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Ad Lib: Advocacy for Libraries

May 8, 2008

National Library Day

It’s that time of year again—the annual National Library Day when those of us with strong feelings about the role that government can play in the world of libraries trek to D.C. This year we need to once again thank legislators for voting to approve the appropriation for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Just think of all the good that happens in libraries through the LSTA funding that the Illinois State Library puts out in the form of grants. This year we’re also going to be talking with our legislators on issues such as appropriations and budget, school libraries and the SKILLS Act, telecommunications, E-Government, and E-rate and Universal Service Issues

As the Advocacy Consultant here at LCLS, I like to give members a variety of ways to advocate on behalf of their individual library and the library community in general. If you can’t come to D.C., you can visit legislators’ local offices when Congress isn’t in session

Library Advocacy can also be done from your computer. Using CapWiz you can email legislators. And right now there’s another opportunity to let your federal legislators know how you feel on library issues that are part of federal legislation they vote on by participating in Virtual National Library Day—see the ILA page under advocacy for information on participating.
More about legislative advocacy when the delegation returns from D.C.

Posted by judy at 9:27 AM | Comments (0)

May 5, 2008

New Voices for Advocacy

You may notices some new names coming in on the Ad Lib blog in the coming weeks, as we expand our roster of contributors beyond yours truly. We've invited NSLS's Advocacy Team &emdash; our director, Sarah Long; Donna Tieberg; Dale Lawrence; Denise Rotella; Jill Lynch; and Sharon Ball &emdash; to share their thoughts on the world of advocacy. We're also going to be joined by Judy Rake, advocacy coordinator for sister library system Lewis & Clark.

There may be more new contributors coming along, too, but I wanted to extend a welcome to the first batch of new recruits.

Posted by alan at 3:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2008

Library Day is Coming!

As I'm sure you're aware, it's just over two weeks until Illinois Library Day — the day when library people from across Illinois descend on Springfield and make our voices heard.A full schedule of events has been posted on the Illinois Library Day site.

ILA has also provided us with a list of selected pending bills that are important to address:ILA Supports
House Bill (HB) 4202, sponsored by Representative Dan Brady (R-88, Bloomington), concerns the disposal of academic library materials by amending the State Property Control Act.

House Bill (HB) 4518, sponsored by Representative Frank J. Mautino (D-76, Spring Valley), explains methods to dissolve library districts, which do not meet specific criteria (for example, appropriate, elect library board, hold meetings).

House Bill (HB) 4527, sponsored by Representative Lou Lang (D-16, Skokie), changes equalization grant language. The bill, requested by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office and supported by Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-22, Chicago), increases rate from $4.25 to $7.50 per capita; increases minimum grant award to school libraries from $100 to $750. The per capita rate has not been increased since 1979 when the grant was created. The minimum grant level for schools has not been increased since 1994.

Senate Bill (SB) 2321, sponsored by Senator Donne E. Trotter (D-17, Chicago), would provide that the county board may authorize an increase in the county law library fee of not more than (i) $18 in 2008, (ii) $19 in 2009, and (iii) $21 in 2010 and thereafter (now, $13).
(You can get a more comprehensive list of ILA's bills of interest at their CapWiz page.)

Now that you've looked at the schedule, and seen how important the issues we're facing are, I'm sure you'll want to be a part of the day, too, so why not sign up for NSLS's bus to Springfield and add your voice to the chorus? You'll be glad you did!

Posted by alan at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2008

Budget Hearings Are Back!

Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan is offering another chance for you to let the government know what you think is important in the state's budget.

The House of Representatives of the Illinois General Assembly is once again hosting a series of budget hearings in communities around Illinois. The hearings are coming to the NSLS area starting next Monday, March 17, with a 6:30 hearing at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg. Following that, there'll be hearings at McHenry College on March 19 (also at 6:30), and on March 24 at the Northbrook Village Hall at 3 p.m. You can view the House's complete press release, including the full schedule of hearings, here. (PDF)

Sarah Long recently sent out a message emphasizing why it's important that library representatives attend these hearings:

We need to have numbers and we need at least one voice in each location. If you've never attended a hearing before, it's easy and it's interesting. Just show up, sign in and say you're supporting library issues. You will be asked if you want to speak or not. At each hearing we will want at least one person to speak. If you're willing to be our speaker (we need a minimum of three--one for each hearing) please get in touch ASAP. Please also send me a message if you can attend.

So if you can make it to one of these hearings, please let Sarah know.

Posted by alan at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2007

Where Your (Federal) Tax Dollars Go

TheBudgetGraph.com is a site that provides a graphical representation of where federal tax dollars go in the form of a large poster. It's interesting to see how it all plays out.

If you follow the link to the poster, you can see an interactive version of it, where you can zoom in and out to see the different components. Why not head on over there and see if you can find any library-related funding? A cookie to the first person to point some out!

Posted by alan at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2007

New Legislation: Revolutionizing Education Through Digital Investment

Mary Minow over at LibraryLaw tells us about a new bill that was introduced:

The official title of the bill (H.R. 3631) is the "Revolutionizing Education Through Digital Investment Act of 2007".
...
This could really help libraries. The bill would create a Digital Trust to provide financing for research, development, and demonstration of advanced information technologies for lifelong learning...similar to the National Science Foundation model. Proposals for grants and contracts would generally be evaluated by peer review, as in the NSF grants.

