SHUSH - for the conservative librarian

a website for the conservative librarian

Wednesday June 22, 2005

(07:30 pm) And So It Begins...

An interesting article in School Library Journal called "Roots of Revolution Revisited" (Jun05, pg34) by Marc Aronson. He discusses his research into writing a history book on the American Revolution for "young people". The article describes his search for the roots of the Revolution and how it tied into world history, particularly the Boston Tea Party. Says Mr. Aronson, "The history of the Revolution is also the history of the English in India. Neither makes much sense in isolation."

Technically, that's true. In fact if you read the Federalist Papers you'll see that other countries and world events had a great influence when it came time to write the Constitution. We certainly were not created in a bubble, but we were not simply a random intersection of events either. Americans are unique in the world in that our pride in our country has as much if not more to do with the philosophy of what its means to be an American then it does land or borders. There were certainly financial pressures bearing but what finally came from what he refers to as the "revolutionary consciousness" was something much more then mere number crunching. Implying otherwise lessens the spirit and idealism that went into our creation. Is there a place for this? Absolutely! But when we're educating the young of America let's make sure they have the Founding Fathers down pat before worrying about the financial problems of the East India Company.

(06:45 pm) Abomination News

There's an interview with Mitch Freedman in the online version of Library Journal (subscription only). Aside from the asinine comment by Freedman that ALA is somehow balanced because both Colin Powell and Michael Moore have spoken at ALA forums he had this to offer concerning a question on the salary initiatives:

What came out of my presidency and the subsequent committee on salaries has fostered a sense of empowerment. It’s encouraged and created a dialog. ALA-APA (Allied Professional Association) was the only practical way to generate ALA commitment and involvement [in the initiative]. Number one, it was established; number two, [ALA] has made efforts to fund it. Long term, the executive director is committed to it.

A couple weeks ago Barbara Strickling sent out an information packet to the ALA Council concerning the certification process they are attempting to create. The mission statement :"The mission of the ALA-APA Certification Program is to certify that individuals have reached a defined level of competency in an area of specialization in the library field". Reading through the documentation shows no "defined level" but instead the beginning of a vicious cycle. Certification is only good for 3 years, at which point you need to begin the re-certification process by accumulating "60 contact hours of continuing education related to the area of certification in the three-year period prior to re-certification."

Now they also say that certification will not be required but "will, however, provide valuable information that employers may use in determining the relative qualifications of a candidate." And considering the machinery that will have to be in place for something like this to work, once its started and moving, count on it being mandatory. Otherwise how do you justify the time and effort of the review committees, whoever decides to offer outlets for the 60 hours of continuing ed., not to mention the over-read and antisocial our profession is known for who will come out of college thinking a resume is incomplete without said magic pieces of paper?

Here in MA, if not everywhere, teachers are already required to keep up certification. Schools even have built-in workshop days to help with the process. But have we suddenly found the solution of separating good teachers from bad? No. Certification, like anything, is what you make of it. There will be people who find creative and useful things to do with their 60 hours and learn more about their chosen profession. There will be people who clock in the hours as quickly and uneventfully as possible. If certification didn't exist the go-getters would still be looking for new ideas and the uninterested would still be just getting by. Its that way in work, it was that way in college, in high school, since birth. You'll never be able to force someone to be better and certification is insulting to those of us who do take pride in our profession.

Freedman said ALA-APA was created to lock in ALA commitment on the salary issue. Instead its becoming a red-tape behemoth trying to hover over our shoulders and guide our every move. I did my time, I got my sheepskin, I know what I want to do and how I want to do it. Get out of my face and let me do my job.