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Take part in virtual library legislative day

I’ve always been bummed that Depository Library Council meeting and conference usually doesn’t take place during the annual library legislative day. But now we can all take part despite being thousands of miles away from Washington DC. We urge all our readers to take Part in Virtual Library Legislative Day. Email or call your representatives and senators and let them know how important libraries are to education, community life and civil rights across the US. I’m especially pleased that ALA Washington Office’s email template refers to continuing funding for the Govt Printing Office and to privacy/surveillance and other civil rights issues in which libraries are leading the way to support.

I would add, besides open access, the need for copyright reform and the need for govt publications and data to be in the public domain AND include a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) license and kill S.2206, the “Let Me Google That For You” Act and more fully fund NTIS, OSTI and other agencies critical to the President’s open access/open government initiatives. Congress needs to do all its power to maintain and expand the public domain!

When you contact your representatives, please feel free to add any other library issues for which you’re concerned. Thanks for taking the time to let your representatives know that libraries are an important part of society’s fabric.

On May 6, hundreds of Library supporters will take to Capitol Hill to meet with their legislators to discuss issues that impact libraries. Even if you can’t be in Washington, DC this week you can still speak up for libraries by taking part in Virtual Library Legislative Day (VLLD).
 
The issues library advocates will be discussing are:

  • Early Learning (pdf)
  • ESEA (pdf)
  • IAL (pdf)
  • Key Issues (pdf)
  • LSTA (pdf)
  • Open Access (pdf)
  • Surveillance (pdf) (see updated press release)
  • WIA (pdf)

You can take part in VLLD by calling your elected officals or by sending them an email.

via Legislative Action Alert – Take Part in Virtual Library Legislative Day.

Today is National Library Legislative day. Please contact your representatives!

There’s a lot happening in Washington DC these days surrounding the federal budget. And many of the items slated for cutting greatly effect the work that libraries do. So PLEASE contact your representatives today (or better yet go to DC if you’re in the area!!). See the ALA action alert for more background and go here to look up your representatives.


Please contact your elected officials with the following requests:

APPROPRIATIONS FY2012

Fund the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at $232 million, the level last authorized in December 2010;
Preserve the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program with its own budget line and appropriate the program at its FY2010 level of $19.1 million;
Maintain funding for the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Compendia Branch at $2.9 million in order to preserve publication of “Statistical Abstracts” and other publications;
Fund the Salaries and Expenses work of the Government Printing Office (GPO) at $42,173,000 to preserve public access through the FDLP and FedSYS.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (School Libraries):

Support student performance by including an effective school library program as part of ESEA through the LEARN Act to include:
A school library staffed by a state-certified school librarian;
A school library with up-to-date books, materials, equipment, and technology, including broadband connectivity; and
Instruction by librarians for students and staff on digital and computer literacy skills, including collaboration between classroom teachers and school librarians to develop and implement the curriculum and other school reforms.
While these issues are the most urgent at this time, there are many other critical pieces of legislation impacting libraries. For full list of key issues that will be discussed at National Library Legislative Day, click here. ALA has also drafted issue briefs on the following areas: Access, Appropriations for Libraries, Broadband & Telecommunications, Copyright, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Government Services & Information, Surveillance & Privacy and the WILL Act.

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