National Library Legislation Day

I know I haven't been blogging as much as I should be.  It's the end of the year and we all get a little overwhelmed...I know!  I've been reading, though, I promise!

But!  Right this second, there's something even more important.

Tomorrow is National Library Legislative Day.  Sounds…um…exciting, right?  Well, with librarians and library budgets being slashed across the state (and the nation), it’s time to take action.  Libraries improve literacy and test scores across the curriculum.  We support technology use, teachers, free choice, and privacy.  I recently read an article that ended thusly: “The libraries’ most powerful asset is the conversation they provide = between books and readers, between children and parents, between individuals and the collective world.  Take them away and those voices turn inwards or vanish.  Turns out that libraries have nothing at all to do with silence.” (Bella Bathurst, written for the Observer)

For more information go to this site…pay special attention to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. 

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/890532-312/speak_up_may_10_national.html.csp

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.