Dean of Library 
Services, Chattanooga State Community 
College, Tennessee

Xudong Jin, Library Director, Pitt Com-
munity College, Greenville, North Carolina

Laura Koltutsky, Social Sciences 
Librarian, University of Calgary, Alberta, 
Canada

Charles E. Kratz, Dean of Libraries, 
University of Scranton, Pennsylvania

Chihfeng P. Lin, Associate Professor, 
Shih Hsin University, Taipei, Taiwan

Rodney Lippard, Director, Learn-
ing Resource Centers, Rowan-Cabarrus 
Community College, Salisbury, North 
Carolina

Michael J. Miller, Acting Chief Li-
brarian, Bronx Community College–City 
University of New York

Heather Lea Moulaison, Assistant 
Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia

Andrew Pace, Executive Director, Net-
worked Library Services, Online Computer 
Library Center, Dublin, Ohio

Jeannette E. Pierce, Associate Direc-
tor for Research and Information Services, 
University of Missouri-Columbia

Kevin Reynolds, Associate University 
Librarian, The University of the South, 
Sewanee, Tennessee

Erin S. Stalberg, Director of Discovery 
and Access, Mount Holyoke College, South 
Hadley, Massachusetts 

Thomas H. Teper, Associate Univer-
sity Librarian for Collections and Technical 
Services, University of Illinois-Urbana 
Champaign

ACRL members running for ALA Council 
in the spring 2014 election