OLA Hotline’s Blog

The things you learn in libraries.  I had the pleasure of spending a recent Saturday morning in the basement of the Oregon State Library going through old editions of the OLA News (the forerunner to the Hotline).  Truth be told I was supposed to be inventorying the issues, my OLA Archives work party task, but I couldn’t resist sitting down and reading the 30^th anniversary issue (which was published in December 1982).

It’s always interesting to see the past’s anticipation of the future. I was amused to find an advertisement for a bookmark design contest on the theme Oregon Libraries 2001;  the announcement text asks: “Will library users consult computers instead of books?” “Will there be robots to turn the pages in big dictionaries?” “Will automated card catalogues tell you exactly what shelf to check to find the book want?”. I was also interested in the 1982 dues rates. I’ve been thinking a lot about our dues as the board will be recommending a dues increase during the business meeting at the upcoming conference.  This is only the second increase since 2001, and I was interested to see how our proposed rates track with historic dues levels.  Using the Measuring Worth web site (http://www.measuringworth.com/index.html), developed by Samuel Williamson, a World Bank economist, I find that the proposed rates are lower relative to 1982 dollars. (It’s also interesting to note that the highest salary band in 1982 was $25,001 and over.)

So other than the need to keep up with inflation, why are we proposing a dues increase?  Quite simply because our organization needs funds. In several of the past years, we have moved money from reserves to cover a deficit in the budget.  Our revenue sources are membership dues and annual conferences.  While the opportunity to meet with librarians from the region is a great way to advance our profession, develop relationships and just have fun, the revenues from joint conferences are lower.  We’re also moving into a couple years where there will be competing regional conferences: the national ACRL in Seattle in 2009 and the national PLA conference in Portland in 2010.  So, given these realities, the board is proposing a dues increase so that the excellent work of our organization in continuing education and in advocacy can continue.

Sarah Beasley, beasleys@pdx.du