None of Illinois' lawmakers is currently listed as a cosponsor, so if you think this is something that deserves to be passed, why not drop them a line?

Posted by alan at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)

Any Kentucky Readers Out There?

ALA brings this one to our attention:

The Presidential Records Act Amendments bill (H.R.1255) is currently being prevented from a vote in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY). He has not stated his reasons for doing so. H.R.1255 removes restrictions placed by President Bush’s 2001 Executive Order 13233 and enhances the Presidential Records Act, one of the nation’s most important open-government laws.
...
We are asking for your help,

1) Contact Sen. Bunning’s office by phone and ask that he release the hold on the bill so it can be scheduled for a vote. His direct office number is 202-224-4343.

2) Contact your Senator, tell them of your support for H.R.1255 and ask them to urge Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to have Sen. Bunning release the hold on the bill. You may do this via email, phone or letter. [emphasis in original]

(Unsurprisingly, our own Senator Obama—given his passion about open government—has already signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill in the Senate, but Sen. Durbin has not.)

The impact on libraries should be obvious: open information and record access is our lifeblood. So even though this doesn't directly affect the library world (except for the Presidential Library world), it's still important to the community as a whole.

Posted by alan at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2007

ALA's Got SKILLs

I mentioned yesterday the SKILLs Act, and promised that more information would be forthcoming. Well, here's that "more information."

ALA's Washington Office sent out an Action Alert yesterday, giving us the lowdown:

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor will soon be considering reauthorization of the NCLB. In order for the SKILLs Act to be included in NCLB – that is, to place a state-certified school library media specialist in every school – each member of the House must co-sponsor the SKILLS Act.

The House has postponed mark-up for sometime in October and there is still time to call your Representative. The name of your Representative must appear on this bill! If your Representative’s name does not appear as a co-sponsor, please call his/her office immediately and request that he/she support the SKILLs Act. If your Representative’s name DOES appear on this bill, contact his/her office and thank him/her for the continued support of school libraries and school library media specialists.

None of NSLS's (or, in fact, any of Illinois') Representatives are currently on the sponsor list, so there's plenty of room for outreach. You can find your Rep's contact info in our Legislative Directory. The ALA Action Alert has talking points and a breakdown of the particulars of the SKILLs Act, so you can arm yourself with information as you call.

Posted by alan at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2007

I'm Sure Princess Mia Supports Libraries, Too

You never know where you'll find support for library causes.

Case in point, this blog posting that came to my attention. Author Meg Cabot (of The Princess Diaries and other books) writes about the SKILLs Act:

The single most important piece of legislation concerning school libraries comes before Congress in two weeks: Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries, the SKILLs Act. We need everyone who cares about young people, literacy, literature, and libraries to contact their congressional legislator’s office in Washington and tell their representative, respectfully, that they support the SKILLs Act, and they want their legislator to support and cosponsor it, too.
...
What this means is that all of our kids will not only have increased access to quality information and story, but will also have someone to teach them how to assess that information, so that they can become critical consumers of information. It means that kids of every color, from every background, will find the books they need in their own school libraries.

We haven't talked much about the SKILLs Act here—though more information will be forthcoming—but it's nice to see that library issues are getting attention in areas outside of the traditional library blogs.

It just goes to show, library advocacy can take all sorts of forms.

Posted by alan at 2:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2007

House Budget Hearing - Report

The first of the area's House's budget hearings was last night. Did you go?

NSLS's Jill Lynch did, and she brings us back this report:

State Reps. Fred Crespo, Paul Froehlich, Sidney Mathias, Beth Coulson and Ruth Munson were part of the bipartisan panel present at the public meetings. They all strongly encouraged contacting your State Senator to ask them to override Gov. Blagojevich’s budget vetoes. If you are uncertain how to contact your local senator, please visit the website to determine your Senator.

Tips for Presenting Testimony at Town Hall Meetings:

• Present testimony as to how much money you would have received from SB 186, and how those funds are used, or would have provided in your library.
• Testimony should be approximately two minutes in length. Audio is recorded by the representatives, but you should also email a copy to your senator.

Many library supporters came to sign the veto override statement at last night's meeting in Hoffman Estates. Two speakers presented testimony on behalf of Illinois libraries: Frances Rohem and Deborah Miller. Frances Rohem explained how IllinoisClicks provides reference services throughout the state for less than two cents per resident. Debbie Miller, presenting on behalf of the Schaumburg Township District Library Board, testified that, “...the Per Capita Grant to public libraries is far from a handout from Springfield. Rather it is a bootstrap program which requires libraries which get the grants to meet increasingly difficult standards. There has been no increase in these grants for twelve years…”

Over 35 organizations presented testimony on the effects of the budget vetoes, including institutions which serve the mentally and physically disabled, fire safety officers, and park and recreation districts. The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15.

The call for contacting your Senators is one of the key takeaways from this meeting. Since the House is calling the meetings, you know they're ready to listen to concerns from the voters regarding the governor's budget. But the Senate's position is less clear.

So do like Jill says: take a minute to head over to NSLS's Legislative Directory, find out who your library's Senator is, and then get in touch to let your position be known.

Posted by alan at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)