Music Library Association Response to Recent United States Executive Orders

The Music Library Association (MLA) is the U.S. National Branch of IAML, the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, and the MLA Board of Directors endorses the February 9, 2017 statement by the IAML board opposing the January 27, 2017 Executive Order: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry.  MLA especially highlights its support to “further the goals of [IAML], including the formation of new national branches in all parts of the world.  Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to IAML,” and we would add, to MLA.  The act of music-making itself demonstrates the collaboration, cooperation, and communication that is integral to our profession and our discipline.

According to MLA’s Constitution: “The purposes of the Association shall be to promote the establishment, growth, and use of music libraries; to encourage the collection of music and musical literature in libraries; to further studies in musical bibliography; to increase efficiency in music library service and administration; and to promote the profession of music librarianship.”  Furthermore, the Non-Discrimination Policy of the Association assures that MLA “does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender identity and expression, physical appearance, body size, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. … We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment...”  MLA members can and do differ on issues both political and social, and the Association itself espouses no particular party or faction.  Nonetheless, we may speak with authority on matters within our professional scope.

Supporting the promulgation and preservation of musical heritage and promoting the education of, and cooperation among, those with responsibility for that heritage, requires the free exchange of ideas and information and the unhindered interaction of individuals willing to share them.  To that end, MLA further expresses its concern over the January 25, 2017 Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.  While MLA affirms the importance of keeping our country safe, the implementation of measures that curtail, disrupt, or deny the movement of musicians, scholars, teachers, students, and their family members into and out of the United States should be limited to situations where evidence of imminent danger exists.  Barring people because of their nationality or immigrant status as a precautionary measure without clearly defined parameters risks undermining the very goals that MLA espouses.  (These concerns have been echoed by many sister organizations: not only IAML, but also American Musicological Society, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society for American Music, Society of American Archivists, and others, whose statements have informed our own.)  Already MLA has been asked by Latin American registrants to provide additional documentation to allay their concerns about entering the US for the 2017 Pan-American Regional IAML meeting that MLA and CAML are hosting in Orlando, FL, February 22-26, 2017.  MLA President Michael Rogan has undertaken to provide those letters ASAP.

Our mission and values, as stated in our Strategic Plan, compel MLA to act in support of its goals and vision.  Collaboration, fairness, transparency, and communication are needed to ensure that these Executive Orders do not bring undue burden inadvertently. This Forum on the MLA Website is being provided to allow members to submit examples of how the implementation of these Executive Orders is negatively impacting unintended individuals.  Data collection is an expertise we can provide in order to ensure that future judicial review or legislative guidelines can be developed with evidentiary input.  Instructions on the Forum page are designed to remind third-party posters to protect identities and that we seek to gather instances of adverse consequences we hope can be avoided in the future, while not putting individuals at risk.

We look forward to demonstrating that the model of collaboration and cooperation inherent in the Pan-American Regional IAML Meeting can achieve inclusivity and harmony, furthering the goal of sharing cultural heritages that exemplify the achievements of human civilization.

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