LEADS from LLAMA

Posted for Bede Mitchell, LAMA President:

LAMA colleagues: I want to give you a heads-up that the LAMA membership will be asked to vote on a proposed name change for our division. The proposal will be on this spring ballot, which will be available very shortly, but the idea has been simmering this entire decade. Below you will find the proposal and a brief rationale. Please distribute to your colleagues and let me know if you have any questions.

Name Change – 2008
Bylaws Amendments for Ratification. In accordance with Article XV of the LAMA Bylaws, at the 2008 Midwinter Meeting, the LAMA Board of Directors voted at the 2008 Midwinter Meeting to ask the membership to change the name of the division to Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA). The amendment has been placed on the ballot for your approval.

LAMA’s mission statement asserts “The Library Administration and Management Association encourages and nurtures current and future leaders, and develops and promotes outstanding leadership and management practices.” Similarly, our vision statement is “LAMA will be the foremost organization developing present and future leaders in library and information services.” Further, the strategic plan stresses that the division’s desired public perception is as “a welcoming community where aspiring and experienced leaders from all types of libraries, as well as those who support libraries, come together to gain skills in a quest for excellence in library management, administration and leadership.”

The recurring theme of leadership should be reflected in the division’s name, especially since the current name implies to newer members of the library profession that the division is aimed strictly at upper level administrators. The proposed name change is intended to help ALA members, other divisions and units of ALA, the profession at large, and the general public to understand the important role we play in developing library leaders of the present and the future. We have attempted to fill this role for years, but our division name has not reflected our work. We do not claim other divisions have no role in developing library leaders, just as LITA is not the only division interested in technology or ACRL is not the only division addressing issues of importance to academic librarians. Rather, the proposed name change reflects the fact that developing library leaders is one of our primary reasons for existence.

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