It's Time for AALL's Annual "Make a Difference" Ritual by Nominating Leaders Pack Followers to Elected Office

According to AALL's Jan. 2013 eNewsletter, if you want to make a difference, then consider running for election to an AALL national office:

AALL is looking for the next leaders of the Association.

If you or someone you know has proven leadership experience, commitment to law librarianship, and the demonstrated ability to think strategically, please consider serving on the AALL Executive Board.

The Nominations Committee is asking members to nominate individuals for the 2013 AALL Executive Board election. The committee is looking for strong candidates for the offices of vice president/president-elect, secretary, and two Executive Board members. The election will be held in November for three-year terms beginning July 2014.

If you or someone you know is ready to serve on the AALL Executive Board, let the Nominations Committee know. The chair of this year's committee is Catherine Lemann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Library. You can email her your nomination. The committee is accepting nominations through March 15.

(Email link omitted because ...)

OK,  to quote REM, "here we go" again. Of course the chair of the Nominations Committee is well within the E-Board's status quo comfort zone for screening out "trouble makers" because she is a former AALL President. This year's Nominations Committee chair was featured performing one of her official presidential but not necessarily leadership duties in a circa 1991 shiny happy people holding hands video with "Jenny Westlaw" at Denver 2010.

Besides wondering where "Jenny Westlaw" is today, my hunch is (1) any "trouble making" elected AALL president would not be featured in this sort of vendor AALL member sponsored pablum without substantial editing of the video; and (2) nor would a former "trouble making" AALL president be chair of the Nominations Committee. It would take the concerted actions of the rank-and-file to get to either (1) and (2) but that is not likely to happen anytime soon. At best, see if the Nominations Committee even permits a "rogue" law librarian this year to be on the ballot. Even if that happens, there is no doubt in my mind that AALL's old boys-girls club will campaign behind closed doors for the "safe" candidate(s) also on the ballot for the same offices.

Absent the election to national offices of law librarians who have a proven track record of being willing to stick their neck out to make a difference, our association's leaders are nothing more than followers trying to catch up to the rank-and-file. [JH]