Not feeling love for ALA?

I believe in the importance of having professional organizations. But kind of like when I went off to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I also believe that you need to find your niche because they can otherwise be way to huge and overwhelming. I think that the New Members Round Table is a great group of people and they're very committed in helping those who are working to get ahead in the profession. Right now, I'm also valuing my RUSA membership, mainly because I've been appointed to a committee that feeds my personal interest in reader's advisory (seriously, where does that apostrophe go in reader's?). If I hadn't found my place in these two particular areas, I probably would have left ALA long ago. It's an expensive gateway membership to these other groups. Everyone has to make their own decisions on what is important to them. I do highly recommend that if you're still a student, or qualify for any of the reduced fees, join if only to get a flavor of the organization. Informed decisions about why you choose not to do things rank you much higher on my respect-o-meter than if you proudly proclaim your ignorance of what you're deriding.

For those who are not interested in ALA whatever your reasons, a semi-serious group has started. The Library Society of the World is an intriguing bunch of people whose opinions I've come to value over the years. It was Rochelle's post today which alerted me to the group, so check it out if you're interested.