Let me begin by thanking the West Virginia Library Association for inviting me to speak with you today and having me as its guest at this wonderful Canaan Valley Resort. I had the pleasure yesterday of visiting the Blackwater Falls, and on Saturday of flying from Charleston to Elkins in a three-seater airplane. Unfortunately, I have to get back to Charleston the same way this afternoon.

I hope that I'll have the chance to return here again, and when I do, have a chance to see some of the many other sites that make West Virginia such a wonderful place to visit.

There are many issues confronting the American Library Association and the nation's libraries and librarians today. Some of them are perennials and others are reflections of our times.

I'll list them and then talk briefly about my theme as President-Elect and then President of ALA, and how important your role will be in making this initiative a success for everyone who cares about libraries and library workers.

What we have on our plate today are some of the following issues:

• The conflict among such contending matters as Anti-terrorism, and our traditional and dear beliefs regarding client privacy in the library. There are laws on the books in 47 states, and attorneys general opinion in two others, that require the police or any other law enforement body to have a properly served warrant to acquire records of library use. (Hawaii is the only state that offers no legal protection for library records.)

Under the new Anti-Terrorism Act, all of these guarantees of privacy have been superseded by the Federal government's procedures, which make it far simpler for officials to acquire an individual's library, hospital, and education records. One stipulation is that the library is not permitted to receal to anyone that records have been demanded and whose records in particular were taken.

The American Library Association has offered a procedure by which libraries so affected may call ALA's Intellectual Freedom Office and ask to be referred to ALA's attorney without violating the secrecy provision of the Anti-Terrorism law. Under this procedure and under the guarantees of lawyer-client privilege, the library is then free to discuss with the ALA attorney-without violating the law-how to respond to such requests, and what the library's options are.

I fear that the attack on the World Trade Center is now resulting in attacks on basic American values of liberty, privacy, and fairness. Your Association will do its best to ensure that libraries and librarians will receive the best possible legal support available in responding to such demands.

Unfortunately there is little the ALA can do to protect citizens of foreign nationalities, cab drivers, and others in the U.S. from being beaten up or worse simply because of their national origin or ethnicity. As librarians you can play a role by making available information and scheduling programs that teach about Islam, liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and, in general, counsel tolerance and understanding.

• The next area of concern is CIPA, the Children's Internet Protection Act, and ALA's traditional role in defending intellectual freedom on all fronts. CIPA is the federal law that requires all libraries that wish to continue to receive e-rate funds, to provide filters on all Internet terminals in the library-that is, for all terminals used by children, adults, and staff.

  ALA has committed over $1,000,000 to fight CIPA and defend library users' access to constitutionally protected speech, and still has to raise some of the funds to cover the anticipated expenses of the suit. So there's two issues, (1) the substantive one of winning the suit and protecting library users and staff from being denied access to information from flawed filters; and, (2) finding the money to pay all of the bills accompanying the prosecution of the lawsuit.

Although something of a wisecrack, I like to characterize the Children's Internet Protection Act as a double oxymoron. (An oxymoron is the opposite of what it claims to be-e.g., cafeteria food.) In this case, CIPA isn't just for children-it denies unfiltered access to adults and staff as well.

The second oxymoron is that CIPA doesn't offer the protection its name implies. Filters don't work! Anyone knows this who has worked where there are filters or who has kept up with such websites as www.Peacefire.org, a site that demonstrates daily the defects and false claims made by filter manufacturers or their proponents. There has been ample experience demonstrating that those who are determined to do so, quickly succeed at finding ways to view those kinds of web sites that filters so unsuccessfully try to prevent them from viewing.

• Next we must combat UCITA, the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. UCITA is the information industry's effort to impose unreasonable constraints on fair use by enacting legislation in each state that will supersede those rights of access, and information use and dissemination, guaranteed to citizens through copyright law, case law, traditional patterns of use, and fundamental notions of property.

When a library, or for that matter, you buy a book, you own it. You can do as you wish with it. You can let every friend of yours read it-that's if you're lucky enough to have friends who return books.

What Bill Gates wants-he's one of the chief supporters of UCITA-is to have you license,not own, his software. What you own is a license that carefully specifies how you can use that software, and how your license can be revoked if you use that license in a way that violates its terms and conditions.

Also, unlike buying an Explorer and retaining your right to sue Ford if you are injured because of a defect, the software license removes all liability for defects or consequential damages from the manufacturer.

How does Gates get away with it? By breaking the shrink-weap or clicking on "I accept" when loading the software, you have agreed to all the terms the manufacturer specified; and, if UCITA passes in your state, you will have given up all of the property rights you heretofore have enjoyed.

When successful, UCITA legitimizes for software purchases, the loss of all the rights and precedents that you enjoy when purchasing cars, washing machines, and other non-software products.

• The next issue is one that is important to ALA as a library association that must continue to serve its members. Because of the post-September 11th changes in the economy and people's attitudes toward travel, ALA has to make new income and budget projections for the current and next fiscal year. ALA is heavily dependent on income from library conferences, and also guarantees certain rates of hotel occupancy when it signs convention contracts.

