Alternative Media Task Force

At the ALA Midwinter in Seattle, two SRRT task forces were combined into one. The Alternatives In Print Task Force was one of SRRT’s original task forces, and has consistently advocated for the collection of materials from alternative publishers as a necessary part of living up to the Library Bill of Rights in collection development. It has also offered collection development and acquisitions aids to help get past the inconveniences of working with these presses. The Information Policy in the Public Interest Task Force was newer and was initiated out of an interest to study and contribute to ALA’s information policy-related activities from a progressive perspective. The two task forces had overlapping interests concerning market-based distortions in the communication cycle and the ecology of information.

The new task force combining these two is the Alternative Media Task Force. Activities include the annual Free Speech Buffet at the ALA Annual Conference (a Monday night event) and the production of the useful directory Alternative Publishers of Books in North America. Other activities have included an award to a librarian who has contributed to the promotion or use of alternative literature in libraries and programming at conferences. Contact the coordinator, Carol Gulyas, via the website if you are interested in contributing some effort.