JULIE TODARO
(Julie Todaro)
She was supporting the Kansas City Public Library which was protesting the arrest of a patron who had attended a speech sponsored by a non profit community organziation. The organization hard hired a security guard who happened to be a mmoonlighting Kansas City police officer. The patron had brabbed the microphone to protest and refute the speaker, The guard proceeded to arrest the paton. When a library employee tried to intervene explaining that it was the policy of the library to allow great exhuberence on th part of all attendees at public discussions. The officer then arrested the library employee. The library protested to the Police and the mayor vigoriously and the incident becale a national cause celebre. This was the statemment of the American Library Association President.
The 2016 election and campaigh was one of the most polarizing in American History, Hate and bigoted groups and individuals supported one of the candidates and some had a predelection towds voilence. Since the election of Abraham Lincoln, Amricans had not been so much at odds. Ironically, the concept of a library itslef produces a liberal institution whose values were at the time contrary to that of many populists who vieed intekkectual efferts as elitist and therfore opposed their existance in the public space.
President, American Library Association Dr. Julie Todaro – a librarian for over 35 years – has worked in public and academic libraries and has been a children’s librarian, a community college librarian, a library educator, a consultant and trainer and has her all level school librarian certification. A frequent presenter throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada in diverse areas of librarianship, she has taught the foundation management course for public librarians and library employees in Texas (11+ years,) Missouri, Louisiana and Montana. As a consultant she specializes in management for and organizational development in libraries, change management, 21st century trends and future studies, staffing issues, customer service, and emergency management. She is active in national, state and local organizations and associations and in her local community has served both on the Austin Public Library Advisory Board and Foundation Board and has served on the Texas State Library and Archives Commission Library Services and Technology Act Advisory Board. She has been managing community college libraries for over 24 years and is currently the Dean of Library Services of Austin Community College – a 40k student institution with 7 – soon to be 8 campus libraries and a number of other extension library sites. Todaro was selected as one of the ‘2005 Profiles in Power’ by the Austin Business Journal (2005), and was awarded a Library Administration and Management Association (LLAMA)Certificate of Recognition for her work on the "Truth is Out There" Column, (2004) for LLAMA’s journal. Julie was also awarded the YWCA’s Austin Educator of the Year Award, (1999), and was the Texas Library Association’s Librarian of the Year, (1996). She is past president of both the Texas Library Association and the Association of College and Research Libraries. Her publications include the 2009 Government Institute’s monograph Emergency Preparedness for Libraries; the 2007 Neal-Schuman monograph Training Library Staff and Volunteers to Provide Extraordinary Customer Service; the “The Truth is Out There," LAMA Journal (LAMA), Quarterly Column, 1997 to present; and the "Nothing But Net," Community and Junior College Libraries (Haworth), Quarterly Column, 1996 to present.
