Molly Raphael, former director of libraries at Multnomah County Library in Portland, Ore., has been elected president-elect of the American Library Association, defeating Sara Kelly Johns, school library media specialist for grades 6-12 at Lake Placid (N.Y.) Middle/High School.
James Neal, vice president for information services and university librarian at Columbia University, was elected treasurer, defeating Alan Kornblau, director of the Delray Beach (Fla.) Public Library.
Raphael received 5,857 votes. Johns received 4,399 votes. Neal received 6,891 votes. Kornblau received 2,756 votes.
As ALA president, Raphael will be the chief elected officer for the oldest and largest library organization in the world. The ALA has a membership of more than 62,000 librarians, library trustees and library supporters. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information.
Raphael will become president-elect in June 2010, and will assume the ALA presidency in June 2011, following the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, La.
She will serve a one-year term as president and a one-year term as Immediate Past President.
“I am honored to be elected president of the American Library Association (ALA) for the year 2011-2012,” Raphael said. “Libraries are truly essential for learning and essential for life. Today, libraries face serious economic, political, social, and technological challenges. ALA is the only organization that speaks for all libraries; therefore, I call on all those who work in, use, and support libraries to join together to ensure that the critical roles of libraries in our society are sustained.”
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Raphael recently retired after six years as director of libraries at Multnomah County Library in Portland, Ore., which serves a population of more than 700,000 with a budget of $60 million and more than 500 employees. During her tenure, she passed a five-year, voter-approved operating levy (more than $176 million for 5 years); implemented many new programs and services; worked with The Library Foundation of Multnomah County to raise more than $12 million. Under her leadership, MCL achieved consistently top rankings among urban public libraries and the highest gross circulation of any library in the country for four consecutive years.
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Neal will become ALA treasurer in June 2010 following the 2010 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. and will serve in this capacity through June, 2013.
"It is a deep honor to be elected by the members of ALA to serve as treasurer over the next three years, and to have the opportunity to work with member leaders and outstanding staff to advance our professional aspirations and impact," Neal said. "ALA provides its members with the hope, the power and the action to make a difference, and sound budgetary policies and fiscal practices will be critical to our success working with and for each other."
"Congratulations and best wishes to Jim Neal. He will be an excellent ALA treasurer,” Kornblau said.
Neal is currently the vice president for information services and university librarian at Columbia University, a system of 22 libraries. His responsibilities include the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, the Copyright Advisory Office and the Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research.
Previously, he has served as the dean of university libraries at Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University and held administrative positions in the libraries at Penn State, Notre Dame, and the City University of New York.
Neal has served on the Council and Executive Board of the American Library Association and is currently chair of the Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC); on the Board and as president of the Association of Research Libraries; on the Board and as chair of the Research Libraries Group (RLG), and chair of the RLG Program Committee of the OCLC Board.
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