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CHICAGO – ¾«¶«´«Ã½members will have the opportunity to engage in real time with ¾«¶«´«Ã½leadership during the association’s Virtual Membership Meeting, at 1 p.m. Central/2 p.m. Eastern, Thursday, March 17.

Virtual meetings are part of ALA’s ongoing focus to connect members and provide an avenue for input on strategic direction, budget priorities, and topics of interest.

“This is your chance to learn more about ¾«¶«´«Ã½and to participate in the shaping of the association and the library community,” said ¾«¶«´«Ã½President Patricia “Patty” Wong. “Active engagement from ¾«¶«´«Ã½members is important to our growth as an association. I look forward to seeing you there.”

The session will include reports from ¾«¶«´«Ã½leaders about the work of the association. It also offers members an opportunity to ask questions or even submit a resolution. Updates from leaders will be followed by an opportunity to discuss and vote on any resolutions offered by members.

The agenda will address issues most immediate to our members, including banned book challenges. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom will provide an update on ALA’s response to escalating censorship efforts across the country and will include stories from those who have faced challenges.

You will hear from Kristin Pekoll, who as a young adult librarian in Wisconsin, endured a more than four-month long challenge to over 80 LGBTQ titles at her public library and from Amy Dodson, who wrote a Diversity Statement that included support for Black Lives Matter as the director of a small library system in northern Nevada. Amy faced an investigation by her library board and the county’s sheriff threat to withhold emergency services for the library.

All ¾«¶«´«Ã½personal members may register and participate. Live captioning will be provided.

Members who wish to participate must register for the meeting using their ¾«¶«´«Ã½ID number. Non-members are welcome but will not be recognized to text chat and are ineligible to vote on resolutions.

All resolutions shall be prepared in accordance with the Virtual Membership Meeting Guidelines for Resolutions prepared by the ¾«¶«´«Ã½Executive Board and the Resolutions Committee and published on ¾«¶«´«Ã½Connect.

For more information, visit /membership/vmm.