I support Eli's comments in many ways. It sometimes feels that librarianship has been sinking in status since I was in school (1970-71), and that it probably has never had much status. The ubiquity of web'based services and online searching from home has certainly not enhanced our community's identity.
I would not be quite as harsh on the AJL as he is, though. We have recruited students in various schools (even as the number of LS's has shrunk) over the past years, and have encouraged attendance at the Conventions through our subsidies and the scholarships. It isn't much, but it isn't nothing, either. It is also instructive that the ATLA is also trying to recruit. From my own travels, discussions with minister-friends, and peeks into church libraries, they are frequently more dismal than ours. I see it as a comment on the importance we (as Jews and as librarians) place on the need for access at the local level. The fact that our members are not paid (there is another posting today about that issue) is regrettable, but true. In the end, I am not entirely happy with our situation, Eli. There is indeed more we can do. There are ways to act that we need to move toward increasing our numbers, our significance, and our involvement. But I would not say we are either without resources, either. Fred Isaac Oakland, CA =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 at osu.edu AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