If the projections are not met, Association programs will have to be reviewed, as well as current staffing and budgets, to ensure that ALA's revenues stay in line with its expenses. This is a challenge that may not worry the Association's members at the moment, but it is currently a compelling concern of ALA's Executive Board and management.

• ALA must continue to promote the Campaign for America's Libraries and library advocacy-important multi-year initiatives. I support these efforts and hope that you are supporting advocacy efforts for libraries in your community, and doing your part for the @ your library campaign.
• ALA must maintain its commitment to diversity in recruitment to the profession, in libraries, and in the Association. It is essential that the demographics of the nation and local communities be reflected in the Association, in recruitment, and in the staffing of the nation's libraries.

A friendly smiling face to greet library users is essential, always; but it is important as well if we can speak the patron's language, have staff similar in background to the user, and have materials supporting everyone's interests.

• And simply, it is more important, now, in a time of crisis, that you, your library, your associations, and the communities you serve promote libraries, librarians, and their enduring value in a democratic society.

These are among the issues that we will all be dealing with locally and nationally, and that I as ALA President-Elect will vigorously pursue.

Moving on to the final area of this talk, let me discuss with you the theme of my ALA presidency, the Campaign for America's Librarians. It is here where my energies will be devoted primarily, and where I especially seek your help, support, and most of all, your involvement.

I have created a Task Force on Better Salaries and Pay Equity for Library Workers. I am honored to have Yvonne Farley of the Kanahwa County Library representing the State of West Virginia on my task force. The purpose of the Task Force is to provide the leadership, the research, the publications, and the inspiration, to help empower librarians to better promote their worth to the community-and specifically, to give them the tools to help them achieve better salaries and pay equity.

Involved are several areas that require work:

• We must overcome the stereotype of the librarian as the selfless, dedicated, and devoted worker who is in the profession to do good, and who will accept any pittance of pay just for the opportunity to work in a library and be of service.
• We must promote a better understanding of what the librarian does-no one will want to pay us more money if they have no idea what education, experience, judgement, and special skills it takes for us to do our jobs.
• Over and above those arguments-although they are relevant-we must contribute substantively to the fight for pay equity; women have been discriminated against in a variety of ways, one of the primary of which is in compensation

According to U.S. Census Bureau data provided by Steve Fesenmaier, the average annual earnings of men with advanced degrees are $36,000 greater than that of women-$87,000 per year versus $51,000 per year in 1998

In female predominant professions-librarianship being a perfect example-the pay has not been comparable to the pay for male predominant professions. Even worse, those average earnings aren't remotely close to how badly male or female librarians are paid, especially in West Virginia.

In the 2000 West Virginia salary survey, according to Fesenmaier, the average salary of the 94 MLS librarians in the State is $31,974-that's almost $19,000 below the average 1998 salary of women with advanced degrees, and $55,000 less than men similarly credentialed. Instantly, that should give you an idea of how badly librarians are doing, and especially how badly West Virginia librarians are doing in terms of equitable compensation.

I use the word compensation because the issue isn't solely salary. What about benefits? Health insurance? Paid vacation? Paid sick leave? Maternity leave for both the mother and the father? Attendance at conferences? Financial support for attendance at conferences? All of these are factors that contribute to your overall compensation.

And I can tell you that as library workers, and especially, as library workers in West Virginia, your compensation isn't comparable to those with similar qualifications, experience, and responsibility who work in fields that are predominately male. Librarians, teachers, social workers, nurses-fields in which women predominate-are all paid less than engineers, accountants, and others in male-dominated professions.

As President-Elect of the American Library Association I am committed to working to do something about compensation discrimination for all library workers!

Rather than elaborate further on the problem of how badly library workers are paid-a problem with which virtually everyone in this room is all too familiar-I'll simply indicate what the task force will take on as its charge:

What can you do?

A Hell of a lot!

What I invite and challenge you to do is seek ways in which the West Virginia Library Association can contribute to the Campaign for America's Librarians-and I don't mean money.

It's the elbow grease and the creativity to see how the ALA campaign fits with WVLA's goals and activities, and then the willingness to work toward our shared goals of fair pay for library workers that will make the Campaign for America's Librarians a success.

I ask two things of you today. First, I respectfully request that you consider appointing a special committee to study salaries in the State of West Virginia. The New Jersey Library Association has done this, and NJLA is committed to change. You can do the same thing here in West Virginia if you are committed to it.

Once we believe in a cause and are willing to fight for it, we can succeed. The Task Force will provide you with the data and the success stories-in this way you'll know that it can, and, has been, done!

Second, please give some thought to the idea of the Campaign for America's Librarians and what it can do to succeed and how it should go about it.

We have been aware of complaints all of our careers-from ourselves and certainly from others-about how badly library workers are paid.

At this time the American Library Association is, and I hope and trust, the West Virginia Library Association, will be, committed to doing something about it.

This WILL work if we all commit to it!

Thank you, very much.