Better, from America

The world hasn't had many good words to say for the United States in recent years. So here are two current reasons to be cheerful about the USA.

One is the pride and passion of our professional colleagues across the pond and the way they're prepared to stand up and be counted. "Don't mess with librarians" said Michael Moore after our US colleagues had forced the publication of Stupid White Men which would otherwise have been suppressed. Don't mess with librarians said the American Library Association (ALA) when the US government tried to spy on library users (Patriot Act) and censor Internet access (Child Internet Protection Act). And now, don't mess with stuff that belongs in Iraqui libraries - last month ALA passed a resolution condemning the US and British governments for condoning the confiscation of Iraqui documents from the Iraq National Library and Archive in contravention of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict. There's good coverage of the current position in The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com) and the ALA resolution is reported on the ALA website (http://www.ala.org) . Well played, ALA!

The other reason to be cheerful is the US Presidential Election. Usually this goes on interminably and we all lose the will to live - but not this time. Whoever becomes the next President of the United States, they'll break the mould - too old or too black or too female! But if the American people really do want "change" - which seems to be the prevailing theme of the election - then there's only one credible candidate for those generations of voters who have grown up with the machine politics of American conservatism and the dynastic politics of Bush and Clinton. I heard Barack Obama speak at the ALA Conference in Chicago in 2005 and his oratory was convincing as well as inspiring. Now that he's proved in the Primaries that he's a genuine contender - a candidate who happens to be black and not just a black candidate - he has a real chance of building the momentum that could take him to the Democratic nomination and the Presidency. Michael Tomasky, Editor of Guardian America, wrote an excellent piece on this in the Guardian's "Super Tuesday" supplement on 5th February.

So now, having passed their resolution, maybe our colleagues at ALA should ask the Presidential candidates to each give a commitment to return those Iraqui documents to the Iraq National Library and Archive in line with the Hague Convention. Getting such a commitment from the next Commander-in-Chief...Now that really would be better, from America.