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Ad Lib: Advocacy for Libraries

January 31, 2007

Reason, Value, and Importance

We all hope it never happens, but inevitably it’s going to: you’re meeting with someone—maybe from your legislator’s office—and they ask you, “In the age of the Internet, why do we still need libraries?” We’ve all heard the question from someone, and we all have an answer or two ready (or at least, we do after the first time).

But why stop at one or two answers? DegreeTutor.com gives us 33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are Extremely Important. These are more than just a good defense; they’re good talking points to have on hand when you’re selling the value of libraries. Look at these, for example:

3. The internet isn’t free
While Project Gutenberg boasts 20,000 free, downloadable eBooks on its homepage, we are promptly reminded that these books are only accessible because they are no longer in copyright.

And books are just the tip of the iceberg. Numerous academic research papers, journals and other important materials are virtually inaccessible to someone seeking to pull them off the web for free. Rather, access is restricted to expensive subscription accounts, which are typically paid for by libraries. Visiting the library in person, or logging in to the library through your member account, is therefore the only way to affordably access necessary archived resources.

5. School Libraries and Librarians Improve Student Test Scores
A 2005 study of the Illinois School Libraries shows that students who frequently visit well-stocked and well-staffed school libraries end up with higher ACT scores and perform better on reading and writing exams.

Interestingly, the study points out that access digital technology plays a strong role in test results, noting that “high schools with computers that connect to library catalogs and databases average 6.2% improvement on ACT scores”.

And there are plenty more (31 more, to be precise) where that came from. Give it a look, take notes, and keep it on hand the next time you meet with a decision maker.

(Thanks to librarian.net for the link.)

posted by Alan at 9:23 am | Comments (1)

January 30, 2007

Just When You Think It’s Safe To Go Back In MySpace…

I guess the post-mortem was a bit premature. Thanks to a tip from LibraryLaw, we learn that DOPA is back. Apparently

DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act) is now part of S 49, Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act introduced by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) Jan. 4, 2007. It’s now in referral to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Let’s try to act on this thing now, before it has a chance to grow. Neither Senators Durbin nor Obama are on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, so there’s no direct Illinois influence, but it couldn’t hurt to reach out to them to let them know where libraries stand on DOPA. And while you’re at it, why not reach out to Commerce Chairman Daniel Inouye and see if you can let him know your concern, too?

posted by Alan at 9:21 am | Comments (0)

January 18, 2007

Same Song, New Leads

Because of the new legislative year, we’re going to see some repeats of issues that never got resolved—some good, some bad (depending, of course, on your perspective).

A week or so into the Congressional calendar, the first one of our interest has popped up. Remember Net Neutrality? Sure enough, it’s back:

Little more than six months after legislators in Washington failed in an attempt to preserve “net neutrality,” the newly Democrat-controlled Congress will consider a new bill, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2007, introduced by senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). It would block broadband providers from assessing charges based on the type of content or services made available and forbid them from prioritizing certain content.

This bill is friendly to the idea of Net Neutrality, an idea which ALA fully supports.

I’m sure there’ll be more on this bill as the year progresses, so be sure to keep your eyes open.

posted by Alan at 2:12 pm | Comments (0)

January 4, 2007

DOPA: DOA

This has been making the rounds, so you may have already seen it, but Andy Carvin of PBS’s TeacherSource blog has done an excellent postmortem on the Deleting Online Predators Act, taking a good, hard look at why this bill never made it to law:

For a time, it seemed that DOPA would inevitably reach the president’s desk. Surely the overwhelming support of the House would be reflected in the Senate, one might have surmised. But then, something quite unexpected happened: nothing. With all the criticism being lobbed by the blogosphere and the media, DOPA found itself among a group of skeptical senators who were in no rush to pass the legislation. After it passed the House, influential Senator Patrick Leahy expressed concerns with DOPA, and media reports suggested he would take a long, hard look at the bill, effectively slowing it down. Individual senators have greater power than House members to slow legislative processes, and critics like Leahy could choose to take advantage of this.

Complicating matters was the Mark Foley scandal. Even though he wasn’t a co-sponsor of DOPA, Rep. Foley was a close associate of Mike Fitzpatrick, the congressman who introduced it. The two of them had also drafted another piece of legislation called the Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today’s Youth Act, or SAFETY. Though the SAFETY Act was less controversial than DOPA, its association with Foley probably didn’t help it when he was caught sending inappropriate emails to House pages. The bill was never even placed for debate. Suddenly, even well-meaning online safety bills were seen as hypocritical, making them a political hot potato as long as the Foley scandal raged.

It was very much a combination of cooler heads and chance that kept this bill from passing, and it should very much be considered a dodged bullet. Carvin thinks it’s unlikely that it’ll resurface, and I certainly hope that’ll be true, but with it passing 410-15, I’m certainly not writing it off as impossible. Congress is back in session now, so I guess we’ll see…

posted by Alan at 1:33 pm | Comments (0)