Hello fellow NDLA members,
I hope that you all had a great week so far! Here are some updates from ALA that I wanted to bring to your attention.
There is a webinar series on eligibility and how to apply for the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver. Here is the link to sign up for those webinars: https://pslfcoalition.org/temporary-waiver/. Also, here is ALA’s press release if you would like more information: TEPSLF
ALA has recently released a resource that showcases emerging models for small business programming in libraries called Libraries Build Business Playbook. The purpose of this playbook is to be a supportive tool for libraries who are interested in creating small business and entrepreneurship programs with a focus on programming for underserved communities. Thirteen libraries were selected to receive grants to start or build on current programming. ALA will host a conversation on Instagram live on Monday, February 7^th @ 12 CST, where cohort members will share their experiences.

Have a great Friday everyone!
Sara Westall, ALA Chapter Councilor

Good afternoon,
ALA Council was unable to finalize voting on several resolutions, and we are supposed to have a meeting to finalize the voting sometime in February. Once I hear more about when this meeting is to occur, I will again send out the resolutions that ALA Council will be voting on. Both of the resolutions I had mentioned in a prior email were part of the resolutions that need to be voted on yet.
For about 5 years, several committees have worked on looking at current governance structure and developing recommendations to Council for a vote. At the last ALA Annual, the Transforming Governance Task Force was appointed by the ALA Executive Board to establish a governance review process. Currently, Council is the policy making body and there are 185 Councilors that make up this governing body. There were two models proposed where the Board of Directors/Executive Board would be the policy making body and Council would be either part of an assembly or advisory body.
The first model would have Council become and advisory body to the Board of Directors/Executive Board (there would also be a reduction in number of Councilors to 89, this does not include a reduction in Chapter Councilors).
 The second model would have 4 assemblies become the advisory body to the Board of Directors/Executive Board (there would be 103 members of this advisory committee).
There was a lot of discussion about moving forward with either of these models, and concern about Council potentially no longer being the policy making body. There really wasn’t enough time to debate and to fully understand how the proposed models would work, and so there will be another Council meeting in February to discuss the future of ALA’s governance structure.
At Council meeting II there were two questions asked during the Committee on Legislation report. Question one had to do with the status of opt-outs for individuals in the CASE Act and question two had to do with the status of moving the US Copyright Office out of the Library of Congress. This is the response that Council received from the chair of the committee:
Hi everyone, I wanted to make sure to follow-up on two questions that were asked following the Committee on Legislation report at Council II.

·  Regarding the status of opt-outs for individuals in the CASE Act: In the fall, ALA and ACRL, as a part of the Library Copyright Alliance, submitted comments with the US Copyright Office strongly objecting to the proposed preemptive opt-out ineligibility for library employees. We are currently awaiting for the US Copyright Office to issue a final rule, and will provide an update once this occurs.

·  Regarding the status of moving the US Copyright Office out of the Library of Congress: There are some informal discussions about such legislation. ALA is involved in the discussions, but we don't expect anything to move in this Congress, though introduction of a bill is always possible. ALA continues to advocate to keep the US Copyright Office in the Library of Congress under the purview of Dr. Hayden.

There are more updates to come next week. Have a great weekend!
Sara Westall, ALA Chapter Councilor 

Hello fellow NDLA members,
As promised here are this week’s ALA Council updates:
There are several resolutions that have been brought forth for discussion and voting at the ALA Councilor meetings next week. These are two resolutions that the Resolutions Committee have received:

• 1.      Resolution to Promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Efforts in AASL While Addressing Historical Effects of Racism from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

• 2.       Resolution to Support School and Youth Services Librarians Facing Increased Intellectual Freedom Challenges

Sara Westall, ALA Chapter Councilor

Hello fellow NDLA members,

I thought it might be best if I gathered ALA happenings and sent out a weekly email to membership, instead of sending out multiple long emails! It is my hope to send out updates on Fridays, but if there is something time sensitive, I will do my best to get that to all of you as soon as possible.
Only two more weeks until ALA’s first LibLearnX conference. Just a reminder that LibLearnx has taken the place of ALA Midwinter. This conference is entirely virtual, and there is still time to register. LibLearnX will feature many great speakers, including Angeline Boulley, Cicely Lewis, and Molly Shannon. There will be many opportunities for attendees to learn, network, and engage in discussions.
ALA Council will meet during LibLearnX, and I will be sharing outcomes from those meetings.
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has a blog called  Intellectual Freedom News which is updated weekly on Friday. The purpose of the blog is to raise awareness on news related to intellectual freedom, such as censorship, access, net neutrality, information literacy & disinformation, and other areas.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Sara Westall, ALA Chapter Councilor