It has been four years now since I have joined BAISL. And each year there are
discussions about the bylaws and membership in BAISL. Many of these
discussions have pretty strong feelings being interjected. In four years, the
bylaws for membership have not changed, and we continue to have what seems like
the "elephant in the room" sitting with us at every meeting.
I know there is a Bylaws Committee. They have met and worked hard at coming up
with some wording. Then they bring it back to the group, and the conversation
and "strong feelings" start showing up again.
I personally believe that the wording for the Bylaws cannot be written until
the BASIL group defines who they want for members. I am not sure what this
process would look like, but it just seems to me that going four years without
a decisions seems ridiculous.
There are probably many variations of membership, but I see basically two that
have come out of discussions:
1. Membership is open to Independent School librarians and library
assistants. (However the term "librarian" and "library assistants" are
defined.)
2. Membership is open to anyone in Independent Schools that feels BAISL
would be a supportive organization for them (librarians, library assistants,
teachers, Ed Tech, IT, assistant heads, etc.)
The other "side" conversation that seems to come up a lot in this membership
discussion is the distinction between voting and non-voting members. I have
heard some say that BAISL meetings are open to anyone to come. I have heard
others say that it is open if a specific group is invited (e.g. BAISNet members
are invited to a specific BAISL meeting). I have heard some say they want
BAISL to be a safe place to come, and that is why they want it to be only
librarians. But then if BAISL meetings are open to anyone, even if they cannot
be members, then this "safety" could be diluted.
I am sure there are others in BAISL that are feeling as frustrated as I am. If
anyone has ideas on a way we can make a final decision about who can become
voting members, who can become non-voting members, and if BAISL meetings are
truly open to anyone to attend whether a member or not, it would be great to
get this finally resolved.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Renee
